Proutiella infans (Walker), 1856

Miller, James S, 2009, Generic Revision Of The Dioptinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Notodontidae) Part 2: Josiini, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2009 (321), pp. 675-1022 : 685-687

Proutiella infans (Walker) , new combination Figure 286 ; plate 26

Scea infans Walker, 1856: 1647 .

TYPE LOCALITY: Brazil, Pará.

TYPE: Holotype ♀, ex Saunders Collection ( OUMNH).

DISCUSSION: Proutiella infans is superficially indistinguishable from two Lyces species (pl. 29)— ena (Boisduval) and enoides (Boisduval) . Previous authors placed all of these in Josia . During the course of over 25 years of research on the Dioptinae , I was unsure of the identity of infans ; no specimens had been identified as such in collections, whereas ena was apparently common. Not until Walker’s type was finally located at the Oxford University collection (October 2006) could the characters of P. infans be established. It then became clear that not only are infans and ena distinct species, but they belong in different genera of the Josiini . Re-examination of material that had historically been identified as L. ena showed that, while ena is indeed more common, examples of P. infans reside in small numbers scattered throughout the world’s major collections.

The two taxa are superficially so similar that specimens must be examined carefully to identify them. Two characters are particularly useful: First, in Lyces ena M 1 arises from the anterolateral angle of the DC, close to, but separate from, the base of the radial sector (see fig. 320I). In P. infans , on the other hand, M 1 is stalked with Rs 1 –Rs 4, arising well out on the radial sector (see fig. 284C). This trait can be used to separate all members of Proutiella and Lyces . A second character is useful as well. The abdominal venter in P. infans is white with a wide, gray longitudinal stripe along its midline. In contrast, the venter in L. ena is completely white or grayish white, without a longitudinal stripe. The wings of P. infans are also somewhat more elongate, especially in males.

Within Proutiella , P. infans and P. latifascia show similar wing patterns. The best way to distinguish these is by their size. The FW length of P. infans (11.0–14.0 mm) is much shorter than that of P. latifascia (16.0– 17.0 mm). In addition, Lp1 is white in P. infans but light gray-brown in P. latifascia . The two species do not overlap in distribution, with P. infans endemic to the Upper Amazon, including French Guiana, but P. latifascia occurring in southwestern Colombia and western Ecuador. Aside from this, P. infans cannot be confused with any other Proutiella species.

Proutiella infans shows a distribution roughly congruent with that of its look-alike, Lyces ena . One difference is that L. ena has been collected in Panama, whereas P. infans is known exclusively from South America. Based on all the material of P. infans I could locate in museum and private collections (15 specimens in total), the species occurs from the mouth of the Amazon upriver to Santarém and Manaus, and even further west to Ariquemes in Rondônia, at the headwaters of the Rio Madeira. Proutiella infans has also been collected in French Guiana and Venezuela.

It seems likely that careful searching through collections will reveal many more examples of P. infans than are currently known. For example, the collection at the BMNH contains hundreds of specimens identified as L. ena , but none of P. infans ; some of their material is undoubtedly the latter. Unfortunately, at the time of my most recent visit to the London collection (March 2005), I was unaware of the identity of P. infans . Indeed, the genus Proutiella was an unknown entity at that time. It will be important for Lepidopterists to sort through their material identified as L. ena , separating out the ones in which FW vein M 1 is fused with the radial sector—these are P. infans .

DISTRIBUTION: Brazil (BMNH, CMNH, USNM, ZMH); French Guiana (BHC, USNM); Venezuela (AMNH, MNHN).

DISSECTED: Holotype ♀ (genitalia dissection JSM-1736 ); 3, Brazil, Rondônia, 62 km S Ariquemes, Fazenda Rancho Grande , 165 m, 18–26 Apr 1991, 10 ° 32 9 S, 62 ° 48 9 W, leg. Ron Leuschner, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1534 ); ♀, Brazil, Rondônia, 62 km S Ariquemes on Linea C- 20, 22 km W B-364, 10 ° 32 9 S, 62 ° 48 9 W, 11 Aug 1995, leg. A.D. Warren, AMNH (genitalia slide no. JSM-1535 ).

Proutiella jordani (Hering) , new combination

Figures

Fig. 286. Genitalia of Proutiella infans (3 JSM-1534, ♀ JSM-1535). A, 3 genitalia; B, 3 St8; C, aedeagus; D, 3 Tg8; E, ♀ genitalia (illustration by J.S. Miller).