Neosatyrus boisduvalii boisduvalii ( Blanchard, 1852 ) (Erebia)

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 : 49-50

Neosatyrus boisduvalii boisduvalii ( Blanchard, 1852) (Erebia) n. comb.

( Figs. 8 B; 17D–F; 27)

Holotype: (male) BMNH (Photo examined)

Type location: Magallanes Province, Chile

= Neosatyrus hahnii Mabille, 1885

Holotype: (male) MNHN, Paris (Photo examined) Type location: Santa Cruz Province, Argentina Subspecies:

Neosatyrus boisduvalii pusilla ( C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867) n. comb. Holotype: (male) BMNH #809620 (Specimen examined) Type location: Chile

Other combinations:

Neomaenas biosduvalii —D’Abrera (1988, p. 796) Homoeonympha boisduvali — Heimlich (1972) Homoeonympha boisduvalii —Peña & Ugarte (1997, p. 288); Lamas & Viloria (2004, p. 216)

Distribution. Found in Chile from southern Bío Bío Province to the westernmost border of Río Negro Province in Argentina and in Magallanes Province, Chile from October to January at nearly sea level to 1800m ( Fig. 27 ).

Diagnosis. Most similar to N. humilis , but with a strong white to lavender postmedian band with a deckleedged median border on the ventral side of the hindwings and amber spines on the tibia and tarsus of the midlegs and hindlegs. Apical ocellus on the ventral side of the forewing between M1-M3 is usually more distinct in N. boisduvalii than in N. humilis . Northern distribution of N. boisduvalii overlaps the southernmost part of the distribution of N. humilis , the former being found as far south as Magallanes, Chile and both with a similar altitudinal range.

Redescription. Head: Antennae 6–7mm, covered in white scales with a longitudinal stripe of chocolate scales and terminating in a spatulate club. Eyes oval and naked, length approximately 1.3 times width. Palps white to cream and chocolate brown with the dorsal side bearing more lighter scales than darker scales and the ventral side with more of the darker scales than the lighter scales. Terminal palp segment conical and a little over one-fourth the length of the second segment.

Thorax with iridescent black scales and chocolate piliform scales. Foreleg tarsi with three segments in the males; females were unavailable for study. Midlegs and hindlegs with four rows of amber spines on the tibia and tarsus.

Forewing ( Fig. 8 B): Wingspan 20–26mm. Termen nearly straight to slightly convex and the distal end of the discal cell widely V-shaped. Males with no androconial patch. Dorsal side chocolate brown with fringe scales the same color. Postmedian band appears between M3-CuA1 and CuA1-CuA2 as a pair of rectangular rust orange patches. Ventral side with a patch of rust orange from the discal cell to the postmedian and a ripple pattern in chocolate brown and white to lavender appears along the costa and termen, the inner margin chocolate brown and more faintly rippled with darker chocolate. Apical ocellus is round, black, bipupillate, ringed in daffodil yellow, and spans M1-M3.

Hindwing ( Fig. 8 B): Wing trapezoidal with apex rounded and the termen convex and entire. Dorsal side chocolate with long piliform scales appearing at the base and over the discal cell, extending to the median and toward the inner margin. Postmedian band appears between M3-CuA1 and CuA1-CuA2 as barely visible rust orange patches. Fringe scales are as in the forewing. Ventral side chocolate from the base to the postmedian band with dark coffee striations in a ripple pattern over the entire wing and a sinuous dark coffee submedian line. Postmedian band is deckle-edged and grey to lavender at the median border, fading to chocolate at the center and then to grey to lavender along the termen. A small, round, daffodil yellow ocellus appears in each cell between Rs and CuA2, the M3-CuA1 ocellus slightly larger. Ocelli between Rs and M 2 may be obscured or absent.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 17 D–F): Uncus wide at the base, narrowing a blunt end and about 1.4X the length of the tegumen. Gnathos wide, about half the width of the uncus where both join the tegumen, and three-fifths the length of the uncus. Pedunculus short and U-shaped. Saccus U-shaped and about half the length of the gnathos. Valvae widest at the median, narrowing abruptly to half the width proximally and then gradually to a blunt acute proximal end. Distal half of the valva is triangular with short length of serration dorsal side just distal to the median. Aedeagus widest and rectangular at the proximal one-third, narrowing abruptly to about two-thirds the width and then narrowing gradually toward the distal end. Median one-third of the aedeagus bears lateral serrations.

Remarks. N. boisduvalii (here transferred from Homoeonympha ) appears to exist in two separate populations, one northern population from Auraucanía Province, Chile and one southern population in Magallanes Province, Chile with few individuals collected in between. The difference between the two subspecies appears to be in the strength of the postmedian band on the ventral side of the hindwing, the nominal subspecies being more clearly defined than N. boisduvalii pusilla , but we had insufficient material to assess whether morphological variation corresponds with these apparently allopatric distributions. Elwes (1903) described specimens collected from Termas de Chillán with a strong ventral hindwing band that supposedly corresponds with N. boisduvalii pusilla , though the type specimen appears to have a very weak postmedian band. His figures appear to be closer to the nominal type, though the illustration may over-emphasize the hindwing band. He stated: “Until we get much more ample material from intermediate localities in the south the specific identity of these forms must remain undecided,” which continues to hold true.

Etymology. named for French lepidopterist Jean Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval (1799–1879).

Specimens examined. N. boisduvalii boisduvalii Chile, Magallanes Province, (BMNH?) Holotype male (photo examined), (UJ) 2 males, 2 females, (MGCL) 1 male; Argentina, Rio Negro Province, (UJ) 1 male; Argentina, Chubut Province, (BMNH) 809785; Argentina, Santa Cruz Province, (MNHN, Paris) Holotype N. hahnii male; N. boisduvalii pusilla Chile, unknown province, (BMNH) male 809620

Figures

FIGURE 8. Composite habitus images of Neosatyrus species. The left side of each specimen is the dorsal surface, the right side is the ventral surface. A: Neosatyrus ambiorix Wallengren, 1858 male holotype (NRM); B: Neosatyrus boisduvalii (Blanchard, 1852) male (MZUJ); C, D: Neosatyrus humilis (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867) n. comb. male lectotype (BMNH # 809786) (C), male paralectotype (BMNH # 809783) (D); E: Neosatyrus schajovskoii (Hayward, 1954) n. comb. male (MZUJ); F: Neosatyrus vesagus (Doubleday, [1849]), male holotype (BMNH Rh 3875) illustration reproduced from Elwes (1903, plate XIV, Fig. 9).

FIGURE 17. Male genitalia of Neosatyrus species. See Fig. 2 for labels of parts. All to the same scale. A – C: Neosatyrus ambiorix Wallengren, 1858 from the UJ collection; D – F: Neosatyrus boisduvalii (Blanchard, 1852) n. comb. from the UJ collection; G – I: Neosatyrus humilis (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867) n. comb. CH 40 - 5; J – L: Neosatyrus schajovskoii (Hayward, 1954) n. comb. from UJ collection, (K) showing ornamentation on the aedeagus.

FIGURE 27. Distribution of locality records for Neosatyrus species and Neomaniola euripides.