Skaphita cubana Grote, 1865

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2021, A new species and taxonomic changes relating to the Notodontidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad, West Indies, Zootaxa 5020 (2), pp. 307-327 : 320-322

Skaphita cubana Grote, 1865 ( Notodontidae , Heterocampinae )

( Figs. 13–14 , Table 1)

Heterocampa aroensis Schaus, 1901 , syn. nov.

Disphragis sexnotata Kaye, 1925 , syn. nov.

Heterocampa cubana Grote, 1865 was described from Cuba, based on a male and two females, one of the females being illustrated ( Grote 1865). The types were stated to be in ‘Coll. Ent. Soc. Philad.’ and so are expected to be in The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, but as Schintlmeister (2013) reports, they are not in the on-line database of the Entomology Type Collection (http://clade.ansp.org/entomology/search.php). Schintlmeister (2013) maintained this species in the genus Heterocampa , but Becker (2014) placed it in Skaphita .

Heterocampa daona Druce, 1894 was described from an unspecified number of specimens of unspecified sex from Orizaba, Mexico. Schintlmeister (2013) recognised a single male specimen now in NHMUK as the holotype. It had not been dissected when I examined it in 1993. Becker (2014) placed this taxon in Skaphita as a synonym of S. cubana .

Schaus (1901) described Heterocampa aroensis from an unspecified number of males and females from Aroa, [Bolivar], Venezuela. Schintlmeister (2016) designated a lectotype male in USNM and illustrated it and its genitalia (USNM slide 46443) (also shown in USNM (2020)). Becker (2014) placed this taxon as a synonym of Skaphita surinamensis , but in doing so, did not examine the genitalia (V.O. Becker pers. comm. 2020).

Heterocampa androdora Dyar, 1910 was described from six females from Mexico ( Dyar 1910), noting the similarity to, and possible conspecificity with, S. cubana and S. aroensis . The first listed type from Misatlanta was selected as lectotype and illustrated by Schintlmeister (2016). It has not been dissected ( Schintlmeister 2016). Schaus (1928) placed S. androdora as a synonym of S. daona (which he placed in Disphragis ), and this was followed by subsequent authors until Becker (2014) placed both S. daona and S. androdora as synonyms of S. cubana .

Comparison of the male lectotype of S. aroensis and its terminalia with S. surinamensis ( Fig. 12 ) and S. cubana , as illustrated by Torre y Callejas and Dalmau (1959) and Thiaucourt (2003) reveals that the terminalia of S. aroensis show no similarity to those of S. surinamensis , but rather S. aroensis ( Schaus, 1901) is a synonym of S. cubana ( Grote, 1865) . DNA barcode sequences in BOLD offer some support for this conclusion. BIN BOLD:AAA7792 (dx.doi.org/10.5883/BOLD:AAA7792) currently includes 135 public sequences of specimens currently identified as Cecrita daona (114), Heterocampa daona (6), Heterocampa androdora (5), Heterocampa cubana (3), Disphragis cubana (1), D. clitiusa Schaus, 1928 (a synonym of S. elongata ( Druce, 1906) according to Becker (2014)) (1), and S. media Thiaucourt, 1995 (1), as well as unidentified specimens. Of the names used in this BIN, cubana is the oldest, offering support to Becker’s (2014) treatment. The material is from USA (Florida), Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, French Guiana, Brazil (Para), Paraguay, and Argentina, indicating a single widespread species, i.e. S. cubana . Barcodes of material from Cuba would be useful to confirm this. However, while some of this material is similar to what I treat here as S. cubana ( Fig. 13 ), some (e.g. the sample from Trinidad and Tobago) looks more like S. media , and this merits further investigation.

