Pseudomaniola Röber, 2023

Pyrcz, Tomasz W., Willmott, Keith R., Lachowska-Cierlik, Dorota & Mrozek, Artur, 2023, Phylogeny and systematics of the " Pronophila clade, ″ with 2 new genera to resolve the formerly polyphyletic genus Pseudomaniola (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae:, Insect Systematics and Diversity 7 (5), pp. 1-20 : 7-10

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1093/isd/ixad020
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/5C772166-6C3E-FFED-FF57-FB638E62B1F8
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Pseudomaniola Röber
status	stat. rev.

Treatment

Pseudomaniola Röber View in CoL stat. rev.

Diagnosis. External differences between the adults of the genus Pseudomaniola ( Fig. 3E–H View Fig ) and those of Boyeriana n. gen. are in the wing color patterns, whereas the morphology of the head and venation show no differences. On the underside, the Forewing venter subapical ocelli in Pseudomaniola are small or obsolete, compared to 3, usually fully-developed ocelli in Boyeriana n. gen. (except for B. clethra n. comb. which usually has a simple, nearly uniform ventral color pattern); in Pseudomaniola , the Hindwing venter has a russet ground color, chequered with loosely scattered white patches, in contrast to the gray-brown ground color with fully developed median, postdiscal and submarginal lines in Boyeriana n. gen. or Fahraeusia n. gen. (except, again for B. clethra n. comb.). The Forewing dorsum androconial patch is large, covering the median one-third of the wing. Sexual dimorphism in Pseudomaniola is more marked than in Boyeriana n. gen. or Fahraeusia n. gen. (described below), with the females being considerably larger, and easily recognized by more prominent orange or reddish patches on the upperside.

Venation ( Fig. 4 View Fig ) is typical of the subtribe Pronophilina , with the HW cross-cell m1-m2 vein diagnostically incurved, humeral vein present, and all 5 radial veins of the FW present and arising independently, and does not differ from other genera discussed here, including Boyeriana n. gen. and Fahraeusia n. gen.

The most significant characters diagnosing Pseudomaniola are, however, in male genitalia ( Fig. 5B–F View Fig ). The tegumen is slender in Pseudomaniola , but much larger in Boyeriana n. gen. and Fahraeusia n. gen., resembling in this respect Oxeoschistus Butler ; in Pseudomaniola the uncus is long, slender and arched, similar to Junea , whereas it is considerably thicker or even massive in Boyeriana n. gen.; the subunci in Pseudomaniola are sharp, slender and rather short, whereas they are longer and thicker in Boyeriana n. gen.; the valva of Pseudomaniola are constricted in the middle, with a massive club-like, blunt apex with a serrate dorsal surface, unlike any other genus of Pronophilina , compared to a thin and elongated apical part in Boyeriana n. gen., which is similar to many other genera of Pronophilina , for example Junea or Oxeoschistus ; in Pseudomaniola the aedeagus is tubular and thin, considerably shorter than in Boyeriana n. gen. and Fahraeusia n. gen.

The female genitalia ( Fig. 6C and D View Fig ) are characterized by prominent papillae anales, covered with short and sparse hair-like projections, the posterior apophysis is short, with a wide base, contrasting with the thin apophysis of Boyeriana n. gen., the lamella antevaginalis is mildly sclerotized and irregularly shaped, the lamella postvaginalis is strongly sclerotized, wide, and pocket-like, not differing from Boyeriana n. gen., ripple-patterned with irregular edges, the ductus bursae is weakly sclerotized and short, with the ductus seminalis connecting at the entrance of a gradually opening, moderately large, oval corpus bursae, with 2 short signa converging towards their distal ends, approximately one-third the length of the corpus bursae, similar to Boyeriana n. gen.

The scale morphology ( Figs. 7 View Fig and 8 View Fig ), also presents noticeable differences between Pseudomaniola and Boyeriana n. gen., for example in P. phaselis and B. extrema n. comb. in the median part of the forewing upperside. In particular, the scales of Boyeriana n. gen. are more randomly distributed, in a seemingly chaotic way, whereas in Pseudomaniola they are better organized, forming more or less defined rows ( Fig. 7A View Fig ). In both genera there are typically 3 morphotypes of scales: flat cover scales, elongated hair-like scales and androconial scales. However, whereas in Boyeriana n. gen. there is only 1 morphotype of cover scales, in Pseudomaniola there are 2, distributed regularly in similar proportions—wide, flat scales, consistently wider than in Boyeriana n. gen., and narrower scales with the apical part curved upwards ( Fig. 9B and C View Fig ). Androconial scales are similar in the 2 genera but they are denser in Pseudomaniola ( Figs. 7B View Fig and 8C View Fig ). The ultrastructure of the scales of the 2 genera also does not present any apparent differences ( Fig. 8B View Fig ).

The genus Pseudomaniola sensu novum is distributed from southern Mexico via western Panama in Central America, and along the Andes from northern Venezuela, including the Cordillera de La Costa, and Colombia to south-central Bolivia, Yungas de Cochabamba. The 2 species occur in low to mid-elevation cloud forests, from 1,000 to 1,800 m a.s.l. They are associated with well-preserved forests. They generally fly in dense forest and rarely venture into more open or disturbed habitats.

The female genitalia of the taxa previously considered as the subspecies of Pseudomaniola phaselis differ significantly in the length of signa. In 2 Mesoamerican taxa, P. gigas and P. rogersi n. stat., they are long, extending over approximately half the length of bursa, thin and parallel. In P. phaselis n. stat., restricted here to the nominate subspecies, they are almost equally long but slightly wider and noticeably converging at one end, whereas in P. macasica n. stat. they are very short, and converging at one end. Female genitalia of P. pholoe stat. reinst. and P. argyritis n. stat. were unavailable for study, females of these 2 taxa are unknown. The male genitalia also differ noticeably among the above taxa. In P. argyritis n. stat. the uncus is considerably longer than in the other taxa. Most marked differences are in the shape of the bulbous apical part of the valvae, in P. pholoe characterized by a sharp basal tip, in P. phaselis rounded in lateral view with a distinctively serrate dorsal surface. Interestingly, the male genitalia are almost identical in the otherwise externally sharply different Mesoamerica taxa and the Chocoan P. pholoe . Considering these morphological differences, and the topology of the trees, with each taxon at the end of a well-defined long branch, in addition to their widely disjunct distributions, we chose to treat all these taxa as specifically distinct. Genitalic and DNA sequence data are missing for some species, so additional study may be warranted.