Sertania guttata ( Stichel, 1910 ) Freitas, 2017

Freitas, André V. L., 2017, Sertania gen. nov., a new genus of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) from the South American dry diagonal, Zootaxa 4312 (1), pp. 165-179 : 172-173

Sertania guttata ( Stichel, 1910) , comb. nov.

( Figs 1–4 , 13–22 , 27 , 39–41 )

Hamearis guttata Stichel, 1910 : Berlin Ent. Zeit. 55:46–47. Type locality: Mendoza, Argentina. Holotype female #3561 ZMHU (examined).

= Apodemia minuscula Giacomelli, 1911 : Anales de la Soc. Cient. Arg. LXXII: plate 7, Fig. 26 . A male lectotype, here designated, has the following labels: LECTOTYPUS/ ♂ Apodemia minuscula, Giac. [omelli] n. sp. La Rioja [, La Rioja, Argentina] / LECTOTYPE ♂ Apodemia minuscula Giacomelli, 1911 by G. Lamas ‘92 [unpublished] / Hamearis minuscula Giac. [omelli] CUM SPECIMINIBUS IN COLL. BRIT. HIST. NAT. SERV. COMP. ET DET. K. J. Hayward / Es Audre guttata (Stich.) K. J. Hayward DET. / LECTOTYPE Apodemia minuscula Giacomelli, 1911 Callaghan & Kaminski det. 2017/ (MACN). The characteristic lectotype label will be sent to the curator of the collection.

= Hamearis guayapensis Köhler, 1923 : Zeit. Wiss. Ins. Biol 18:30, Plate 2, Figs. 26–28 . A male lectotype, here designated, has the following labels: LECTOTYPUS/ Hamearis guaypensis fa nov. / Rep. Argentina A. BREYER / BREYER ARGENTINA PROV LA RIOJA / lectotype ♂ Hamearis guayapensis Köhler, 1923 G. Lamas det. ‘92 [unpublished] / LECTOTYPE Hamearis guayapensis Giacomelli, 1911 Callaghan & Kaminski det. 2017/ (MLPA). The characteristic lectotype label will be sent to the curator of the collection.

Diagnosis. Forewing length: males 10.5–11.0 mm (n = 10), females 12.1 mm (n = 3).

Sertania guttata comb. nov. appears at first glance as a small Aricoris with white spots much like sympatric Aricoris signata ( Stichel, 1910) , but can be easily distinguished by the scalloped distal margin of the FW and the lacking of the spot at the base of the HW cell Sc + R1. Differences with the additional species in the genus are discussed in following sections.

Variation. This species shows some variation between and within populations regarding the extent of yelloworange scaling on both wings.

Biology and distribution. The type locality of Sertania guttata comb. nov. in Mendoza and some distribution records in La Rioja (Argentina) correspond to xeric habitats, known as Monte vegetation ( Fig. 34 ), part of a warm shrub desert at the east of the Andean mountains ( Giacomelli 1911, Roig-Juñent et al. 2001). Most of the additional records are from Chaco vegetation formations in lowlands and mountain areas of “chaco serrano” ( Fig. 35 ), but never above 1500 m. Adult habits are sedentary and males were observed perching for long periods with closed wings on low bushes or on the ground. In consecutive visits, different males are found in the same places in an apparent territorial behavior ( Figs 39–40 ). Females were encountered nectaring on flowers with wings spread. The range of S. guttata comb. nov. includes central and western Argentina in the Provinces of Catamarca, Cordoba, Formosa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Salta and Santiago del Estero ( Volkmann & Nuñez-Bustos 2010, Nuñez-Bustos & Volkmann 2013). In western Paraguay, it is recorded in Chaco areas ( Drechsel 2016) and although it should occur in similar habitats in Bolivia ( Jauffret et al. 2008) its presence there has yet to be confirmed.

Material examined. ARGENTINA: Cordoba: Capilla del Monte , 29.i.2015, 1♂, L.A. Kaminski leg., DNAvoucher BLU882 ( ZUEC) ; La Rioja: 4♂ “ Rioja ”, ( MLPA), Anillaco , 24.i.2015, 2♂, L.A. Kaminski leg., DNAvoucher BLU880-881 ( ZUEC), Punta de los Llanos, 27.xii.2015, 1♂, L.A. Kaminski leg. ( ZUEC) ; Salta: 1 km E. Pichinal-Salta (300m), 5♂, 2♀, R. Eisele leg. (CJC).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 12. Sertania gen. nov. species in dorsal and ventral views, respectively. 1 – 4, Sertania guttata comb. nov., male (DNA-voucher BLU 882) (1 – 2) from Capilla del Monte, Cordoba, Argentina (ZUEC), and female (3 – 4) from La Rioja, Argentina (MACN); 5 – 8, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov., male holotype (5 – 6) from Jaíba, Minas Gerais, Brazil (MNRJ), and female (DNA-voucher NS 0104) (7 – 8) from Sempre Vivas National Park, Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil (ZUEC); 9 – 12, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov., male (DNA-voucher BLU 889) (9 – 10) from Custódia, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), and female (11 – 12) from Catimbau National Park, Pernambuco, Brazil (Cemafauna-Univasf). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 13 – 18. Adult morphology of Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Punta de los Llanos, La Rioja, Argentina. 13 – 16 in lateral view. 13, male palpus; 14, male foreleg; 15, male middle leg; 16, female foreleg; 17, forewing venation; 18, hind wing venation. Scale bars = 0.5 and 1.8 mm.

FIGURES 19 – 26. Male genitalia of Sertania gen. nov. species. 19 – 22, Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Punta de los Llanos, La Rioja, Argentina (ZUEC), lateral view (19), tegumen and uncus in dorsal view (20), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (21), valvae in lateral view (22). 23 – 24, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov. paratype from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil (DZUP), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (23), valvae in lateral view (24). 25 – 26, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov. from Ibimirim, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), tegumen and uncus in lateral view (25), valvae in lateral view (26). Scale bars = 0.25 mm.

FIGURES 27 – 32. Female genitalia of Sertania gen. nov. species. 27, Sertania guttata comb. nov. from Pichinal, Salta, Argentina (CJC), ventral view. 28 – 30, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov. from Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil (ZUEC), papilla analis (28), sterigma in ventral view (29), note the oval opening (arrow), signus (30). 31 – 32, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov. from Ibimirim, Pernambuco, Brazil (ZUEC), sterigma in ventral view (31), note the circular opening (arrow), signus (32). Scale bars = 0.5 mm (Fig. 27) and 0.1 mm (Figs 28 – 32).

FIGURES 39 – 44. Live adults of Sertania gen. nov. in the field. 39 – 41, Sertania guttata comb. nov., male in Capilla del Monte (39 – 40) and female (41) in Carlos Paz, Cordoba, Argentina; 42 – 44, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov., perching male in Custódia (42) and Floresta (43) and female (44) on flower in Salgueiro, Pernambuco, Brazil. Scale bar = 1 cm. Photos (41) by G. Muriziasco and (42 – 44) by DHA Melo.

FIGURES 34 – 37. Overview of Sertania gen. nov. habitats in South American ‘ dry diagonal’. 34 – 35, Sertania guttata comb. nov., monte vegetation (34) in Anillaco, La Rioja, and Chaco serrano (35) in Capilla del Monte, Cordoba, Argentina; 36, Sertania jaibensis comb. nov., stat. nov., rocky montane fields in Sempre Vivas National Park, Buenópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil; 37, Sertania lambedor comb. nov., stat. nov., arboreal caatinga in Custódia, Pernambuco, Brazil. Photos (36) by CA Iserhard and (37) by DHA Melo.