Alesa negra, Santos & Dolibaina & Dias & Mielke & Casagrande, 2023

Santos, Wildio Ikaro Da Graça, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2023, A review of the South American metalmark genus Alesa Doubleday, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Eurybiini) with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 5284 (1), pp. 77-120 : 95-97

Alesa negra R̂ber, 1931 stat. rev.

Figs 22–23 , 28–29 , 65 , 94

Alesa negra R̂ber, 1931. Int. ent. Ztschr. 24: 389; 2 males, 1 female, Ypiranga [Uypiranga, 14 Km N of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil].— Lathy, 1932. Ann. & Mag. nat. Hist. (10)9 (53): 484; [lectotype male].— Callaghan, 1995. Bull. Soc. ent. France 100 (2): 154.— Lamas, 2001. Rev. per. Ent. 42: 41, 43; lectotype male.

Alesa prema f. sapphirina [missidentification]; Rebillard, 1958. Mém. Mus. nat. d’Hist. nat. (Paris) 15 (2): 167, pl. 2, fig. 10 (female d, v).

Alesa neagra [sic]; Rebillard, 1958. Mém. Mus. d’Hist. nat. (Paris) 15 (2): 145, 167, fig. 2 (head), pl. 2, fig. 9 (male d, v), pl. 5 (male gen.).—Brown, 1993. Occas. Paper IUCN Sp. Surv. Comm. 8: 151.

Alesa telephae [misidentification]; Lamas, 2001. Rev. per. Ent. 42: 43 (in part).

Alesa amethystina Gallard & Fernandez, 2015 . Bull. Soc. ent. France 120 (2): 138, figs 11, 12 (male d, v), 13–15 (male d, v, label of [lectotype] of Alesa negra ), 16–18 (probable female d, v, and label); holotype male, French Guyana, Montsinéry, 1-X-1989, Piège. Lumineux. Pierre Souka leg., n° 456, collection J.-Y. Gallard, MNHN.— Gallard, 2017. Riodinidae Guyane, p. 55, pl. 10, fig. 2H (male d). (SYN. NOV.).

Diagnosis. Alesa negra can be distinguished from A. suzana by the presence of reddish spots on both wings upper side of males. Alesa negra is more similar to A. telephae and A. humilis , from which it can be distinguished by the presence of purple iridescence covering these reddish spots. The putative female specimens of A. negra differ from of the female of A. telephae by the hindwing upper side submarginal spots, pale yellow to pale brown in the former, and orangish yellow in the latter, and by the distinctly narrow postdiscal pale brown area.

Type material. Alesa negra R ̂ber, 1931 was described based on three specimens, two males and one female from Uypiranga , Amazonas, Brazil; nevertheless, the type series is a mix of three species. The lectotype, designated by Lathy (1932) to avoid further uncertainty, is deposited at the MNHN and has the following labels: / type / Uypiranga X.1929 / negra R ̂b. Type /.

Alesa amethystina Gallard & Fernandez, 2015 was described based on a male holotype and an unstated number of male paratypes from Montsinéry , Cayenne, French Guiana, collected in a light trap in 1.X.1989 by Pierre Souka, nº 456, which is currently deposited at the MNHN.

Distribution. Alesa negra is widespread in the Amazon occurring in French Guiana and Brazil (Amazonas, Mato Grosso) ( Fig. 94 ).

Comments. Alesa negra males are distinguishable from other species of the “ telephae group” by the presence of an iridescent purple sheen on the reddish spots on the wings upper side. The discal band of the hindwing underside is shifted distally between Rs–M 3, making the discal and postdiscal bands appear closer to each other in A. negra , while the discal band is straight, and the discal and postdiscal bands are farther apart in other species of the group. Additionally, the outer process of the valva of A. negra is longer than A. telephae , but shorter than A. humilis . Therefore, A. negra (stat. rev.) is considered here a valid species, and A. amethystina (syn. nov.) as a new subjective junior synonym of A. negra .

