Taygetis drogoni Siewert, Zacca, Dias & Freitas

Siewert, Ricardo Russo, Zacca, Thamara, Dias, Fernando Maia Silva, Freitas, Andre Victor Lucci, Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik & Casagrande, Mirna Martins, 2013, The " Taygetis ypthima species group " (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae): taxonomy, variation and description of a new species, ZooKeys 356, pp. 11-29 : 12-15

Taygetis drogoni Siewert, Zacca, Dias & Freitas sp. n. Figs 1 A–D; 6 A–E; 7A, B

Type material.

Holotype male with the following labels (separated by transverse bars): /HOLOTYPUS/ Taygetis drogoni Siewert, Zacca, Dias & Freitas det. 2013/ M(#)/ 07-II-1985 Cambuquira, M[inas] G[erais] [21°51'30"S, 45°17'28"W]. Mielke & Casagrande leg./ DZ 27.604/ (DZUP). Allotype female with the following labels (separated by transverse bars): /ALLOTYPUS/ Taygetis drogoni Siewert, Zacca, Dias & Freitas det. 2013/ F(#)/ 10-XII-1968 Camb[uquira], [Minas Gerais] [21°51'30"S, 45°17'28"W]./ Coleção H. Ebert/ DZ 27.607/ (DZUP).

Paratypes.

BRAZIL - Minas Gerais: Alfenas - 14-XII-2011, 1 female, Brito leg., JCI2.1-130 (ZUEC); 08-II-2012, 1 male, Brito leg., JCI3.2-225 (ZUEC). Cambuquira - 6-X-1968, 1 female, Ebert leg., ex-coll. Ebert, DZ 5.501 (DZUP); 10-XII-1968, 6 males, Ebert leg., ex-coll. Ebert, DZ 27.606, DZ 27.607, DZ 27.614, DZ 27.619, DZ 27.623, DZ 27.624 (DZUP); 900 m, 15-IV-1969, 3 males, Ebert leg., ex-coll. Ebert, DZ 27.605, DZ 26.419, DZ 27.620 (DZUP); 2-7-XI-1969, 1 female, Ebert leg. (SMFL); 15-V-1981, 1 male, Ebert leg., ex-coll. Ebert, DZ 27.618 (DZUP); 7-II-1985, 5 males, Mielke & Casagrande leg. DZ 27.621, DZ 27.431, DZ 27.616, DZ 27.626, DZ 27.627 (DZUP). Caraça - Santa Barbara, 1500 m, 1-5-II-1985, 1 male and 1 female, Mielke & Casagrande leg. DZ 27.625, DZ 27.629 (DZUP). Carmo do Rio Claro - 1-VIII-1948, 1 male, Carvalho & Alceu leg. DZ 27.617 (DZUP). Nova Lima - APE Manancial Mutuca, Parque Estadual da Serra do Rola Moça, 1-V-2009, 1 male, Silva leg., DNA voucher PM 10-02 (ZUEC-AVLF). São Roque de Minas - Parque Nacional Serra da Canastra, 9-IV-1999, 1 male, without collector, UFMG ILE 1300506 (UFMG); 19-21-IV-1999, 2 males, without collector, UFMG ILE 1300504, 1300507 (UFMG). São Paulo: São Luiz do Paraitinga - 800 m, 22-IV-2004, 1 male, Ribeiro leg., ZUEC LEP 6.548 (ZUEC); 28-IX-2004, 1 male, Ribeiro leg., ZUEC LEP 6.548 (ZUEC); 29-IX-2004, 1 male, Ribeiro leg., ZUEC LEP 7.003 (ZUEC); 12-I-2005, 1 female, Ribeiro leg., ZUEC LEP 6.724 (ZUEC); 18-II-2005, 2 males, Ribeiro leg., ZUEC LEP 6.666, ZUEC LEP 6.691 (ZUEC).

Diagnosis.

Taygetis drogoni sp. n. is very similar to Taygetis ypthima , differing from the latter by the following characters: forewing with pale brown dorsal post discal band less contrasting than in Taygetis ypthima ; underside pale post discal band slightly constricted at M3, tapering abruptly in CuA1-CuA2 and becoming conspicuously thinner or even absent from CuA2 to the inner margin; hind wing underside with the discal line evenly curved and regular, extending from the costal margin to 1A; and dark post discal line straight and only slightly irregular. Tegumen larger and protruding; valva stouter and shorter, with a larger dorsal rough area. Signa dorsal; laterally, sternum VIII not fused with tergum VIII; lamella antevaginalis without process.