Kaye (1925) described and illustrated Disphragis sexnotata Kaye, 1925 from Trinidad, stating that the type (i.e. holotype) was from ‘ Trinidad, Fyzabad. (R.M. Farmborough.)’ and was in OUNHM (‘Mus. Oxford’). Kaye (1925) did not state the sex of the holotype, but his illustration has the antennae pectinate in the basal half indicating a male. Kaye and Lamont (1927) repeated this information, except they omit the location of the type. Kaye has described other species from OUNHM—see, for example, the discussion regarding Podalia farmbri ( Kaye, 1925) (Megalopygidae) in Cock (2017) —but key specimens of several species have not been located in OUNHM (or in NHMUK, NMS or MGCLB). I have looked in OUNHM for the type of D. sexnotata and failed to find it. It might still be overlooked amongst the unsorted accessions (I did see at least one return of identified Trinidad specimens amongst this material). However, I went through the OUNHM accessions, finding many Trinidad specimens, including some but not all specimens that Kaye referred to, but none of his types. At this time, the type of S. sexnotata is presumed missing and probably lost, which leaves us with only Kaye’s illustration ( Kaye 1925, plate XLV.10). Like the illustration of S. kalodonta (above under S. surinamensis ) this is of poor quality, and it is not an obvious match to any species that I have seen from Trinidad. The only significant distinguishing mark is the large irregular postdiscal spot. Becker (2014) placed S. sexnotata as a synonym of S. surinamensis . However, on balance, it seems more likely that this taxon is a synonym of S. cubana , as follows. Kaye (1925) gives the expanse (‘Exp.’) as 46 mm, but it is not clear whether this represents wing tip to wing tip on a set specimen, or wing tip to mid-thorax to wing tip. However, in Kaye’s (1925) plate, the figure measures 45 mm wing tip to wing tip, so it can be assumed that this is what Kaye meant by expanse. Wing tip to wing tip, S. surinamensis measure 31 mm for the male ( NMS specimen) and 44 mm for the female (holotype), while S. cubana from Trinidad (in MJWC) measures 44 mm for the male and 47–53 mm for the female. Kaye’s figure of S. sexnotata is too large to be a male S. surinamensis , although comparable in size to the female holotype of S. surinamensis and female S. cubana . The dorsal hindwings of Kaye’s figure are pale, shaded darker at the margins, thus resembling the female of S. cubana , rather than the female of S. surinamensis or either male ( Figs. 11 , 13 ). Furthermore, there is a worn, and perhaps faded or discoloured, female specimen in the NHMUK labelled as from Trinidad by W.J. Kaye, which resembles Kaye’s figure of the type (apart from the antennae). This resemblance gives a strong indication of the identity of Kaye’s D. sexnotata . The specimen in question is a female S. cubana (curated as Disphragis daona when I examined it in 1999). I conclude that S. sexnotata should be removed from the synonymy of S. surinamensis and is a synonym of S. cubana .

Trinidad material examined. Brigand Hill, lighthouse security MVL lights : ♀ 17.i.2004 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. Cumaca Road , 4.6 miles, MVL : ♀ 18.vii.1981 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1542]. Curepe , at light : ♂ 8.i.1980 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. Curepe , BLT : ♀ viii.1982 (F.D. Bennett) [ UWIZM CABI.1545]. Curepe , MVL : ♂ 15.vii.1967 [ UWIZM CABI.1831] ; ♂ 27.viii.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1808] ; ♀ 6.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC] ; ♀ 18.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC] ; ♂ 21.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1817] ; ♂ 24.xi.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1816] ; ♂ 29.xii.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1809] ; ♂ 8.v.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ NHMUK] ; ♂ 14.ix.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1807] ; ♂ 14.x.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1818] ; ♂ 17.x.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1813] ; ♀ 15.x.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1543] ; ♂ 25.xii.1979 (M.J.W. Cock)[ UWIZM CABI.1810] ; ♂ 13.i.1980 (M.J.W. Cock)[ UWIZM CABI.1811] ; ♂ 18.i.1980 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC, dissection 1005] ; ♂ 27.i.1980 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1812] ; ♂ 8– 14.xii.1981 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC, dissection 1002] ; ♂, ♀ 11–20.i.1982 (M.J.W. Cock) [♀ MJWC; ♂ UWIZM CABI.1815] ; ♂ 21–31.i.1982 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1814]. Palmiste : ♀ 29.i.1919 [N. Lamont] [ NMS] ; ♂ 30.xii.1920 (N. Lamont) [ NHMUK, labelled ‘ Boriza kalodonta Kaye’ in Kaye’s writing] ; ♀ 27.iii.1922 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1802] ; ♀ 22.x.1947 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1801] ; ♀ 21.vii.1948 [N. Lamont] [ UWIZM.2013.13.1803]. Point Gourde , MVL : ♀ 16.v.1999 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.8217]. St Benedict’s , Pax Guest House, at light : ♀ 2.x.1994 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. Valencia Forest , MVL : ♀ iv.1980 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.1544]. Trinidad : ♀ (W.J. Kaye) [ NHMUK] .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Type material of Skaphita surinamensis. Above, male holotype of Boriza kalodonta Kaye [NHMUK]; photo A. Schintlmeister, © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, made available under Creative Commons License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Below, female holotype of Heterocampa surinamensis Möschler [MNB]; photos MNB, with permission. To scale as shown, x2.

FIGURE 12. Terminalia of male Skaphita surinamensis, Trinidad, San Fernando, 22.ii.1922, N. Lamont [NMS, MJWC dissection 1062]. A–B, genitalia with aedeagus in situ; A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C–F, genitalia with aedeagus removed; C, dorsal view; D, ventrolateral view; E, dorsolateral view; F, lateral view; G–I, aedeagus, vesica not extruded; G, dorsal view; H, lateral view; I, ventral view; J, A8 tergite (left) and sternite (right) (the central projections of the distal margin of the sternite are broken).All to scale as shown, x10.

FIGURE 13. Skaphita cubana from Trinidad; in each case dorsal view above and ventral view below. ♂, Curepe, MVL, 8–14.xii.1981; ♀, Curepe, MVL, 6.xi.1978.

FIGURE 14. Skaphita cubana. Left, Kaye’s (1925) figure of the holotype of Disphragis sexnotata copied from the same plate in Kaye and Lamont (1927). Right, a discoloured and/or faded female S. cubana, Trinidad (W.J. Kaye) [NHMUK], © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, made available under Creative Commons License 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). Not to scale.