Circanota Brown

Brown, John W., 2014, Circanota: a new genus of Sparganothini from the Neotropics, and its two new species (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae), ZooKeys 462, pp. 125-134 : 126-129

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Circanota Brown gen. n.

Type species.

Circanota undulata Brown, sp. n.

Diagnosis.

Circanota is superficially most similar to Platynota Clemens, 1860, with a comparable forewing length and pattern, and long porrect labial palpi. Circanota can be distinguished from Platynota and all other sparganothine genera by the strongly undulate costa of the forewing in both sexes. Although females of a few species of Platynota (e.g., Platynota flavendana Clemens, 1860, Platynota rostrana (Walker, 1863)) have a slightly undulate costa, males typically have an evenly arched costa. Males of Circanota lack the complex scaling of the frons typical of many, but not all, Platynota , and the labial palpi of Circanota lack pronounced sexual dimorphism; the palpi are conspicuously longer in the female in most Neotropical Platynota .

The female genitalia of Circanota are represented by two distinct types. In the type species, Circanota undulata sp. n., the anterior (typically cup-shaped) part of the sterigma, possibly homologous with the antrum, is broad and asymmetrical, unique within Sparganothini . In contrast, in Circanota simplex the structure is unmodified and similar to that of Aesiocopa Zeller, 1877. The signum is long, narrow, and somewhat slender crescent-shaped, most likely homologous with that of Aesiocopa Zeller, 1877, Amorbia Clemens, 1860, Amorbimorpha Kruse, 2011, Coelostathma Clemens, 1860, Lambertiodes Diakonoff, 1959, Paramorbia Powell & Lambert, 1986, Rhynchophyllus Meyrick, 1932, Sparganocosma Brown, 2013, Sparganopseustis Powell & Lambert, 1986, Sparganothina Powell, 1986, and Sparganothoides Lambert & Powell, 1986. Circanota lacks abdominal dorsal pits, which are present in Aesiocopa , many species of Amorbia , Coelostathma , and Sparganopseustis . In the male genitalia of Circanota , the uncus is long and slender, as in many other sparganothine genera (e.g., Sparganothis Hübner, 1825, Cenopis Zeller, 1875) and in contrast to the spindle-shaped (i.e., broadened subbasally) uncus of Platynota . The secondary arms of the socii are long and slender, more similar to those of males of genera whose females lack the crescent-shape signum (e.g., Sparganothis , Cenopis , Platynota ). The valvae of Circanota undulata are highly modified, whereas those of Circanota simplex are less so, although in both species the distal edge of the valva (the area between the termination of the sacculus and the termination of the costa) is membranous and somewhat lobed (much more pronounced in Circanota undulata ).

Description.

Head: Vertex relatively smooth scaled, upper frons with large, flat tuft of scales overhanging lower frons, lower frons smooth scaled without complex hood. Antennal scaling in two bands per segment, sensory setae 0.7-0.9 times flagellomere width in male, shorter, sparser in female; labial palpus moderate in length, segment II about 2.0 times horizontal diameter of compound eye in male, only slightly longer in female, weakly upcurved; ocellus well developed in both sexes. Thorax: Notum smooth scaled throughout; legs unmodified. Forewing length 4.9-6.1 mm, slightly greater in females; costa undulate in both sexes; costal fold present in male, broad and pronounced in undulata , reduced and narrow in simplex ; forewing without raised scales; R4 and R5 stalked in basal 0.6. Hindwing with Rs and M1 approximate at base, CuA1 and M3 connate, and M2 and M3 approximate at base; cubital hair pecten present in both sexes, slightly less developed in males. Abdomen: Dorsal pits absent. Female lacking enlarged corethrogyne scaling. Male genitalia with uncus long, slender, uniform in width throughout, curved ventrad apically; socius rather short, narrow, with slender line of sclerotization along inner edge, bearing long dense scales, secondary arm long, slender, not expanded apically; gnathos absent; transtilla slightly arched mesially, with few ( undulata ) or many ( simplex ) stout spines; pulvinus weakly developed; valva broad, short, with expanded “notch” subapically (in undulata ); sacculus narrow, confined to basal edge of valva, either simple, without free distal process ( simplex ) or undulate with a long, free, weakly curved spine at termination ( undulata ). Phallus long, slender and curved in undulata , shorter, more pistol shaped in simplex ; vesica with a field of about 25-30 short, slender, deciduous, asciculate cornuti. Female genitalia with papillae anales oblong-ovoid, slightly narrower anteriorly, densely covered with papillate setae throughout; apophyses about as long as papillae anales, posteriores slightly shorter than anteriores; sterigma a strongly sclerotized fig, flat along posterior margin, slightly rounded anteriorly, in undulata with a conspicuous, angulate-rhomboidal mesal portion immediately before junction with ductus bursae (typically the cup-shaped portion of the sterigma), in simplex simple, flat, unmodified; colliculum inconspicuous; ductus bursae uniformly narrow throughout, equal to or slightly longer than corpus bursae; corpus bursae round, entire surface with fine faint rounded punctations; signum a ribbon-like, crescent-shaped sclerite in posterior portion of corpus bursae; a tiny, membranous, pocket-like external evagination near signum.

