Clito litteroides Grishin

Grishin, Nick V., 2014, Two new species of Clito from South America and a revision of the Clito littera group (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Pyrginae), Zootaxa 3861 (3), pp. 231-248 : 241-245

Clito litteroides Grishin , new species

( Figs. 7–8 , 25 , 26 b–c, 27 part, 28 part)

Description. Male: ( Figs. 7–8 ): right forewing length = 15 mm in holotype. Forewing elongated, triangular, apex not produced, outer margin convex, straighter near tornus, costal fold between 1/6 from the base to half of costa, scales inside beige in color. Dorsal forewing brown, overscaled with olive-gray, discal hyaline spots in discal, Cu1- Cu2, and Cu2-2A cells shaped on the right forewing as U, V, and w (or C, <, and ε, viewing base-to-apex, reading costa-to-inner margin), respectively, middle spot the largest, discal cell spot basal margin angled to costa; a broad Ω (or ל) -shaped belt of six smaller submarginal hyaline spots in cells between R3 and Cu1 vein. Ventral forewing pattern similar to dorsal, discal spots slightly broader, background paler closer to inner margin. Hindwing rounded, tornus and apex not produced, margin convex. Dorsal hindwing brown, overscaled with olive-gray, with a slightly paler, off-white discal band from Sc+R1 vein to 2A vein, divided by dark veins, a third of the wing width at the level of discal cell, band broadest when crossing the base of M3-Cu1 cell, then narrowing abruptly to a third of its width in Cu2-2A cell, its distal margin not offset at the vein Rs, but aligned between Sc+R1-Rs and Rs-M1 cells, no brown end-of-cell bar, pale spot in Sc+R1-Rs cell elongated, about half of the maximal band width, approximately rectangular; vague, slightly paler than background submarginal and marginal blotches in every cell, costal cell paler than background, anal fold brown. Ventral hindwing pattern similar to dorsal, but slate overscaling more extensive basad, pale areas more contrasting with brown background, discal band paler, almost white, 2A cell to inner margin with a broad central pale area, no defined submarginal and marginal pale blotches. Fringes brown, the same color as wing margins. Head, thorax and abdomen grayish olive brown above, slate beneath with palpi and pectus yellower, head above with patches of paler scales on palpi, frons, above the eyes and on collar, white spots posteriad antennae above the eyes, antenna dark brown, largely slate at anterior margin basad, partly ringed with white beneath at segments near club, nudum reddish brown with 20 segments (tiny scale-free area at the distal end of the 21st segment), legs brown with slate and brown yellowish scales.

Male genitalia: ( Figs. 25 and 26 b–c, 27 part): typical for the group, tegumen broad and short, only slightly extending anteriad of vinculum; uncus undivided, almost straight in lateral view, with a pair of small lateral lobes at the base; gnathos separated from uncus by a distance of its length; saccus rather short and rounded, about three time broader than vinculum; valva elongated, ampulla bulged dorsad towards slightly concave costa, no process, ampulla separated from cucullus by a broad U-shaped gap, no processes from sacculus; cucullus about a third of body of valva in length, slightly longer than high, curving dorsad and terminating in a wide (third of cucullus length) stronger sclerotized granular and serrated area pointing dorsad, curving dorsad ventral margin of cucullus expanding as a distal bulge; penis broad, longer than genital capsule, elevating distad dorsal serrated ridge 1/3 from distal end and angled ventral projection near apex, a pack of longer cornuti and a row of smaller cornuti.

Female: unknown or unrecognized.

Holotype. male, with the following labels: white, printed and handprinted: // VENEZUELA-ARAGUA / Rancho Grande 1100m / 4 June '85 / S. S. Nicolay //; white, printed and handprinted: // Clito ♂ / littera / Det. anda E / S.S. Nicolay //; white, printed: // Genitalia vial # / NVG 130614 -42 / Prep. N. V. Grishin // red, printed: // HOLOTYPE ♂ / Clito litteroides / Grishin //. The holotype is in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA ( USNM).

Type locality. Venezuela: Aragua State, Rancho Grande [Biological Station, approximate GPS coordinates 10° 21' N 67° 41' W], elevation 1100 m.

