Andesobia Schmidt & De Freina

Schmidt, B. Christian & Freina, Josef J. De, 2011, Generic placement of the Neotropical species of " Phragmatobia " (Erebidae, Arctiinae), with a remarkable matrivorous species from the Peruvian Andes, ZooKeys 149, pp. 69-88 : 70-73

Andesobia Schmidt & De Freina gen. n. Figs 1 –35– 101218

Type species.

Andesobia jelskii Oberthür, 1881

Etymology.

The name is feminine in gender, formed by combining the words Andes and -obia from the generic name Phragmatobia .

Diagnosis.

Andesobia is related to Patagobia , but is distinguished by the following combination of characters: eyes reduced and ellipsoid, 1.4-1.6 × as high as wide, gena with broader unscaled area laterally; posterior antennal rami 1.2-1.5 × and anterior rami 1.1-1.5 × longer than segment length (longest anterior and posterior rami 3 × as long as segment in Patagobia ); 2nd labial segment short and stout, 1.1 × as long as wide, 2 × longer than apical segment; thoracic collar concolourous with dorsal thoracic vestiture (contrastingly paler ochre in Patagobia ); thoracic vestiture sparse and shaggy, compared to dense and pilose vestiture in Patagobia ;femur and tibia very stout, 3.0-3.5 × longer than wide compared to 4.5-5.6 × in Patagobia ; metatibia of Andesobia with one pair of spurs, two pairs in Patagobia ; medial line of forewing absent in Andesobia , present in Patagobia ; postmedial line never double in Andesobia , often double in Patagobia ; hindwing discal spot small and sharpor absent in Andesobia , diffuse and more elongate in Patagobia . Andesobia is endemic to the Puna grasslands of the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia.

Description.

Male. Head - vestiture dark brown to black, shaggy appearance, setae long; antenna weakly bipectinate, ciliate ventrally; longest posterior rami 1.3-2.0 × segment length, longest anterior rami 1.1-1.8 × segment length; rami longest over middle third of antenna, decreasing in length toward base and apex; eye elliptical, 1.4-1.6 × as high as wide; labial palps short, not extending beyond vestiture of frons; 2nd labial segment short and stout, 1.1 × as long as wide, 2 × longer than apical segment; haustellum reduced and poorly sclerotized, presumably non-functional. Thorax - vestiture of vertex and ventrum of thorax black brown; tegulae and patagia black brown; legs black brown, dorsum of femur ochre or dull pinkish red, co-varying with hindwing and abdomen ground colour; apex of prothoracic tibia with two subequal, blunt, triangular projections; two meso- and metathoracic tibial spurs, posterior spur slightly longer than anterior, length of spurs approximately equal to tibial width at apex; metepisternum with rounded ridge along anterior margin, metepisternal microtymbals absent. Forewing - relatively small for an arctiine, forewing length 8-13 mm, elongate with apex less rounded than in Paracles and Spilosoma, length:width ratio averaging 2.2; ground colour ochre yellow, whitish to pinkish red or brownish grey; markings varying from obsoloete ( Andesobia jelskii ) to well defined, grey-brown transverse bands; when present, darker pattern consisting of dark-brown basal area, sub-basal band, discal spot, postmedial band and marginal band; bands occasionally confluent along anal margin; ventrally with bands obsolete except for marginal band, and with a brighter yellowish or reddish ground colour. Hindwing - ground colour slightly richer yellowish or reddish than forewing, with dark-brown to grey-brown marginal band, varying from nearly obsolete (reduced to intermittent diffuse spots extending from apex halfway to anal angle), to broad and diffuse over distal third of wing; brownish, crescentic discal spot small but usually well defined, sometimes absent; ventrally with dark markings less saturated. Abdomen - Segments A1-A3 entirely brownish black, remaining segments ochre or reddish subdorsally, with brownish-black dorsal line, widest in Andesobia flavata ; ventrally, varying from entirely brownish black ( Andesobia sanguinea ) to black with narrow ochre border on distal margin of sternites ( Andesobia flavata ) or entirely ochre ( Andesobia jelskii ); coremata highly reduced to paired patches of sparse, deciduous setae. Genitalia - highly simplified overall with massive, triangular dorsoventrally flattened uncus characteristic of subtribe; uncus as long as width of base, broadly joined to wide, band-like tegumen; dorsal margin of tegumen caudally recurved; valve simple and digitate, lacking processes or claspers, 1-1.7 × as long as uncus-tegumen complex; vinculum semicircular, saccus v-shaped, similar in length to uncus; juxta evenly convex and hemispherical, dorsal margin slightly narrowed; aedeagus relatively large and stout, 3 × longer than wide, 1.5 × as long as width of genital capsule, curving dorsad 25-30°, proximal end approximately ⅓ narrower than apex; coecum 1/10 length of aedeagus, directed slightly ventrad; vesica directed dorso-distad, globose, finely spiculate, with small basal and poorly differentiated apical diverticulum. Female ( Andesobia jelskii and Andesobia sanguinea only; female of Andesobia boliviana and Andesobia flavata unknown). Head - antennae 0.5 × as long as that of male, finely biserrate; proboscis atrophied; vestiture of closely appressed, ochre scales, lacking long, shaggy black scales present in males. Thorax - vestiture similar to that of head, notably lacking ‘shaggy’ appearance of males; legs reduced, 2/3 as long as those of male. Forewing and hindwing - micropterous and highly reduced, forewing 1.5-2.5 mm long, fully scaled and concoulours with dull tan colour of thorax, but without any discernible wing pattern.Abdomen - light ochre gray with fine, short velvety hairs, tergites well sclerotized, black, giving dorsum of abdomen appearance of a broad, black medial band; ventrally with narrower, lighter grayish-black medial band; integument broad and membranous laterally, allowing for distension caused by ova. Genitalia (based on Andesobia jelskii ) - ostium and lamella antevaginalis membranous and poorly defined; lamella postvaginalis consisting of a broad, shallow sclerotized pouch; ductus bursae lightly sclerotized, dorsoventrally flattened, 2 × as long as wide; corpus bursae pear shaped, and relatively small, 2 × as longh as ductus bursae; diameter of distal, globose chamber 2 × width of ductus bursae; signum lacking; ductus seminalis wide and rugose, bulla seminalis large, diameter 1.5 × that of corpus bursae; posterior apophysis equal in length to papillae anales, anterior apophysis 0.6 × as long as papillae anales; each paired dorsal pheromone gland consisting of two tree-like subdivisions, each subdivision with 3-5 smaller diverticula.

