Elina montrolii ( Feisthamel, 1839 ) (Satyrus)

Matz, Jess & Brower, Andrew V. Z., 2016, The South Temperate Pronophilina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae): a phylogenetic hypothesis, redescriptions and revisionary notes, Zootaxa 4125 (1), pp. 1-108 : 28-29

Elina montrolii ( Feisthamel, 1839) (Satyrus) repl. name

( Figs. 2 A, B, F; 5A, B; 14D–F; 25)

Holotype: (female) BMNH 809741

Type Location: Chile

= Satyrus lefebvrii Guérin-Méneville, [1838] , preocc. (not Boisduval, 1828) Holotype: (female) MNHN, Paris (Photo examined) Type location: Chile

Other combinations:

Lasiommata montrolii — Westwood (1851, p. 387). Elina lefebvrei — Heimlich (1972), D’Abrera (1988, p.792).

Distribution. Found in Chile from Valparaiso Province to northern Los Rios Province and in Argentina in the westernmost portion of Rio Negro Province from mid-December to early March at nearly sea level to 1100m ( Fig. 25).

Diagnosis. Most similar to Elina vanessoides , but much larger, without ocelli on the ventral side of the hindwing. Forewing and hindwing are scalloped at the termen and the apical ocellus on the ventral side of the forewing is bipupillate extending just past the borders of M1-M3. Ripple pattern is evident on the costal and terminal border of the ventral side of the forewing and over the entire hindwing. Postmedian band is widest at the costa and cream with chocolate to dark chocolate striations and a narrow dark coffee to chocolate patch that bisects the postmedian band longitudinally from the costa to M1. Eyes are hairy as in E. vanessoides , but more sparsely so.

Redescription. Head: Antennae 17–20mm and covered in dark chocolate to chocolate and ivory scales, the females being lighter, and terminating in a spatulate club. Eyes oval and hairy, length approximately 1.3X the width. Palps with a longitudinal dark chocolate stripe along the median, the dorsal side piliform scales white to ivory proximally and chocolate brown distally and the ventral side piliform scales medium brown and ivory throughout. Terminal palp segment oval and a little less than one-fourth the length of the second segment.

Thorax dark sepia and clothed with iridescent black with black and ivory piliform scales on the males and white and dark coffee brown with black and cream piliform scales on the females. Female abdomen ivory to tan ventrally and taupe dorsally. Foreleg tarsi unsegmented in both sexes, but clublike in the males and in the females bearing three pairs of spines at the distal end.

Forewing ( Fig. 2 A; 5A, B): Wingspan 52–60mm. Termen scalloped and the distal end of the discal cell Vshaped with the distance between M1-M2 slightly shorter than M2-M3. Males with an androconial patch along the radius, extending beyond the discal cell to the costa, over the radial veins, and to the cells between M1-M2 and M2-M3. Dorsal side rust red from the discal cell to the postmedian band, which is pale yellow at the apical end and rust orange toward the tornus. Costa has a narrow band of dark chocolate and tan ripple pattern and the subcosta, termen, and inner margin are widely bordered with chocolate to dark chocolate brown. Fringe scales are dark chocolate layered over ivory, enhancing the appearance of crenulation at the termen. Apical ocellus between M1- M3 appears as an indistinct patch of dark coffee brown to black. Ocellus between CuA1-CuA2 is round, dark coffee to black, and not visible in all specimens. Ventral side with a wide dark chocolate to dark coffee and cream to taupe ripple pattern border along the costal and terminal edges, rust red from the discal cell to the postmedian band. Postmedian band is pale yellow to rust orange and has an irregular border edged in dark coffee brown that is wide at the costal end, narrow between M3-CuA1, wider between CuA1-CuA2, and narrow again at the inner margin. Apical ocellus between M1-M3 extends just past the borders of those cells and is oval, black to dark coffee brown, and bipupillate. Ocellus between CuA1-CuA2, when present, is round, black to dark coffee brown, and may be unipupillate.

Hindwing ( Fig. 5 A, B): Wing oval, termen convex and scalloped. Inner margin excavated between anal vein and 1A+2A. Dorsal side chocolate to dark chocolate brown with the postmedian band rust orange to rust red and thinly bordered on the distal edge with dark coffee brown. Fringe scales are as in the forewing and long piliform scales appear at the base and over the discal cell, extending to the median and toward the inner margin. Ventral side with a ripple pattern superimposed over all design elements, chocolate to tan with dark coffee striations from the base to the postmedian band and from the distal edge of the postmedian band to the termen. Postmedian band is deckle-edged on both sides but irregularly dentate at the proximal edge from the costa to M3. Postmedian band is widest at the costa and cream with chocolate to dark chocolate striations. A narrow dark coffee to chocolate patch bisects the postmedian band longitudinally from the costa to M1.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 14 D–F): Uncus widest at the base, narrowing gradually toward the distal end and approximately 1.1X in length than the tegumen. Gnathos acute and slightly more than half the length of the uncus. Pedunculus short and U-shaped. Saccus U-shaped and a little shorter than the gnathos. Valvae nearly even in width throughout, narrowing at the distal one-third to an acute point. Aedeagus nearly even in width and U-shaped at the proximal end.

