Episcepsis venata Butler, 1877

Pinheiro, Lívia R. & Araujo Junior, Elias C., 2017, Taxonomic notes and a new species of Episcepsis Butler, 1877 (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Ctenuchina), Zootaxa 4365 (2), pp. 231-240 : 232-233

Episcepsis venata Butler, 1877

( Figs. 1D ; 3A–I)

Episcepsis venata Butler, 1877: 49 , pl. 16, fig. 7. Lectotype male, by subsequent designation ( Hampson, 1898: 388): [BRAZIL, Amazonas], Rio Jutahy, near Rio Curnem (sic), January 29, 1875 (J. W. H. Trail); Druce, 1897: 358; Kirby, 1892: 175; Hampson, 1898: 388; Zerny, 1912: 113; Draudt, 1915: 130; Watson et al., 1980: 64.

Heliura venata ; Schaus, 1892: 7; pl. 1, fig. 20.

Diagnosis. Moths predominantly brown. Head and thorax brown scaled, with purple iridescence. Abdomen brown scaled, with blue iridescence. Head entirely brown, except for few white scales on first palpomere and on scape and pedicel, and for two bright red spots on post-occiput. Thorax and legs entirely brown, except for a bright red scale tuft near patagia, and for the anterior surface of prothoracic coxae, also bright red. Forewings light brown with dark brown scales on proximal and distal portions of anal margin, on post-discal bar, and on apex. Hindwings entirely brown scaled, proximal area partially semi-hyaline. Abdominal tergites brown with blue iridescence; abdominal sternites brown. Aedeagus with a dorsal line of variously sized cornuti. Valvae trilobed. Corpus bursae twisted, corrugated, and lacking signa.

Redescription ♂ and ♀. Head. Proboscis dark brown. Labial palpi predominantly brown, exceeding vertex in length. Outer surface of first palpomere with a few white scales. Third palpomere approximately twice longer than wide. Frontoclypeous approximately as long as wide, brown. Vertex, scales immediately posterior to antennal socket, ocular ring and post-occiput brown, the latter with two bright red spots. Scape and pedicel brown, except for a few white scales on outer surface. Antennomeres entirely brown. Male medial pectinations approximately twice longer than the length of the antennomere’s shaft. Female medial pectinations shorter than the length of the antennomere’s shaft. Thorax. Dorsal surface of thorax, including patagia and tegulae, uniformly brown. Lateral surface of thorax also brown, except for a tuft of bright red scales adjacent to the patagia. Anterior surface of prothoracic coxae bright red. All other segments of all pairs of legs brown. Forewings. Entirely scaled. Dorsal surface with a pattern composed of a background of light brown scales, with dark brown scales on the following areas: on veins, on proximal and distal portions of anal area, a wide patch on transversal vein, and on apex. Ventral surface similar, but with dark brown scales restricted to costal margin and apex. Venation as in figure 2: R1 arising before transversal vein. R2 arising at transversal vein. R3 and R4 sharing a common stalk. M2 and M3 also sharing a common stalk. Hindwings. Entirely brown scaled, and sexually dimorphic in shape: anal area expanded in males, forming an acute angle with outer margin. In males, proximal area of cell CuP-1A with a reduced density of scales, rendering a semi-hyaline appearance. Dorsal surface of anal margin of males with a hairbrush concealed on a wing fold. Venation as in figure 2: Sc reduced, but present in both sexes. M2 present. M3 and CuA1 fused. Females with two frenular bristles. Abdomen. Abdominal tergites brown with blue iridescence. Abdominal sternites brown lacking iridescence. T8 of males almost square, as sclerotized as previous tergites, with anterior margin heavily sclerotized, with two membranous projections shorter than the length of T8. S8 of males as sclerotized as previous sternites, anterior margin also heavily sclerotized, in a rather irregular shape. Intersegmental membrane 7-8 lacking coremata. T7 of females rectangular, twice longer, and as sclerotized as previous tergites. S7 of females singularly shaped, longer, but as sclerotized as previous sternites, bearing two heavily sclerotized lateral pouches with modified scales. Male genitalia. Aedeagus much longer than wide, straight. Ejaculatory duct inserted dorsally. Caecum round, slightly curved upwards. Vesica with a longitudinal line of cornuti; proximal cornuti very long, and distal cornuti very short. Ventral surface with a longitudinal sclerotized plate. Saccus weakly developed, slightly asymmetrical, with left arm somewhat longer than right arm, and curved dorsally, with round apex. Vinculum straight, very narrow. Tegumen longer than wide. Anterior margin of tegumen with a deep, V-shaped invagination. Dorsal surface of tegumen with an X-shaped sclerotization. Lateral posterior surfaces of tegumen densely covered with scales (brushed for photographs). A wide, slightly sclerotized, and sparsely setose projection posterior to Xshaped sclerotization. Intersegmental membrane 9-10 visible only dorsally. Uncus with an inverted Y-shape. Base of uncus glabrous, and much wider than its lobe. Lobe of uncus somewhat cylindrical, finger-like, with few tiny setae on dorsal surface, and a sharp apex. Transtilla membranous. Manica membranous, shorter than valvae. Juxta sclerotized, glabrous, wider than long. Valvae symmetrical, with three lobes: a flat, round and heavily sclerotized proximal-ventral lobe perhaps correspondent to sacculus, slightly developed, densely covered with long scales; and two distal lobes, correspondent to cucullus and valvula. Cucullus weakily sclerotized, densely covered with scales, with round apex, and considerably shorter than valvula. Valvula heavily sclerotized, with few setae and a sharp apex. Female genitalia. T9 uniformly sclerotized. Papillae anales with short setae on most of their surface. Proximal portion of the dorsal surface with few setae. Pseudopapillae anales conspicuous, finger-like, with short setae. Posterior apophyses slightly longer than anterior apophyses. Pheromone glands undeveloped. Postvaginal lamella predominantly sclerotized. Posterior margin with a medial invagination. Antevaginal lamella slightly sclerotized, lacking setae or spines, posterior margin sinuous. Ostium centralized. Ventral surface of antrum with a triangular sclerotization, dorsal surface membranous. Ductus bursae heavily sclerotized and flattened, longer than wide. Corpus bursae approximately spherical, corrugated, predominantly membranous. Posterior surface partially sclerotized, with signa restricted to a small area. A second bursa, entirely membranous. Ductus seminalis arising from accessory bursa.

Additional material examined (1 ♂ and 1♀). VENEZUELA, Caura Valley ( USNM).

Distribution. To the current knowledge, this species is restricted to the Amazonian Forest in Brazil and Venezuela.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of the species treated herein. A) E. aelia revis. stat., holotype; B) E. atlantica sp. nov., holotype; C) E. fumata, paralectotype;D) E.venata, holotype; E) E.coeruleocephala, lectotype. Scale bars: 1 cm.