Remarks.

Structurally, Andesobia is quite homogeneous, the main species-level differences occuring in the length and shape of the male valve and the vesica. The highly simplified, digitate male valve and massive uncus-tegumen compex is shared with several other Neotropical genera including Paracles , Patagobia , Caribarctia Ferguson and Leichosila Schmidt. The mtDNA barcode sequence ( Andesobia jelskii ) does not provide any additional resolution of relationships within this group, with minimum pairwise distances (uncorrected) between Andesobia , Paracles , Phragmatobia , Leichosila , Caribarctia and Phaos ranged from 6-8%. Sequences for Patagobia were not available.

Several Andean species are superficially similar to Andesobia and Patagobia , and require comment. Paracles herbuloti ( Toulgoët), Paracles minuta Becker & Miller, and Paracles diminuta Becker & Miller are small species with a simple or highly reduced forewing pattern. Females of all three are unknown, but the structurally similar and probably congeneric Chilesia anguloi Ruiz, Chilesia rudis (Butler) and Chilesia watsoni Ruiz have micropterous females ( Ruiz 1989; Vargas and Parra 2003). Despite these similarities to Andesobia (and Patagobia ), the broader, more rounded wings, shorter, rounder saccus, greatly elongated tegumen, very short valva, and small vesica are consistent with those of other Paracles species, and not with Andesobia or Patagobia .

Biology and distribution.

Data on the biology of Andesobia is based primarily on Andesobia jelskii and is discussed in more detail under the species account below. Andesobia is adapted to cold-temperate alpine habitats, males flying during sunny periods and the females being micropterous. Mating and oviposition occurs inside the female cocoon. The female-biased sex ratio of the broods reared during this study may indicate that females are capable of parthenogensis, as in some other cold-adapted flightless Lepidoptera ( Suomalainen 1962). Adults emerge during the middle of the four-month wet season in the otherwise xeric grassland habitat. Andesobia is endemic to the Puna grasslands of the high Andes, occuring from central Peru south to the Lake Titicaca region of southern Peru/Bolivia.