Symmachia estellina Gallard, 2008

Leite, Luis Anderson Ribeiro, Fernando, Mielke, Hendrik & Martins, Mirna, 2012, An annotated list of Symmachia Hübner, [1819] (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Symmachiini) from Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, Acre, Brazil, with the description of a new species, Insecta Mundi 2012 (249), pp. 1-11 : 5

Symmachia estellina Gallard, 2008

( Fig. 9-10 , 40 , 43)

Two males were collected on the same day apparently competing for territory in a small patch of sun with S. probetor , and were not observed on subsequent days. The determination of the species was made by comparison with the work of Gallard (2008), who described the taxon based on specimens from French Guiana, although Gallard did not illustrate male genitalia in the description. Given that the Serra do Divisor and French Guiana are both part of the Amazonian biogeographic region it seems likely that these specimens from the two localities are conspecific. The characteristic shape and pattern of the forewing and the male genitalia, above cited to distinguish this species from S. probetor , seem to be surprisingly stable in a series of 17 males and 21 females studied by Gallard (2008) and 6 males and 3 females available to us for study at DZUP. Additionally, after the examination of large series of specimens of both S. estellina and S. probetor, Gallard (2008) did not find a single intermediate specimens between these two sympatric species.

Figures

Figures 5-38. Symmachia species collected at PNSD (dorsal and ventral view for each species). 5-6) S. divisora sp. nov., Paratype. 7-8) S. probetor. 9-10) S. estellina. 11-12) S. falcistriga falcistriga. 13-14) S. leena punctata. 15-16) S. calliste. 17-18) S. pardalis. 19-20) S. accusatrix. 21-22) S. threissa seducta. 23-24) S. hetaerina hetaerina (Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil). 25-26) S. hetaerina hesione. 27-28) S. hetaerina hesione, female (Senador Guiomard, Acre, Brazil). 29-30) S. miron miron. 31-32) S. emeralda. 33-34) S. calligrapha. 35-36) S. elinas. 37-38) S. tricolor. Scale line: 1cm.

Figures 39-40. Forewing of S. probetor and S. estellina. 39) S. probetor (Santo Antônio do Tauá, Pará, Brazil). 40) S. estellina (Montagne des Chevaux, Route de Cayenne à Régina, French Guiana). Scale line: 0.25cm.