Bia Hübner

Penz, Carla M., Casagrande, Mirna M., Devries, Phil & Simonsen, Thomas J., 2017, Documenting diversity in the Amazonian butterfly genus Bia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), Zootaxa 4258 (3), pp. 201-237 : 206

Bia Hübner

Napho Doubleday

Re-description. Male FW length 22.2–29.8 mm, n=144; female 24.4– 38 mm, n=25. HEAD: Antenna mildly clubbed, yellow-orange to brown, darker at tip; labial palpus upturned, 2nd segment much longer than 1st and 3rd segments combined, 2nd segment creamy white with brown scales laterally; chaetosomata present, very small; vestiture on head brown; eyes naked. THORAX: Brown vestiture dorsally, brown and yellow-orange striped ventrally to match ventral wing ripple pattern. FW subtriangular, distal margin convex; HW with a prominent tail at CuA2, distal margin approximately straight. Base of FW veins Sc +R, CuA and 1A+2A inflated in both sexes. DFW and DHW mostly brown in both sexes; female DFW and DHW paler than in male, female DHW usually paler than DFW. DFW of both sexes with two white apical ocelli below Rs 3 and Rs 4 variable in size within and between species, infrequently absent. DFW of both sexes with a dark brown, diffuse ocellus below M1 variable in size and intensity within and between species. DFW with an orange crescent band variable in position and width between sexes (female band usually more proximal, equal to, or narrower than, male band) and also among species. DFW with an iridescent blue patch variable in size, position and intensity between sexes (female blue patch more proximal, more widely extended across wing, and usually less intensely iridescent than male blue patch). In males, the DFW iridescent blue patch varies in presence and size between species. VFW with ripple pattern that fades posteriorly, yellow segments of the ripple pattern more prominent in the female than male sex. In both sexes, VFW ocelli mirror the dorsal side, with ocellus below M1 being usually conspicuous, with a purple pupil, and being sometimes encased by a bright yellow rim variable in width. This ocellus varies in size within and between species. VHW with ripple pattern that does not differ between sexes. Sometimes the ripple pattern is lined by silvery white color, which varies within and between species. VHW distal edge with a yellow-orange line followed by a brown line, both variable in width between individuals and species. VHW of both sexes with one simple, yellow-orange ocellus always present below Sc +R, others may be present below Rs and M1; an irregular ocellus with linear pupil always present below CuA1; tail darkening towards tip. Multiple sets of wing androconial organs present. DFW androconial organ on CuA-CuA1-CuA2 intersection dark brown or pale, and a sparse cluster of modified, hair-like scales located posteriorly to it, within the cell below vein CuA2. DHW with an androconial pad and associated hairpencil inside the discal cell, varying in color within and between species. DHW with posterior hairpencil between 1A+2A and 3A that is cream-colored and composed of a variable number of rows. Scale pad under this hairpencil variable in color from white to dark orange. Female foreleg with tibial and tarsal spines, spines of the third and fourth tarsal segments stouter and longer than those of other segments; last tarsal segment longer than wide, with numerous sensillae and reduced pulvilli, arolium absent. Mid and hind legs with prominent tibial and tarsal spines; brown on one side, pale on the other; arolium well developed; pulvillus well developed with microtrichia and paired ventral and dorsal hooks/spines. ABDOMEN: Pregenitalic abdomen scaled, darker brown dorsally than ventrally. Three large tergal androconial organs on A4, A5 and A6 composed of pale-colored, elongate scales. Male genitalia: tegumen large and domed. Uncus deep, strongly curved, slightly setose. Gnathos paired, large, hook-shaped, variable in width between species, and with membranous articulation to tegument. Vinculum narrow. Saccus large, cylindrical and variable in width and length. Valva long, broader basally and narrowing distally with concave dorsal margin, dorso-distal area always with a pad of small spines that may or may not reach the valva tip; valva tip variable from narrow to truncate. Phallus cylindrical, curved in lateral view, with a robust phallobase. Female genitalia: sterigma simple, delicate. Posterior section (lamella postvaginalis) well developed, smooth, and with an elongate central lobe. Anterior section (lamella antevaginalis) with two very thin arms curving inward and meeting centrally to form a ring that encircles a membranous area. Ductus bursae narrow distally, expanding anteriorly to oval-shaped corpus bursae. Signa straight, parallel, approximately the same length as corpus bursae, and composed of small spines. Posterior edge of papillae anales curved, covered with setae that are longer on the dorsal portion; posterior apophyses very thin, slightly shorter than the papillae anales are tall.