Eueupithecia vollonoides Hausmann

Hausmann, Axel, Chainey, John, Heard, Tim A., Kay, Fernando Mc & Raghu, S., 2016, Revision of the genus Eueupithecia Prout, 1910 from Argentina (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Sterrhinae), Zootaxa 4138 (2), pp. 392-400 : 397-398

Eueupithecia vollonoides Hausmann sp. n.

Figures 3, 4

Holotype. Female, Arg[entina], Salta Prov., Rd 14, 1352km, 20 Aug 2008, leg. Mc Kay & Oleiro / collected as larva feeding on leaves of Parkinsonia aculeata ; gen. prp. ZSM G 14512; BC ZSM Lep 24264; coll. Museo de La Plata (FCNyN – UNLP).

Paratypes. 3 males, 5 females, Argentina, “UU2 colony”, reared in Australia with ancestors from various localities in the Salta province, coll. ZSM. 1 male, 1 female, id., coll. NHM. 2 males, 3 females, id., coll. FuEDEI.

Additional material, not designed as paratypes because of their heavily damaged wings. 1 male, 1 female, “ Argentina, Salta province, Yuchán, 4. April 2011, leg. Mc Kay & Heard / collected as larva feeding on leaves of Parkinsonia aculeata ” (gen. prp. ZSM G 14533 + 14538).

Description. Wingspan of female holotype 24 mm, of female paratypes 21–23 mm, of male paratypes 19–20 mm. Frons flat, brown, vertex whitish. Proboscis very short. Palpi very short and narrow in both sexes. Male antennae ciliate-fasciculate, in female filiform, ‘naked’. Male hindtibia and tarsus narrow, without spurs, in female with two spurs. Further external morphological characters see description of genus. Ground colour of female holotype ash grey, hindwing slightly paler than forewing. On forewing antemedial line dissolved to three or four inconspicuous black dots. Postmedial line dissolved to a row of conspicuous, black dots, parallel to termen, close to forewing costa projecting towards base, but at costa again bent back towards apex, well marked at costa. Fringe dots small. Discal spots large on all wings. Underside with discal spots distinctly marked, postmedial lines weak.

Variability. Coloration and pattern of male and female paratypes showing little variation, similar to that of the female holotype; postmedial line of hindwing almost uninterrupted from discal spot to inner termen; males smaller than females (see under description).

Male genitalia ( Figure 7). Uncus and gnathos comparatively stout, uncus sub-truncate at tip. Valva long and slender, at tip rounded. Saccus small. Aedeagus very broad, with two cornuti, the basal one straight, narrow, tapering, dilated at base. Distal cornutus smaller, straight, tapering. Length of aedeagus 1.5 mm, width at tip 0.7 mm.

Female genitalia ( Figure 8). Papillae anales with conspicuous lateral lobi and a conspicuous sclerite between. Apophyses posteriores short and thin. Colliculum comparatively broad, sclerotized. Ductus bursae short. Corpus bursae pyriform, with huge, paired sclerites, covering the posterior 2/3.

Differential analysis. E. cisplatensis on average smaller, furthermore differing in the more brownish ground colour, the discal spots and postmedial costal spot are usually less marked. In male genitalia the aedeagus is much narrower, the distal cornutus hook-shaped. In female genitalia the sclerites of corpus bursae are much smaller and less sclerotized, covering less than half corpus bursae. Euacidalia externata (Walker, 1863) from Dominican Republic (type specimen examined) with black spots in the forewing terminal area. Euacidalia angusta (Warren, 1906) from Peru (type specimen of synonym E. oriochares and approx. 20 further specimens examined) with three conspicuous, dark forewing costal spots, antemedial line well developed, hindwing cell spot inconspicuous. Euacidalia oroandes (Druce, 1893) from Guatemala (type specimen examined) with conspicuous, dark forewing costal spots, fringe dots well developed, with dark line (and pale borders) from the inconspicuous hindwing cell spot towards the inner termen. Euacidalia rosea (Warren, 1897) from Surinam with rosy brown ground colour, fringe dots well developed, cell spots on all wings inconspicuous, hindwing with zigzagging medial line. See also differential diagnosis (morphological traits) under genus Eueupithecia .

Distribution. Northern Argentina (Salta, Formosa, Chaco, Santa Fe provinces). Eueupithecia vollonoides sp. n. was recorded at several sites in central-northern provinces of Argentina as far north as Embarcación, Salta (23.19°) south to near Reconquista, Santa Fe province (29.14°) ( Figure 9 ). No overlap of the distribution range of the two species has been found, with Eueupithecia vollonoides sp. n. having a more north-westerly distribution to E. cisplatensis ( Figure 9 ).

Biology. The basic biology is similar to E. cisplatensis (see above). Comparative studies are underway to document any subtle differences.

Genetic data. BOLD:AAF1787 (BC ZSM Lep 24264: Salta province). Distance from E. cisplatensis : 4.1%. The genetic data of the sister genus Euacidalia —as far as currently available—include at least 13 lineages (supposed species) in the Neotropical region, none of them approaching the two Eueupithecia -lineages to distances closer than 8%.

Etymology. The species name refers to the external similarity with the North African species Idaea volloni (Lucas & Joannis, 1907) , which interestingly was originally described in the Neotropical genus Euacidalia .

Figures

FIGURE 9. Occurrence records (confirmed by genitalia dissections; symbols) and hypothesized distribution (hatching) for Eueupithecia cisplatensis (red squares; red, horizontal hatching) and E. vollonoides sp. n. (golden circles; blue, vertical hatching) in Argentina based on sampling effort to date.

FIGURES 1 – 4: Adults. Scale bar = 1 cm.