Lafontaineana Martinez, 2021

Martinez, Jose I., Schmidt, B. Christian & Miller, Jacqueline Y., 2021, A new Andean genus, Lafontaineana, with descriptions of four new species and two new Neotropical species of Panthea (Noctuidae, Pantheinae), ZooKeys 1028, pp. 113-134 : 113

Lafontaineana Martinez gen. nov.

Gender.

Feminine.

Type species.

Diphtera marmorifera Walker, 1865 by present designation.

Etymology.

Lafontaineana is proposed in honor of our colleague J. Donald Lafontaine, who has worked with Lepidoptera , especially Noctuoidea , for more than 40 years; his work has been an inspiration to many in the world of noctuoid research.

Included species.

Lafontaineana marmorifera (Walker,) comb. nov. and the four new species described herein: L. alexandrae sp. nov., L. imama sp. nov., L. puma sp. nov., and L. thuta sp. nov.

Diagnosis.

The external and internal morphologies of Lafontaineana and Lichnoptera are dissimilar (Figs 6 , 7 , 21 , 29 ). In Lafontaineana , the thorax is white with black patches, which form large black polygons; these patches are smaller in Lichnoptera . The black markings of the forewing are wider and more sharply defined. The hindwing has a discal spot and dark lunate mark on the tornus, both of which are absent in Lichnoptera . In the male genitalia of Lafontaineana , the valva lacks the clasper (present in Lichnoptera ), and there are sclerotized spines on the vesica (absent in Lichnoptera ). In the female genitalia of Lichnoptera , the corpus bursae is remarkably smaller than the appendix bursae, while in Lafontaineana the opposite is true.

Description.

Lafontaineana species are sexually dimorphic in size as well as in coloration, and the female is larger and paler than male. Both sexes have filiform antennae; eyes densely covered by short and fine interfacetal setae; haustellum short, dark brown; palpus short with the terminal segment 5 × shorter than second segment, divided in black and yellow, but differing in the terminal segment, which is mostly marbled with black, white, and yellow scales. Thoracic dorsal vestiture concolorous except in forewing, of which ground color is white to yellowish white, with prominent black polygons in collar, tegula, and patagium centrally, while ventrally the thorax is gray; thorax with orange hair-like tuft laterally beneath forewing; forewing pattern well-developed with ground color darker in the median field; orbicular spot round and prominent, reniform spot trapezoidal. Hindwing white, semi-hyaline (dark gray in L. alexandrae ); female with barely visible discal, medial and postmedial lines; dark spots covering costa and Sc+R1 cells; discal spot fused with discal line; lunate marking on tornus, which is longer in female. Abdomen dull orange with dark brown dorsal stripe and brown dorsal tuft on segments A1-A7. Male genitalia with tegumen relatively narrow; long simple valva lacking clasper; cucullar region slightly squared, but narrow and reasonably short; costal and posterior margins with a curved extension on each; juxta mostly shield-like; uncus sinuous; aedeagus short; vesica longer than the aedeagus with a medial diverticulum and a row of sclerotized spines. Female genitalia with sterigma and appendix bursae lightly sclerotized; ductus bursae sclerotized; corpus bursae transparent without signa; anterior and posterior apophysis remarkably short, except in L. alexandrae which has large posterior apophysis.

Genetic characterization.

DNA barcodes of Lafontaineana species are distinguishable from their sister clade, the Gaujonia genus group, by ≥ 7% divergence (Fig. 1 ).

Immature stages.

Immature stages as well as the host plants are unknown.

Figures

Figure 1. Relationships between the species of the genus Lafontaineana and other genera in the Lichnoptera clade employing a Maximum Likelihood analysis based on the cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI). Nodes with black circles represent high support (UFBoot ≥ 95 and SH-aLRT ≥ 80). Nodes with gray circles represent low support (UFBoot <95 and SH-aLRT <80). Black branches represent the outgroups.

Figures 6 - 20. Adult habitus of Lichnoptera, Lafontaineana, and Panthea 6 Lichnoptera gulo, ♂, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 7 L. gulo, ♀, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 8 Lafontaineana marmorifera, ♂, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 9 L. marmorifera, ♀, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 10 L. imama, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Tolima, Colombia 11 L. imama, ♀, MGCL, paratype, Tolima, Colombia 12 L. puma, ♂, CNC, holotype, La Alegria, Ecuador 13 L. puma, ♀, CNC, paratype, La Alegria, Ecuador 14 L. thuta, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Loja, Ecuador 15 L. thuta, ♀, MGCL, paratype, Sucumbios, Ecuador 16 L. alexandrae, ♀, FSU, holotype, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador 17 Panthea guatemala, ♂, CNC, San Lorenzo, Guatemala 18 P. hondurensis, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Francisco Morazan, Honduras 19 P. reducta, CNC, ♂, Pedernales, Dominican Republic 20 P. taina, ♂, La Vega, MGCL, holotype, Dominican Republic.

Figures 21 - 24. Male genitalia of Lichnoptera and Lafontaineana 21 Lichnoptera gulo, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 22 L. imama, MGCL, holotype, Tolima, Colombia 23 L. puma, CNC, holotype, La Alegria, Ecuador 24 L. thuta, MGCL, holotype, Loja, Ecuador.

Figures 29 - 34. Female genitalia of Lichnoptera and Lafontaineana 29 Lichnoptera gulo, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 30 Lafontaineana alexandrae, FSU, holotype, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador 31 L. imama, MGCL, paratype, Tolima, Colombia 32 L. marmorifera, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 33 L. puma, CNC, paratype, La Alegria, Ecuador 34 L. thuta, MGCL, paratype, Sucumbios, Ecuador.