Vadina hodeei, (Oberthur, 1881), Worthy & González & Zilli, 2022

Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M. & Zilli, Alberto, 2022, A review of the genera Amauta Houlbert, 1918 and Divana J. Y. Miller, 1982 (Lepidoptera: Castniidae) with description of a new genus, Zootaxa 5194 (3), pp. 301-342 : 328

hodeei ( Oberthür, 1881)

( Figs. 10A–C )

“ Castnia Hodeei , OBERTHüR.” Oberthür, 1881, Études d’Entomologie 6: 29–30, Pl. IV, fig. 1.

Type material: All the evidence indicates that this species was described from a single female collected by Eujenio Garzón. We therefore consider the specimen as the holotype by [likely] monotypy ( Fig. 10C ). At the time of description, it was in the collection of Charles Oberthür (1845–1924), it is now in NHMUK.

Type locality: Oberthür (1881) states “Superbe espèce découverte en Nouvelle-Grenade par l’indien Eujenio Garzon, qui chassait autrefois pour le compte du regretté M. Steinheil, de Munich, et de qui nous avons reçu une collection formée surtout aux environs de Santa-Rosa et de Carare.” ; Nouvelle-Grenade is now known as Colombia. We believe that Oberthür misinterpreted the locality and that rather than the specimens being collected at Santa Rosa and Carare they were collected at Santa Rosa del Carare , which is a place in Santander province at 6°20’33.3”N 74°00’35.9”W. Oberthür does point out that the collection he received from Garzon was collected mainly at the two localities so it cannot be certain that this is the type locality, but it does seem highly probable .

Taxonomic status: A valid species of Vadina fixed as the type species of this genus in the present publication, comb. nov.

Male genitalia: ( Fig. 4G ) Uncus and anterior section of gnathos apophysis slightly sclerotised, more so than the tegumen. Gnathos slightly sclerotised, bifid and pointed anteriad. Cucullus and valvula rounded. Ventral margin of valva slightly concave. Sacculus almost quadrate. Ventral margin of valve slightly concave. Phallus slightly to moderately curved, its distal section slightly larger than twice the length of coecum, very slightly tapered.Subterminal portion of phallus enlarged. Terminal portion of phallus not contorted, open caudally and widely enlarged finishing in an almost pointed tip.

Distribution: This appears to be a rare species, the nominotypical subspecies of which seems to be confined to northern and central areas of Colombia, particularly in the Magdalena valley. We know of records from the following departments: Bolívar, Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca (doubtful) (see González et al. 2013) ( Fig. 15 ).

Discussion: Despite the somewhat wide area of distribution, the nominotypical subspecies appears to be rare and was only known from old specimens until a male was collected in 2019. It is replaced on the western slopes of the Western Cordillera of Colombia and in western Ecuador by ssp. kruegeri ( Niepelt, 1927) ( González et al. 2013) ; in the past kruegeri was considered to be even rarer than hodeei ( González et al. 2013) , but in recent years more material has become available from western Ecuador.

There is an error in González et al. (2013); in the examined material one specimen was listed as “[this is the type specimen of Castnia corrupta described by Schaus (1896) and now considered a synonym of V. hodeei hodeei ( Lamas, 1995) ]”. In fact, the specimen mentioned, misidentified as C. corrupta , is the type of Castnia amazona Knop, 1925 .

Material examined: 12 males and 6 females were examined for this study. As well as the types of hodeei , corrupta and amazona , we have examined from Colombia 1♂ Guamoco, F. Johnson; 1♀ Caucaval [Cauca valley], F. Johnson ( AMNH); 2♂♂ Bogota, Fre. Appolinaire Marie, 1931 ( MNHN); 2♂♂ Muzo, ex Joicey; 1♂ Nouvelle Grenade, reçu du frère Apolinar Maria en Mars 1923, 1♂ 1925, Ap. Maria, ex Joicey; 1♂ 1♀ ex Joicey, Ap. Maria; 1♀ Muzo, ex Hopp; ( NHMUK); 1♀ Boyacá; 1♀ no data ( USNM); 1♂ Quipama, Boyacá, April 2019 ( DC).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Genitalia drawings. A: ♂ Amauta procera (coll. RW); B: ♂ A. cacica (coll. RW); C: ♂ A. angusta (coll. RW); D: ♂ A. papilionaris amethystina (NHMUK); E: ♂ A. p. papilionaris (coll. RW); F: ♂ A. p. lionela (coll. RW); G: ♂ Vadina h. hodeei (NHMUK); H: ♂ V. h. kruegeri (coll. RW).

FIGURE 10. A–C: Vadina hodeei hodeei (Oberthür, 1881): A, ♂ HT, corrupta (Schaus, 1896), Colombia, ex Schaus, USNMENT01244439 (USNM); B, ♂ HT, amazona (Knop, 1925), Campo Santo, Bogota, Colombia, 1922, ex Pfeiffer (ETHZ); C, ♀ HT, hodeei, Nouv[elle] Grenade, pris par l’Indien Eujenio Garzon, ex Oberthür, NHMUK010474215 (NHMUK). D, E: Vadina hodeei kruegeri (Niepelt, 1927): D, ♂ HT, West-Columbien, 500 meter, März–Juni 27, ex Niepelt (MfN); E, ♀, Chuchuvi, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, 700m, September 2012 (coll. MB).

FIGURE 15. Distribution map of all known collecting localities of Vadina hodeei, sspp. hodeei (blue circles) and kruegeri (red squares). The black circle is the type locality of hodeei, the black star is the type locality of amazona and the black square is the type locality of kruegeri.