Description.

Head. Brown. Post-genal area light brown. Eye glabrous, brown. Antennae without scales at apical third, mostly light brown; club dark brown with last flagellomere light brown. Labial palpus mixed with brown and light brown, with elongated scales at first and second segment; about 1.5 times total length of eye; third segment thin, same size as first. Thorax. Uniformly brown. Legs brown; meso- and metathoracic femurs light brown on inside. Forewing, size and shape: length: 34.5-37.0 mm (n = 23). Triangular, costal margin convex, apex pointed, outer margin convex, tornus rounded, inner margin straight. Forewing upper side (Fig. 1A, C). Mostly brown, darker along outer margin. Forewing under side (Figs 1B, D). Background brown, lighter at wing base. Dark brown scales at end of discal cell and whitish on transverse veins. Dark spot at base of M2. Costal margin to external margin with reticulated markings. Apex rufous brown. Submarginal band whitish, from costal to inner margin, with reduced creamy ocelli in spaces R5-M1, M1-M2, M2-M3 and M3-CuA1; proximal border of submarginal band irregular with dark brown scaling, distal border of marginal band inconspicuous. Marginal line brown. Fringe light brown. Hind wing shape: Costal margin convex, apex rounded, external margin convex in M1-M2, projections at CuA1, CuA2 and 2A, with a developed one at M3. Inner margin curved at base, slightly straight towards tornus. Hind wing upper side (Fig. 1A, C). Mostly brown, darker along outer margin. Hind wing under side (Fig. 1B, D). Background rufous brown, discal line dark brown and irregular. Dark brown spot at base of M2. Submarginal band with reduced creamy ocelli, in spaces Rs-M1, M1-M2, M2-M3 and M3-CuA1, ocellus on CuA1-CuA2 developed. Post discal line straight and dark brown. Proximal border of submarginal band along post discal line forming a 2 mm wide reddish fascia. Distal border of marginal band inconspicuous. Marginal line brown, with distal area reddish. Fringe light brown. Abdomen. Dorsally brown, ventrally light brown.

Male genitalia (Fig. 6 A–E). Tegumen dorsally convex, subtriangular in lateral view, ventral projection wide; appendix angular reduced. Uncus straight, down curved at apex and dorsally keeled. Gnathos larger than uncus; straight and projected dorsally, without a ventral projection at base. Anterior projection of saccus cylindrical, length equal to tegumen. Valva subrectangular, with dorsal projections at apical third; costa developed and subtriangular; ventrally covered by setae. Aedeagus straight, thin and larger than valva; opening of aedeagus almost the total length of posterior portion.

Female genitalia (Fig. 7A, B). Tergum VIII squared. Papillae anales with setae at distal portion, 2/3 higher than longer, sclerotized at basal half. Sterigma sclerotized, formed by a round lamella antevaginalis and a membranous pocket between ostium bursae and papilla anales. Bursa copulatrix totally membranous, with a pair of signa dorsally; ductus bursae thinned, with apical third sclerotized, about three times length of bursa copulatrix.

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to Drogon, one of the three dragons of Daenerys Targaryen, a fictional character from the George R. R. Martin’s novel "A Song of Ice and Fire".

Distribution

(Fig. 8). This species occurs in southeastern Brazil (Minas Gerais and São Paulo) at elevations from 800 to 1,500 m a.s.l.

Taxonomic comments.

This species has presumably not been recognized in the past because of the intrinsic phenotypic variation within Taygetis and, in particular, within Taygetis ypthima , the most similar and probably closest species to Taygetis drogoni sp. n. The species appears cited as Taygetis ypthima in Ribeiro et al. (2012). In Matos-Maraví et al. (2013), Taygetis ypthima PM10-02 is in fact Taygetis drogoni (one of the paratypes, see above). A real Taygetis ypthima ( Taygetis ypthima NW 149-8) is also included in that study, and it appears as sister to Taygetis drogoni in the phylogeny presented in that paper. The genetic distances between these two specimens in the available COI and nuclear genes provide further support for the description of Taygetis drogoni sp. n.