Megalota ricana Brown, 2009

Brown, John W., 2009, The discovery of Megalota in the Neotropics, with a revision of the New World species (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutini), Zootaxa 2279 (1), pp. 1-50 : 22-23

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2279.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5315436
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038E7928-FFD5-FF89-FD9F-E7AFFE4AFBC1
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Megalota ricana Brown
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

13. Megalota ricana Brown View in CoL , new species Figs. 13 View FIGURES 13–24 , 37 View FIGURES 37–39 , 58 View FIGURES 56–59

Diagnosis. Megalota ricana is superficially and morphologically most similar to M. bicolorana and M. delphinosema . The male genitalia of M. ricana can be distinguished from those of M. bicolorana by the shallow notch at the dorsum of the uncus ( Fig. 37 View FIGURES 37–39 ), which is much deeper in M. bicolorana ( Fig. 39 View FIGURES 37–39 ), and by the presence of one or two cornuti in the vesica compared to the three cornuti of M. bicolorana . The male of M. delphinosema ( Fig. 35 View FIGURES 34–36 ) is easily distinguished by the characteristically bent phallus.

Description. Head: Vertex pale pink brown, frons creamy white; labial palpus creamy white in basal and ventral 0.5, red-brown in distal 0.5. Thorax: Dorsum pale red brown, metascutum with copper brown tuft. Hind tibia in male with dense brush of creamy white scales concealing hairpencil. Forewing length 7.0– 7.5 mm (mean = 7.2); vaguely two-toned, with pale basal region and darker distal region; basal 0.5 pale red ocherous with paler semicircular patch near mid-dorsum; variably developed, dark brown, triangular dash near base of dorsum; distal 0.5 dark brown and red brown, median fascia, representing basal edge of distal 0.5, darker, usually uninterrupted from costa to dorsum, tornal region reddish brown, bordered apically by oblong blotch extending from mid-termen to distal end of discal cell, with narrow, curved extension intersecting median fascia near its middle; subapical region with pale brownish pink bar bordering costal edge of oblong blotch. Fringe brown. Hindwing uniformly brown, anal margin in male with well-developed roll of sex scales. Fringe pale brown. Abdomen: Pale red brown. Male genitalia ( Fig. 37 View FIGURES 37–39 ; 5 View FIGURES 1–12 preparations examined) with tegumen subrectanglar, lateral portions nearly straight, subparallel, slightly narrowed dorsally; uncus broad with shallow dorsal notch, each lobe kidney bean-shaped, densely spined; socius membranous, inconspicuous; valva somewhat parallel-sided, slightly attenuate in distal 0.15; cluster of spiniform setae near venter ca. 0.5 distance from base to apex; subbasal patch of elongate setae situated just basad of spiniform cluster; basal process of valva long, slender, ca. 5 times as long as wide, elbowed ca. 0.4 distance from base on inner side, tip with short spines. Phallus short, weakly curved throughout, with one or two small dorsal thorns between ca. 0.33 and 0.25 from apex; vesica with one or two cornuti, one moderate in size from a small rounded sclerite, the other (sometimes lacking or inconspicuous) shorter and narrower, from smaller rounded basal sclerite. Female genitalia ( Fig. 58 View FIGURES 56–59 ; 1 View FIGURES 1–12 preparation examined) with papillae anales comparatively broad; sterigma a sclerotized band, slightly narrowed mesally at junction with ostium; colliculum long, straight, slightly greater than 0.5 length of ductus bursae, with strongly sclerotized lateral edges; remainder of ductus bursae membranous; corpus bursae round, finely punctate, with signum in form of weakly curved, fin-shaped sclerite from an irregularly semicircular sclerotized base.

Holotype. Male, Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Est. Sirena, P.N. Corcovado, Osa Peninsula , 0–100 m, 5–11 Jan 1981, D. Janzen & W. Hallwachs ( INBio), USNM slide 124,540.

Paratypes (20♂, 1♀). COSTA RICA: Alajuela: N slope Volcán de Rincon , 2 km W Dos Rios, 550 m, 22 May 1985 (1♂), J. Powell & P. Opler ( EME) . Cartago: Turrialba, Grano de Oro, Chirripo , 1120 m, Aug 1993 (1♂), P. Campos ( INBio) . CATIE, 3 km SE Turrialba , 600 m, 16 May 1985 (1♂), J. Powell ( EME) . Guanacaste: Est. Pitilla , 9 km S Santa Cecilia, 700 m, Mar 1989 (1♂), Dec 1989 (1♂), 11–30 Jan 1993 (1♂), all P. Rios ( INBio) . Est. Maritza, lado oeste del Volcán Orosi , Jul 1990 (3♂), Aug 1990 (1♂), I Curso Microlepid. ( INBio) . Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Pitilla, Pasmompa , 440 m, 03-SRNP-20902, 4 Sep 2003, em: 22 Sep 2003 (1♂), r.f., Croton schiedeanus, P. Rios (USNM) . Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Santa Rosa, Quebrada , 275 m, 92-SRNP-3189, 13 Jul 1992, em: 29 Jul 1992 (1♂), r.f. Croton niveus , gusañeros ( USNM) . Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector del Oro, Quebrada Trigal , 290 m, 04-SRNP-25739, 23 Oct 2004, em: 7 Nov 2004 (1♂), 04-SRNP-25738, em: 8 Nov 2004 (1♂), r.f. Croton schiedeanus, E. Cantillano (USNM) . Heredia: Finca La Selva ( OTS) , Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui , 6–9 Mar 1985 (1♂), D. H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs ( INBio) . Est. Magsasay, P.N. Braulio Carrillo, 200 m, Apr (1♀), R. Aguillar ( INBio) . Puntarenas: Est. Sirena, P.N. Corcovado, Osa Peninsula , 0–100 m, Dec 1990 (2♂), Mar 1991 (1♂), Apr 1991 (1♂), G. Fonseca ( INBio) . Rancho Quemado, Peninsula de Osa , 200 m, Feb 1992 (1♂), F. Quesada ( INBio) .

Distribution and Biology. This species is known from Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, and Guanacaste provinces, Costa Rica, between 200 and 700 m elevation. Janzen & Hallwachs (2007) reared one specimen from Croton niveus Jacq. and four from Croton schiedeanus Schltdl. (Euphorbiaceae) .

Etymology. The specific epithet refers, in part, to the country in which the species was collected - Costa Rica; “rica” means rich.