Etymology. The suffix "-oides" is added to reflect superficial similarity of this new species to C. littera .

Distribution. The species is currently known only from the type locality ( Fig. 28 ).

Diagnosis. The new species belongs to C. littera group because it possesses distally deeply clefted U or Vshaped spots in forewing discal cell and in cell Cu1-Cu2, in wing patters being close to C. littera . It differs from C. palotschka n. sp. described above and from C. jonkersi in lacking the process on the costa of valva, the costa is slightly bulged dorsad, but the bulge is neither more sclerotized, nor granular at the dorsal edge. Hindwing with a broader pale discal band, and its distal margin is not offset at the vein Rs, but smoothly continuing from cell Sc+R1- Rs into cell Rs-M1, spot in Sc+R1-Rs cell is elongated, rectangular rather than diamond-shaped.

It differs from C. anda in having a narrower valva with less bulging ampulla-costa, less curved and differently proportioned cucullus with a smaller distal bulge, but larger terminal more sclerotized and serrated granular area. The hindwing is darker, with a brown anal fold, the discal pale area is not cream, but only slightly paler than the background dorsad and narrower ventrad, its distal edge not angled at the M2 vein, but rather at the Cu1 vein, the dorsal hindwing has poorly defined marginal and submarginal spots.

It differs from C. littera , trinidadensis and nebulosa in having a more curved cucullus with a wider distal bulge and a larger terminal serrated area. Additionally it differs from C. trinidadensis and nebulosa in having a distally broader body of valva with a more bulging ampulla-costa and wing patterns being intermediate in paleness between C. trinidadensis and nebulosa . Finally, it differs from the visually closest relative C. littera in having a shallower ampulla, a paler hindwing with vestigial dark end-of-cell bar, and basal edge of forewing discal cell pale spot being straight or rounded, angled to the costa, not perpendicular to it. It is important to note that due to unexplored variation, wing pattern characters are very preliminary and may not hold up in series, thus only genitalia characters are expected to be reliable and diagnostic. These and other characters are given in the key below, illustrated in Fig. 27 , and localities of the C. littera group species mapped in Fig. 28 .

Figures

FIGURE 25. Clito litteroides n. sp. male genitalia, holotype. Genitalia vial No. NVG 130614 - 42 [USNM] (specimen Figs. 7 – 8). Genital capsule in different views: a. right posterolateral; b. dorsal; c. left laterodorsal; d. right laterodorsal; e. left lateral; f. right lateral; g. right anterolateral; h. right ventrolateral; i. posterior; j. anterior; k. ventral. All images are to scale.

FIGURE 26. Male genitalia of Clito littera group species. a, g. C. littera lectotype, designated here, " Brasil ", P. Mabille collection 1923, R. Oberthür Coll., Brit. Mus. 1927 - 3, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982948 [BMNH], in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off: a. various views rotating from right posterolateral through posterior to left posterolateral; g. ventrolateral (specimen Figs. 9 – 10); b, c. C. litteroides holotype, Venezuela: Aragua State, Rancho Grande [Biological Station, approximate GPS coordinates 10 ° 21 ' N 67 ° 41 ' W], elevation 1100 m, 4 - Jun- 1985, leg. S. S. Nicolay, genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 42 [USNM]: b. section of complete genitalia in posterolateral view; c. complete genitalia in lateral view and uncus with distal part of tegumen in dorsal view (specimen Figs. 7 – 8); d. C. nebulosa holotype, ventral, lateral and dorsal views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis, illustration from Mielke & Schröder (1994) (specimen Figs. 15 – 16); e, f. C. trinidadensis holotype, Trinidad, Morne Catherine, 24 - Mar- 1982, leg. M. J. W. Cock, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982949 [BMNH], dorsal and lateral views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis, illustration from Cock (1998) (specimen Figs. 17 – 18); h. C. palotschka paratype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis [USNM], complete genitalia in lateral view and uncus with distal part of tegumen in dorsal view (specimen Figs. 5 – 6); i. C. jonkersi holotype, Surinam, Domburg, 8 - Mar- 1975, leg. E. H. Jonkers [RMNH], lateral internal view of left valva and lateral view of uncus and gnathos, illustration from de Jong (1983) (specimen Figs. 19 – 20); j. C. palotschka paratype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis [USNM], right valva and uncus in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off (specimen Figs. 3 – 4); k. C. palotschka holotype, Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita – San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 - 300 m, 4 - Mar- 2001, leg. D. H. Ahrenholz [USNM], right valva in situ on a specimen, scales brushed off (specimen Figs. 1 – 2); l. C. anda, Brazil: Rondônia, Cacaulândia municipality, Fazenda Rancho Grande, genitalia No. GTA 4377, illustration from Austin (2000), ventral, lateral and dorsal views of tegumen, uncus, gnathos and associated structures, lateral internal view of right valva, lateral view of penis; m – o. C. anda [holo] type, French Guiana, Collect. C. Bar, R. Oberthür Coll., Brit. Mus. 1931 – 136, specimen No. BMNH (E) # 982947 [BMNH] (specimen Figs. 11 – 12), left valva on m. and Evans's sketches: n. pinned in the collection [BMNH]; o. published, and more stylized, version (Evans 1953), lateral internal view of left valva, lateral and ventral views of uncus, gnathos and distal half of penis. Species name is given below each image, holotypes and paratypes are labeled as HT and PT. Gray " F " indicates mirror image (left-right inverted). Images a, f, g, m – o. are copyright (©) Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (used with permission).

