Nelia calvertii ( Elwes, 1903 ) (Elina)

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 : 31-32

Nelia calvertii ( Elwes, 1903) (Elina)

( Figs. 5 F, G; 14J–L; 25)

Lectotype: (male) BMNH #809740 (specimen examined)

Paralectotype: (female) BMNH #809739 (specimen examined)

Paratypes: (male) BMNH #789957 (specimen examined); (female) Lago Quillén, Neuquén province, Argentina BMNH

#789959 (specimen examined)

Type location: Termas de Chillán, Chile

Other combinations:

Elina calvertii —D’Abrera, 1988, p. 792

Distribution. Found in Chile from northeastern Bío-Bío Province southward to eastern Araucanía Province and eastward into southwestern Neuquén Province, Argentina near Lago Quillén from December to February at 200 to 1850m ( Fig. 25).

Diagnosis. Most similar to Nelia nemyroides , but with the forewing termen less concave and generally lighter in color. Postmedian band on the dorsal side of the forewing of the females is wider and more triangular in N. nemyroides than in N. calvertii , the latter being more elongated and bearing additional round, chocolate to black ocelli in each cell between M3 and 1A+2A. Male genitalia differ most notably in that the pedunculus is shorter, wider and more triangular, the saccus is longer and widely U-shaped, and the aedeagus is wider at the distal end than in N. nemyroides .

Redescription. Head: Antennae 8–9 mm with chocolate scales and white to cream scales at the joints, terminating in a spatulate club. Eyes oval and naked, length approximately 1.3 times width. Palps chocolate to dark chocolate brown with sparse cream scales both dorsally and ventrally and with chocolate to dark chocolate and black piliform scales ventrally. Terminal palp cylindrical and less than one-fifth the length of the second segment.

Thorax with iridescent black scales and chocolate to dark chocolate piliform scales. Forelegs with three tarsal segments in the males. Midlegs and hindlegs with four rows of amber spines on the tibia and tarsus. Female examined lacked head and thorax.

Forewing ( Fig. 5 F, G): Wingspan 26–30mm. Termen nearly straight to slightly concave and the distal end of the discal cell sinuate with the cubital end straighter than the radial end. Males with a heavy androconial patch clearly visible on the dorsal side and extending from M1 to the inner margin and into the discal cell on the cubital side. Fringe scales are chocolate layered over ivory, giving the false appearance of crenulation at the termen. Dorsal side chocolate to dark chocolate brown, the males darker. Postmedian band is visible on the dorsal side in the females as a streak of light orange surrounding the forewing ocelli and in the males as a barely visible band just distal to the androconial patch and slightly lighter than the rest of the wing. A round, black M1-M3 ocellus visible in both sexes, but barely so in the males. Similar, but much smaller ocelli, may appear between M3-CuA1 and CuA1-CuA2, particularly in the females. Ventral side red-orange to orange from the base to the postmedian band and chocolate brown along the costa, inner margin, and subterminal band. Costa and subterminal band with some white background scales and bearing a ripple pattern with dark chocolate striations that is more visible in the females. Postmedian band orange and roughly triangular, the widest part spanning the radials and narrowing toward the anal vein. Median border of the postmedian band is chocolate brown and nearly straight while the subterminal border is dark chocolate and deckle-edged. Apical ocellus is round, black, ringed in daffodil yellow, and spans M1-M3. This ocellus may have a single white pupil at its center between M1-M2.

Hindwing ( Fig. 5 F, G): Wing trapezoidal, termen slightly convex and scalloped. Inner margin excavated between anal vein and 1A+2A. Dorsal side dark chocolate to chocolate brown with the postmedian band appearing as a narrow patch of red-orange to orange from M2 to the tornus in the females and from M3 to CuA 2 in the males. 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 taupe to chocolate with a ripple pattern in dark chocolate striations superimposed over all design elements. Both borders of the postmedian band are dark chocolate, the median border is deeply deckle-edged while the subterminal border is shallowly deckle-edged or nearly straight. Median half of the postmedian band is white, fading to tan to tawny or chocolate in the subterminal half. A small, round, daffodil yellow ocellus appears in each cell between Rs and 1A+2A with two such ocelli sometimes present between CuA2-1A+2A. Some or all hindwing ocelli may be absent or obscured.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 14 J–L): Uncus widest just past where it joins with the tegumen, narrowing gradually toward a blunt distal end, and approximately 1.3X the length of the tegumen. Gnathos narrow, acute, and approximately half the length of the uncus. Pedunculus short, wide, and U-shaped. Saccus widely U-shaped and a little more than two-fifths the length of the gnathos. Valvae are acute triangular at the proximal end, widest at the proximal one-third, and narrowing gradually toward the distal one-third where they abruptly attenuate, terminating in a narrow, truncate distal end. Aedeagus widest at the proximal one-third, narrowing gradually toward the distal one-third where it widens slightly. Proximal end of the aedeagus attenuates abruptly from the widest point, terminating in an obtuse triangular end.

Remarks. Although he described it in Elina, Elwes (1903) noted that the FW androconial patches present in this species and N. nemyroides that are absent in E. montrolii and E. vanessoides , and suggested (correctly) that they were “probably not congeneric.” Two specimens are illustrated in Elwes (1903) as the type specimen of N. calvertii and two are labeled as such in the British Museum. All else being equal, J. Matz has designated the male as the lectotype.

Etymology. Named for William Bartlett Calvert, (1856-??), British-Chilean entomologist and translator of the first Spanish language catalog of Chilean Lepidoptera .

Specimens examined. Chile, Bío-Bío Province, (BMNH) Lectotype male 809740, Paralectotype female 809739, Paratype male 789957, (MTSU) CH 24A-2, (CUIC) 1 male; Argentina, Neuquén Province, Paratype female 789959

Figures

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).