Alesa negra R̂ber, 1931 was described based on two males and one female from Ypiranga [sic] (Uypiranga), an area by the Rio Negro about 14 Km north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, all supposedly collected in November of 1929 and deposited at the MNHN. Lathy (1932) promptly recognized that the type series of A. negra included three different species, belonging to two different genera. According to Lathy (1932), one male specimen corresponds to A. telephae , and the other male specimen, the same specimen illustrated by R̂ber (1931) in the original description, corresponds to A. negra . The third specimen in the type series corresponds to a female of Synargis abaris (Cramer, 1776) . Lathy (1932) unambiguously selected a particular syntype to act as the unique name-bearing type of the taxon when used the expression “the type” to refer to the male specimen illustrated by R̂ber (1931). Therefore, Lathy’s (1932) anachronistic lectotype designation is deemed valid (ICZN 1999, art. 74.5), even though Lamas (2001) later also designated a lectotype for A. negra . Lamas (2001) designated the male specimen corresponding to A. telephae as lectotype of A. negra , because label of that specimen has the same date given in the original description (“November of 1929”), while the other male specimen, labeled “ October 1929 ”, was designated as paralectotype ( Lamas 2001). However, according to the ICZN, Lathy’s (1932) lectotype designation takes precedence and no later lectotype designation after Lathy (1932) has any validity (ICZN 1999, art. 74.1.1).

The female of A. negra was incorrectly identified as A. prema sapphirina [sic] by Rebillard (1958, pl. 11, fig. 10). This specimen was recognized as the female of A. amethystina by Gallard & Fernandez (2015), here recognized as a junior subjective synonym of A. negra . However, the suggestion that the above cited female could correspond to the female of A. negra was already put forward by Le Cerf (in Rebillard (1958), p. 167). The putative female of A. negra can be distinguished from the female of A. telephae by the reduction of the light brown area between hindwing upper side discal and postdiscal bands, and by the irregular and curved discal band of the hindwing underside, as in males. Therefore, A. prema form sapphirina is here recognized as one of the known female phenotypes of A. telephae .

Two of the most recently collected specimens of A. negra were attracted to light traps in two different collection events in French Guiana. According to Gallard & Fernandez (2015), it is possible that specimens of A. negra most likely rest in the canopy (while A. telephae are usually observed in the understory) and fly towards the light source when shied away from branches of the trees disturbed by the wind.

Examined material. BRAZIL — Amazonas: Eirunepé, ex. coll. E. May, 1 male, DZ 35.104 ( DZUP) .

Figures

FIGURES 94. Geographic distribution of the species of Alesa belonging to the “telephae group”.

FIGURES 18–25. Males species of of “telephae group”, in dorsal and ventral views (left to right). 18–19, A. telephae Brazil, Acre: Santa Rosa do Purus (DZ 35.134). 20–21, A. humilis French Guyana, Cayenne: Roura (holotype). 22–23, A. negra stat. rev. (paratype of A. amethystina syn. nov. French Guyana, Cayenne, Montsinéry (SF). 24–25, A. suzana Ecuador, Napo: Tena. Scale bar: 1cm.

FIGURES 26–29. Females of species of “telepha group”, in dorsal and ventral views (left to right). 26–27, A. telephae Brazil, Acre: Mâncio Lima (DZ 35.094). 28–29, Putative female of A. negra stat. rev. Brazil, Amazonas: Uypiranga [14 km N Manaus] (MNHN). Scale bar: 1cm.

FIGURES 64–66. Male genitalia of species of “telephae group”. 64, A. telephae Brazil, Acre: Mâncio Lima (DZ 35.114). 65, A. negra stat. rev. Brazil, Amazonas: Eirunepé (DZ 35.104). 66, A. suzana Ecuador, Napo: Tena (MGCL). Left to right: dorsal view of tegumen and uncus, lateral and ventral views of genitalia, and dorsal view of valvae and transtilla. Scale bar: 1mm.