Distribution and biology.

Circanota includes two species: Circanota undulata from Costa Rica and Panama, and Circanota simplex from Panama and Ecuador. Hence, the documented range extends from southern Central America to northern South America. Circanota undulata has been collected from about 50-500 m in elevation, with a single individual from 900 m; and Circanota simplex is known from below 600 m.

Although the early stages of Circanota are unknown, circumstantial evidence suggests that larvae may feed in leaf litter, as was hypothesized for the related Sparganothoides ( Kruse and Powell 2009). Circanota undulata is not among the species reared during the extensive survey of the caterpillars of Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica ( Janzen and Hallwachs 2014); however, it has been collected at light (n = 8 specimens) within the same study area. Because most Sparganothini are polyphagous leaf-rollers ( Powell and Brown 2012), it is assumed that larvae of this species would have been encountered if it was feeding externally on living vegetation. Although leaf-litter feeding is unusual within Tortricidae , it is the main feeding mode in the Australian Epitymbiini ( Tortricinae) ( Powell and Common 1985) and has been implicated as the feeding strategy in the Nearctic genus Anopina Obraztsov, 1962 ( Tortricinae: Euliini ) ( Brown and Powell 2000) and the Neotropical genus Sparganothoides ( Kruse and Powell 2009).

Barcodes.

BOLD (Barcode of Life Database, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph) includes sequence data for 12 specimens of Circanota undulata but no specimens of Circanota simplex . Of the 12 specimens, I have examined four from the ALAS Project (The Arthropods of La Selva) ( Colwell and Longino 2006) (INBio) and three from Area de Conservación Guanacaste ( Janzen and Hallwachs 2014) (USNM). Five specimens from Area de Conservación Guanacaste could not be located. The 12 specimens show genetic divergence of less than 0.1% among the samples. In neighbor-joining trees (based on COI) for all Spaganothini , Circanota is portrayed nearest Sparganothoides , consistent with many morphological features (e.g., the crescent-shaped signum, the presence of secondary arms of the gnathos, the absence of dorsal pits, minimal sexual dimorphism).

Remarks.

The male genitalia of the two included species are divergent in several features, in particular the shapes of the valva and the phallus, casting some doubt on their putative congeneric status. However, the two species are virtually indistinguishable in facies, including the most compelling synapomorphy of the genus (i.e., undulate costa in both sexes), and the male genitalia share a unique combination of characters: a long, slender uncus; short socii with long, slender secondary arms (not expanded distally); and a membranous lobelike process at the outer margin of the valva. Both species also lack modified scaling on the frons in the male (which is present in many Platynota ) and dorsal pits (which are present in many Amorbia and Sparganopseustis and nearly all Coelostathma , Aesiocopa , and Sparganopseustis ). On the basis of these characters, the two species are assigned to Circanota .

Etymology.

The generic name is from the Latin “circum”, meaning around, and the Latin “nota,” meaning mark. It is interpreted as masculine.