Hypanartia bella (Fabricius, 1793)

Llorente-Bousquets, Jorge, Nieves-Uribe, Sandra & Flores-Gallardo, Adrián, 2023, Exochorion in the tribe Nymphalini (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): the genus Hypanartia Hübner, [1821] and comparison with related genera, Zootaxa 5330 (2), pp. 151-200 : 164

Hypanartia bella ( Plates 6 , 7 ) (n=20).

The chorion of 717 µm in length and 708 µm in width; the length/width ratio is 1.01 and width/length ratio is 0.99; the greatest amplitude is at the equator ( Plates 6 , 7 , Figs. A). The egg has a hemispherical shape with a convex base that is 2.2 times wider than the semi-flattened apex ( Plates 6 , 7 , Figs. A). It features ten to twelve ridges composed of colonnades with beams ( Plate 6 , Fig. A-i, Plate 7 , Fig. A). Most of these ridges run from the edge of the perimicropylar region to the base, although some do not reach the apical third of the chorion ( Plate 6 , Fig. A-ii). The columns in the apical third are the longest and most conspicuous, projecting farther than the rest ( Plate 6 , Fig. A, B-iii, Plate 7 , Fig. A). The capitals of the columns are joined by a beam that is slightly depressed at the intercostal spaces ( Plate 7 , Fig. B) and slightly raised in the aeropyles, about 25–28 per ridge. Between each column there is a space with a thin, translucent, smooth, and fragile intercolumnar wall ( Plate 6 , Fig. A, B-iv, Plate 7 , Fig. B). It is so delicate that it could not support the apical part of the ridges, maybe causing them to become bent ( Plate 6 , Fig. B-v). There are between 23 and 26 columns per ridge; the most apical plinths are the only ones that stand slightly outside the rail, without being marked as ribs in the spaces between the ridges ( Plates 6 , 7 , Figs. A). The columns are shortened, thickened, and fused to the chorion from the equator ( Plates 6 , 7 , Fig. A), but the shafts remain conspicuous at the prebasal zone ( Plate 6 , Fig. A-vi, Plate 7 , Figs A, C). The ribs are present only at the poles; two or three in the apical region that join the upper columns together ( Plate 6 , Fig. A-vii, Plate 7 , Figs. B, D), and five to seven at the prebasal zone ( Plate 6 , Fig. A-viii, Plate 7 , Figs. A, C), that latter of which exhibit a rough texture that extends to the base ( Plate 9 , Fig. C). In apical view, the vestigial ‘ribs’ can be seen more clearly, coinciding with the projections of the plinths ( Plate 6 , Fig. B-ix, Plate 7 , Fig. D), and the projections of the ridges are visible towards the transition zone. The perimicropylar region has an irregular wreath of 23 leaves with four to six sides in two semi-rings. The leaves closest to the rosette have curved vertices, while those closest to the transition zone have sharp vertices, some of them with projections on these parts ( Plate 7 , Fig. E). The micropylar rosette has eight very irregular pentagonal or hexagonal petals, with curved to slightly sharp vertices; they are weakly anchored to the central polygon, which has an irregular shape with two visible micropylar openings ( Plate 7 , Fig. F). Color N 00 A 40 M 50.

Figures

PLATE 6. Chorion of Hypanartia bella. A. Lateral view; B. Apical view. i=ridges in colonnade; ii=short ridges; iii= apical columns; iv= intercolumnar space; v= ‘falling’ ridges; vi= reduced columns; vii=apical ribs; viii=basal ribs; ix= vestigial ‘ribs’.

PLATE 7. Photographs of the chorion of Hypanartia bella under the SEM. A Lateral view.; B. Detail of the colonnades; C. Basal region; D. Apical view; E. Perimicropylar region; F. Micropyle.

PLATE 9. Photographs of the chorion of Hypanartia lethe under the SEM.A Lateral view.; B. Detail of the colonnades; C. Basal region; D. Apical view; E. Perimicropylar region; F. Micropyle.