Remarks. Originally described as Satyrus lefebvrii by Guérin-Méneville, this name was a junior homonym of the Pyreneean Satyrus lefebvrei Boisduval, 1828 (now placed in Erebia ), and Feisthamel proposed S. montrolii as a replacement. This species is the largest of the Neosatyriti, and quite distinctive. The larva, as described by Weymer (1911), is light brown with black longitudinal stripes and a forked abdominal terminus (typical of many satyrine larvae), with the head bearing two black lines and a “light spiracular line, bordered with black beneath,” and the pupa is light brown with black markings. Weymer stated that the larva lives on a species of Chusquea bamboo referred to as “coligue” and matures by October with the adult appearing in November and December. Neither Weymer nor Elwes (1903) found this species in the mountains and Elwes described it as settling on tree trunks in shady woods.

Etymology. François Mongin de Montrol (1799–1862) was a French political historian. Alexandre Louis Lefèbvre de Cérisy (1798–1867) was a French Lepidopterist.

Specimens examined. Chile, Maule Province, (MGCL) 1 female; Chile, Bío-Bío Province, (OSU) 0 0 0 0 93693, 0 0 0 0 93698, 0 0 0 0 93699, 0 0 0 0 93698 (MTSU) CH 24B-05- CH 24B-08, CH 25-1, CH 25-2; Chile, Araucanía Province, (MGCL) 1 male; Chile, Los Ríos Province, (BMNH) 809699, Chile, unknown Province, (BMNH) Holotype 809741; Argentina, Rio Negro Province, (UJ) 1 male, 1 female. Nelia Hayward, 1953

Type species: Nelia nemyroides ( Blanchard, 1852) (Satyrus)

Diagnosis. The dorsal side of the forewing of the males is dark chocolate brown with heavy androconia, and females bear a clearly visible postmedian band. Apical ocellus between M1-M3 is visible on the dorsal side of the females and only barely so in calvertii males. The ventral side of the forewing of both sexes bears an M1-M3 ocellus that may or may not be pupillated, a ripple pattern, and a strong, orange, roughly triangular postmedian band. Hindwings are trapezoidal, scalloped at the termen, and excavated at the inner margin between the anal vein and 1A+2A. A ripple pattern with dark chocolate striations and small, yellow ocelli appear on the ventral side of the hindwing. Both species with spatulate antennal clubs, a deeply sinuous distal end of the discal cell, naked eyes, and cylindrical terminal palp segments. Foreleg tarsi with three segments in the males and nemyroides females with five segments and visible spines. Hayward implies that tarsal segmentation and the appearance of spines in calvertii females is the same as in nemyroides females. Male genitalia with valvae roughly triangular at the proximal end and an uncus that is slightly narrower where it joins the tegumen, widening, then tapering to a blunt distal end.

Remarks. The two species of Nelia are very similar, each often mistaken for the other in collections. Sexual dimorphism in wing patterning as well as in tarsal segmentation is more distinct than in most other south-temperate pronophiline genera. Many taxa, especially those in which androconia may be present in the males, show minor wing pattern differences in the forewing between the sexes, but this difference is more pronounced in Nelia and Argyrophorus . Other genera are sexually dimorphic in foreleg tarsal segmentation, such as in Tetraphlebia and some species of Cosmosatyrus , Neomaenas , and Neosatyrus , but with only minor differences in wing patterning. Both wing patterning and foreleg tarsal segmentation differences appear in Nelia with genitalia that are marginally similar to that of Neosatyrus and Pampasatyrus in the triangular proximal end of the valvae.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Morphological characters discussed in species descriptions. A, B: Wing venation scheme for forewing (A) and hindwing (B) of Elina montrolii (OSU # 93698). Names of veins follow Comstock (1918). Abbreviations: 1 A + 2 A, 3 A = anal veins; CuA 1,2 = cubital veins; DC = discal cell; M 1 - 3 = medial veins; R 1 - 5 = radial veins; Sc = subcosta. C – F: Foreleg segmentation of male Argyrophorus argenteus (C), male Tetraphlebia leucoglene (D), male Cosmosatyrus dubii (E), and female Elina montrolii (F), showing varying degrees of segmentation and pseudosegmentation (indicated by the arrow in D). G-I: Male genitalia of Argyrophorus argenteus Blanchard, 1852 (OSU # 95107) in lateral view from the right side (G), aedeagus in lateral view from the right side (H), saccus and valvae in ventral view (I).

FIGURE 5. Composite habitus images of Elina and Nelia species. The left side of each specimen is the dorsal surface, the right side is the ventral surface. A, B: Elina montrolii (Feisthamel, 1839) male (A) and female (B) (MZUJ); C: Elina vanessoides Blanchard, 1852 male (CUIC); D, E: Nelia nemyroides (Blanchard, 1852) male (D) and female (E) (CUIC); F, G: Nelia calvertii (Elwes, 1903 )) lectotype male (BMNH # 809740) (F), female paralectotype (BMNH # 809739) (G).

FIGURE 14. Male genitalia of Elina and Nelia species. See Fig. 2 for labels of parts. All to the same scale. A – C: Elina vanessoides Blanchard, 1852 (CUIC); D – F: Elina montrolii (Feisthamel, 1839) (CH 25 - 1); G – I: Nelia nemyroides (Blanchard, 1852) (CUIC); J – L: Nelia calvertii (Elwes, 1903) (CUIC).