Cosmosatyrus dubii ( Pyrcz, 2012 ) (Faunula)

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 : 24-25

Cosmosatyrus dubii ( Pyrcz, 2012) (Faunula) n. comb.

( Figs. 2 E; 4G, H; 13J–L; 24)

Holotype: (male) MZUJ collection (Photo examined)

Allotype: (female) MZUJ collection (Photo examined)

Type locality: 6 km south of Gallegos Chico, Magallanes Province, Chile, 52º04’71'S’’/ 70º44’49’’W, 184 m

Distribution. Found in Argentina in the southwest of Chubut Province near Lago Blanco at 700–1000m ( Fig. 24 ).

Diagnosis. Similar to C. stelligera , but with a distinctive ripple pattern on the ventral side of both wings and the forewing not having a postmedian band or a rust red to rust orange patch over the discal cell on the ventral side. Terminal palpal segment conical and much shorter in proportion to the second palpal segment than in C. stelligera and females of C. dubii with four tarsal segments in the forelegs.

Redescription. Head: Antennae 7–9mm with chocolate scales and a longitudinal stripe of white scales, terminating in a round club. Eyes oval and naked, length about 1.3 times width. Palps white with white, chocolate, and black piliform scales. Terminal palp segment conical and about one tenth the length of the second segment.

Thorax with iridescent black scales and chocolate piliform scales in the males. Females with white and iridescent black scales and chocolate and cream piliform scales. Forelegs with three tarsal segments in the males and four in the females. Midlegs and hindlegs with four rows of dark amber spines on the tibia and tarsus.

Forewing ( Fig. 4 G, H): Wingspan 26–28mm. Termen nearly straight to slightly convex and the distal end of the discal cell deeply sinuous, the distance between M1-M2 greater than between M2-M3. Males are without visible androconia. Dorsal side chocolate to dark chocolate brown with fringe scales the same color. Ventral side the same color as the dorsal side with a dark chocolate to dark coffee ripple pattern over most of the wing. Apical ocellus between M1-M2 round, black, unipupillate, ringed in tan and sometimes fused with a smaller, similar ocellus between M2-M3.

Hindwing ( Fig. 4 G, H): Wing oval, termen convex and entire. Dorsal side and fringe scales similar in color to 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 slightly darker than the dorsal side from the base to the median and similar in color to the dorsal side from the median to the termen. A ripple pattern appears over the entire ventral side of the wing in coffee to dark coffee striations. A coffee to dark coffee scalloped line appears through the center of the discal cell. Median edge of the postmedian band is irregularly scalloped or deckle-edged and coffee to dark coffee. A small, round, white ocellus weakly ringed in black appears in each cell between Rs and 1A+2A.

Male Genitalia ( Fig. 13 J–L): Uncus widest where it joins the tegumen, narrowing gradually toward the distal end. Distal end of the uncus was damaged in the specimen examined. Gnathos acute and a little less than half the length of the tegumen. Pedunculus short, wide, and deltoid. Saccus widely triangular and a little more than threefourths the length of the gnathos. Valvae widest at the median, narrowing to an acute, blunt triangle at the proximal end and narrowing slightly then even in width toward the distal end to a U-shaped terminus. Aedeagus nearly even in width throughout, widening at the proximal one-third and terminating in a wide V-shape.

Remarks. No fresh specimens were available for study and no DNA was extracted, but morphological analysis indicates C. dubii to be closely related to C. stelligera . Pyrcz (2012) placed this species in Faunula (here synonymized with Tetraphlebia ), "as determined by its elongate wings with gently rounded FW apex and distal margins, single FWV subapical ocellus and male genitalia characterized by a short and massive uncus, stout gnathos, and elongate, roughly rectangular valva with a smooth dorsum and rounded distal extremity." However, in our opinion, these wing and genitalic characters more closely resemble Cosmosatyrus , particularly C. stelligera . The most obvious similarity between C. dubii and other members of Cosmosatyrus is the presence of ocelli along the VHW postmedian band. Hindwings of C. dubii and C. stelligera are similarly oval, while those of Tetraphlebia , including T. leucoglene are squared at the hindwing tornus. The pupillation of the VFW apical M1-M3 ocellus is variable in both Tetraphlebia and Cosmosatyrus , as well as in several other genera of the Neosatyriti, including Auca , Neomaenas , and Nelia . The inner margin of the VHW postmedian band in C. dubii is deeply scalloped or dentate, very similar to that of C. stelligera , while the inner margin of T. leucoglene is shallowly and irregularly scalloped. Palps are more uniform in color in Tetraphlebia , but those of C. dubii are multicolored as in Cosmosatyrus . Furthermore, male genitalia of C. dubii , more closely resemble those of Cosmosatyrus than those of Tetraphlebia , and are very similar to those of C. stelligera . Pyrcz described the valvae as "roughly rectangular," but the distal end of the valva is slender and elongated in C. dubii as in the other Cosmosatyrus , where the distal end of the valvae in Tetraphlebia terminate in a wide U-shape. The short, nearly deltoid saccus is more similar to C. stelligera than the long, U-shaped saccus of the Tetraphlebia . Lastly, the uncus is significantly longer than the tegumen in C. dubii , as it is in Cosmosatyrus , but in Tetraphlebia , the uncus is about the same length as the tegumen.

Etymology. Named for Israeli lepidopterist Dubi Benyamini, collector of the holotype.

Specimens examined. Argentina, Chubut Province, male BMNH#808379, female BMNH#808378, 5 males BMNH#808586-808590

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 4. Composite habitus images of Auca and Cosmosatyrus species. The left side of each specimen is the dorsal surface, the right side is the ventral surface. A, B: Auca coctei (Guérin-Méneville, [1838]) male (OSU # 93358) (A), female (OSU # 95049) (B); C: Auca barrosi (Silva, 1917) male (OSU # 95050); D-F: Cosmosatyrus leptoneuroides C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867 male (D), female (E), and aberrant male (F) (MZUJ); G, H: Cosmosatyrus dubii (Pyrcz, 2012) n. comb. male (BMNH # 808379) (G), female (BMNH # 808378) (H); I: Cosmosatyrus stelligera (Butler, 1881) n. comb. male (BMNH # 809772).

FIGURE 13. Male genitalia of Auca and Cosmosatyrus species. See Fig. 2 for labels of parts. All to the same scale. A – C: Auca coctei (Guérin-Méneville, [1838]) (OSU # 95107); D – F: Auca barrosi (Silva, 1917) (CH 29 C- 2); G – I: Cosmosatyrus leptoneuroides C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867 (CH 15 - 7); J – L: Cosmosatyrus dubii (Pyrcz, 2012) n. comb. (BMNH # 808379) (note that the uncus is broken); M – O: Cosmosatyrus stelligera (Butler, 1881) n. comb. (MZUJ); showing ornamentation on the aedeagus.

FIGURE 24. Distribution of locality records for Cosmosatyrus species. Note that the locality for C. dubii is overlain by a record for C. stelligera from the same site.