FIGURE 27. Visual keys to species in the Clito littera group. Dorsal and ventral aspects for each species are shown on the left and right of the species name, respectively. Images shown are illustrations, sometimes composed of photographic segments from left and right sides and digitally edited to highlight the wing patterns instead of imperfections in specimens. Images are set to be approximately the same size. Unedited and to scale photographs of specimens are shown in Figs. 1 – 20. Since these species are defined on the basis of male genitalia, which are likely to be diagnostic, wing pattern characters are preliminary due to exceedingly small samples of available specimens, and exceptions are expected. Wing pattern characters should be treated as suggestions for further research. Photographs of C. jonkersi and C. nebulosa are by Bernard Hermier and Ernst Brockmann, respectively. Images of C. littera, C. trinidadensis and C. anda are copyright (©) Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (used with permission).

FIGURE 28. Distribution of Clito littera group species. C. palotschka n. sp. — red heart; C. litteroides n. sp. — blue star; C. littera — black crosses, locality per label of the lectotype that states " Brasil " [not per original description (Mabille 1877), which states " Apurimacensi valle et Peruvia " and is likely incorrect], and similar phenotype currently known only from Brazil: Rio de Janeiro (specimens in OM-DZUP and MGCL); C. anda — purple up-pointing triangles; C. nebulosa — green square; C. trinidadensis — orange circle; C. jonkersi — cyan down-pointing triangles. Specimen image is shown near the type locality of each taxon, a line connects to the locality.

FIGURES 1 – 8. New species of Clito from the C. littera group. 1 – 6. C. palotschka n. sp.: Ecuador: Esmeraldas Prov., El Durango, km 39 Lita-San Lorenzo road, 1 ° 02.45 ' N, 78 ° 38.06 ' W, 230 – 300 m: 1 – 2. holotype, 4 - Mar- 2001, leg. D. H. Ahrenholz (valva in situ Fig. 26 k); 3 – 6. paratypes, {25, 27} - Aug- 2002, leg. J. P. W. Hall & M. A. Solis: 3 – 4. (valva in situ Fig. 26 j); 5 – 6. genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 43 (genitalia Figs. 24, 26 h). 7 – 8. C. litteroides n. sp., holotype, Venezuela: Aragua State, Rancho Grande [Biological Station, approximate GPS coordinates 10 ° 21 ' N 67 ° 41 ' W], elevation 1100 m, 4 - Jun- 1985, leg. S. S. Nicolay, genitalia vial NVG 130614 - 42 (genitalia Figs. 25, 26 b, c). All specimens are males and are in USNM collection. Dorsal and ventral surfaces are shown on odd- and even-numbered figures, respectively. Labels are shown between specimen images. Labels are reduced 2.5 times compared to specimens: small scale bar below P. palotschka holotype labels refers to labels, and larger scale bars refer to specimens.