Euselasia brevicauda Lathy, 1926

Santos, Fabio Luis Dos, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Leite, Luis Anderson Ribeiro, Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Casagrande, Mirna Martins & Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik, 2014, Taxonomic notes on some species of Euselasia Hübner, [1819] from the " Uriiformes " group, with the description of the immature stages of Euselasia satyroides Lathy, 1926, stat. rev. (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae: Euselasiinae), Zootaxa 3869 (5), pp. 501-522 : 504-505

Euselasia brevicauda Lathy, 1926

( Figs 1–4 , 17–18 )

Euselasia eugeon [misidentification]; Staudinger & Schatz, 1887. p. 241, pl. 87 (male dorsal, ventral).— Stichel, 1927. p. 390; syn.: brevicauda .— Stichel, 1928. p. 270, fig. 170, (male ventral); syn.: brevicauda .— Stichel, 1930. p. 184; syn.: brevicauda .— Stichel, 1935. p. 100; syn.: brevicauda .— Mielke & Casagrande, 1992. p. 187.— Garwood, et al., 2007. p. 50, figs [6, 7] (male live, male dorsal).

Euselasia brevicauda Lathy, 1926: 144 .— Lamas, 1994. p. 167.—D’Abrera, 1994. p. 895 (male dorsal, ventral, female dorsal).—Robbins et al., 1996. p. 234.— Lamas et al. 2003. p. 13.— Callaghan & Lamas, 2004. p. 143.— Garwood, et al. 2009. p. 62, fig. [1] (male live).

Euselasia nr. brevicauda ; Emmel & Austin, 1990. p. 8.

Diagnosis. E. brevicauda is most likely to be confused with E. eugeon and E. satyroides , but can be distinguished from the former by the general appearance of the post discal band in the underside of the forewing, which runs straight, almost parallel with the outer margin and about the same width from the costal to the inner margin, without a distinguishing oval spot at the end of the discal cell; by the rounded apex and evenly convex outer margin; and particularly by the regular and almost straight post discal band in the underside of the hindwing. It can be distinguished from E. satyroides by the color of the upper side of the wings, which is dark brown in E. brevicauda and brown in E. satyroides , and by the presence of a distinctive projection in the hind wing at 2A, with a concave area in the outer margin close to the tornus. The genitalia of the female is larger, and there is a conspicuous patch of scales in the ductus bursae ( Fig. 18 ).

Taxonomic comments. Euselasia brevicauda original description was based on two specimens from Bolivia: the holotype, from Coroico, La Paz, and a paratype, from an unknown location. A year later, Stichel (1927) considered E. brevicauda as a synonym of E. eugeon . Stichel (1927) argued that Lathy described the above cited specimens as new only because he compared his specimens with the figures presented by Seitz (1913) (see comments under E. eugeon ). Stichel (1919; 1927; 1928) wrongly considered E. eugeon and E. geon (the name that appears in Seitz’s (1913) figures) as two different species: E. eugeon , with regular and straight post discal bands; and E. geon , with irregular and curved bands in the underside of the wings, forming a distinct rounded spot at the end of the discal cell. Stichel (1919; 1927; 1928; 1930) probably relied on the inaccurate illustration presented by Hewitson (1856) to identify E. eugeon , in which the post discal bands on the underside of the wings appear somewhat regular and straight. However, the examination of the types and specimens examined by Hewitson (1856) and Seitz (1913) confirms E. eugeon and E. geon as conspecific and E. brevicauda as a distinct species. Since the revision and the catalogue of Stichel (1928; 1930) E. brevicauda remained in synonymy until Hayward (1951) recognize it as a subspecies of E. eugeon . D’Abrera (1994) claims that E. brevicauda could be "a form or race" of E. eugeon , and emphasizes the intraspecific variability perceived by Seitz (1916), even though Seitz had specimens of more than one species in his possession. The projection at 2A at the tornus of the hind wing, one of the characters used by Lathy (1926) to differentiate the new species from E. eugeon and to name the species, ( brevicauda , latin for "short tailed") is a poor character, subject to intraspecific variation. The specimen illustrated by Garwood et al. (2007: p. 50 [8]) and identified as E. brevicauda is in fact E. uria .

Distribution. Forest areas in the lowlands of the Amazon basin under 500m of altitude; most of the examined specimens are from the southern and western regions of the Amazon, although there are a considerable series of specimens from Roraima, Brazil.

Type material. The holotype of Euselasia brevicauda Lathy, 1926 , has the following labels: / Type HT/ B.M. TYPE No.Rh 1190/ Joicey Bequest. Brit. Mus. 1934-120./ 67. 20 Ex. Coll. Ed. Brabant. 1920./ Euselasia ♂ brevicauda Lathy Spec [ies]. Typicum/ Boliv[ia]/ ( BMNH).

Examined material. BRAZIL— Acre: Xapuri —Seringal Esperança, 200 m, 6–7- IX-2004, 2 males, Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 26.809*, DZ 22.959 ( DZUP). Goiás: Ilha do Bananal, 23- VI-1979, 1 male, Gifford leg., DZ 23.448 ( DZUP). Rondônia: Ariquemes —Linha 25, 10–20- VII-1989, 1 male, Mielke & Miers leg., OM 61.529 (OM); Cacaulândia, 8–19- XI-1994, 3 males, O. Mielke leg., OM 38.185, OM 38.383, OM 38.652 (OM), Fazenda Rancho Grande, 21- XI-1991, 1 female, Mielke leg., OM 28.145* (OM), 19–20- VII-1996, 1 male, O.-C. Mielke & H. Miers leg., OM 43.079 (OM); Candeias do Jamari —Fazenda Urupá, 8–10-VII-1996, O.-C. Mielke & H. Miers leg., OM 42.164 (OM); Ouro Preto d’Oeste, 16–22- IX-1987, 1 male, C. Elias leg., DZ 26.781* ( DZUP); Vilhena, 29- X-1986, 1 male, C. Elias leg., DZ 23.538 ( DZUP). Roraima: Catrimani, 9- XI-1979, 1 male, Gifford leg., DZ 23.288 ( DZUP); Ilha de Maracá, 9- XI-1979, 1 male, Gifford leg., DZ 26.757*, ( DZUP), Alto Alegre, 26-XI-2- XII-1987, 1 male, Mielke & Casagrande leg., DZ 23.298 ( DZUP).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 16. Habitus of species of Euselasia Hübner, [1819] belonging to the " Uriiformes " group. 1 – 4. E. brevicauda. 1 – 2. Male dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Acre, Xapuri). 3 – 4. Female dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Rondônia, Ariquemes). 5 – 8. E. eugeon. 5 – 6. Male dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Amazonas, Presidente Figueiredo). 7 – 8 Female dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Pará, Óbidos). 9 – 12. E. satyroides, stat. rev. 9 – 10. Male dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Catuípe). 11 – 12 Female dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Catuípe). 13 – 14. E. modesta, male dorsal and ventral (French Guiana, Saint- Laurent-du-Maroni, Saül). 15 – 16. E. uria, male dorsal and ventral (Brazil, Amazonas, Manaus). Arrowheads indicate characters cited in the taxonomic key. Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURES 17 – 22. Genitalia of species of Euselasia Hübner, [1819] belonging to the " Uriiformes " group. 17 – 18. E. brevicauda. 17. Male genitalia, lateral. 18. Female genitalia, ventral. 19 – 20. E. eugeon. 19. Male genitalia, lateral. 20. Female genitalia, ventral. 21 – 22. E. satyroides, stat. rev. 21. Male genitalia, lateral. 22. Female genitalia, ventral.