Porphyrogenes omphale ( Butler, 1871 )

Austin, George T. & Mielke, Olaf H. H., 2008, Hesperiidae of Rondônia, Brazil: Porphyrogenes Watson (Lepidoptera: Pyrginae: Eudamini), with descriptions of new species from Central and South America, Insecta Mundi 2008 (44), pp. 1-56 : 7-8

Porphyrogenes omphale ( Butler, 1871) , reinstated status

( Fig. 7, 8 , 57-60 , 119 , 137 , 154 )

Telegonus omphale Butler, 1871 . Type locality: Venezuela; male type (herein designated the lectotype,

Fig. 7, 8 ) in BM(NH).

Porphyrogenes passalus omphale ( Butler, 1871) : Evans 1952, incorrect synonymy (see below).

Description. Male ( Fig. 7, 8 , 57, 58 ) - mean forewing length = 24.2 mm (23.5-25.6 mm, n = 10; from Rondônia, Brazil); forewing with costal fold, apex not produced, termen convex, anal margin broadly convex on basal half, semierect tuft on this convex portion; hindwing prominently convex, tornus produced to very short lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and just basad of or opposite CuA 2 ( Fig. 119 ); dorsum black; forewing overscaled basad with bright iridescent purple-blue, continuous yellow-orange translucent band from costa, through distal end of discal cell, base of M 3 -CuA 1, mid-CuA 1 -CuA 2, and terminating at or near termen distad in CuA 2 -2A; hindwing overscaled with blue basad, largely posterior of discal cell, more extensive than on forewing, extending to or nearly to termen at tornus; shining gray speculum in anterior discal cell (as small oval area), proximal 1/2 of Sc+R 1 -Rs, and proximal 2/3 of costal cell; short pale tan recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs anterior to origin of vein Rs, slightly larger semierect pale tan tuft arising from near base of discal cell, both covering the base of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 119 ); conspicuous erect blue tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent pale brown tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings of ground color.

Venter similar to dorsum; all colors duller; forewing vein 2A curved (but not sinuate), bare and broadly swollen in second quarter (from base), this conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 119 ), shining gray-brown speculum in posterior 1/2 of the proximal 1/2 of CuA 2 -2A and proximal 1/2 of anal cell, the latter continued by modified pale brown scales extending nearly to tornus; hindwing with blue more extensive than on dorsum, no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax blue, palpi gray, eyes dark (appearing black), antennae black, ochreous on venter of club, nudum gray, 28 (n = 2), 29 (n = 3), 30 (n = 3), or 31 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax blue, pectus blue, legs dark brown proximad, paler distad, dorsal abdomen dark gray with some blue overscaling, ventral abdomen charcoal gray with some blue anteriorly.

Genitalia ( Fig. 137 ) - tegumen narrow in lateral view, oval in dorsal view, short dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, no tuft; uncus thin and moderately decurved in lateral view, deeply divided in U-shape in dorsal view, arms thin and fairly widely spaced, ventral process of uncus triangular; gnathos shorter than uncus, thin in lateral view, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus sinuate; saccus narrow, oriented cephalad; valva with costa-ampulla more or less quadrate, caudal end of ampulla with dense bristles, harpe short, narrow, curving evenly upward and slightly inward to blunt caudal end oriented nearly dorsad, caudal end with many bristles; aedeagus slightly longer than valva, broad with blunt caudal end, caudal 1/3 shagreened; cornuti as small cluster of long, thin, and straight spikes.

Female ( Fig. 59, 60 ) - mean forewing length = 30.3 mm (29.2-32.1 mm, n = 3; from Costa Rica and Panama); forewing apex rounded, termen slightly convex, anal margin straight; hindwing convex, tornus produced to very short lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and opposite CuA 2; dorsum black; forewing overscaled at very base with bright blue, continuous broad (2.0-4.0 mm) yelloworange partially transparent (in discal cell, M 3 -CuA 1, proximal CuA 1 -CuA 2) band from costa, through distal end of discal cell, base of M 3 -CuA 1, mid-CuA 1 -CuA 2, and terminating nearly at termen distad in CuA 2 -2A; hindwing overscaled with blue on basal 1/2 extending nearly to termen at tornus; erect tuft on vein 2A, bright blue proximad, brown distad; fringes on both wings brown.

Venter similar to dorsum; all colors duller; forewing vein 2A slightly curved; anal margin tan; hindwing cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax blue, palpi tan, eyes black, antennae black on dorsum, ochreous on venter, nudum red-brown, 30 (n = 2) or 32 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax blue, pectus tan, legs brown, dorsal abdomen dark brown, ventral abdomen brown, slightly paler at segments caudad.

Genitalia ( Fig. 154 ) - lamella postvaginalis broad, sclerotized largely in central portion of caudal edge, this having narrow and shallow U-shaped indentation centrally; lamella antevaginalis quadrate with central pointed process and membranous plates laterad; ductus bursae short, broad and membranous with a sclerotized plate; corpus bursae small, globular.

Distribution and phenology. Porphyrogenes omphale is known from scattered records in Costa Rica, Panama, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, northern Brazil through the Amazonian basin to Rondônia, Peru, and Bolivia ( Butler 1871, Draudt 1922, Williams and Bell 1934, Bell 1946, Evans 1952, de Jong 1983, this study) and perhaps elsewhere ( Evans 1952, Murray 1996, Robbins et al. 1996). Females attributed to this species were studied from Costa Rica (December), Panama (May, September; GTA #8908), Venezuela, Bolivia (Rio Songo), and Brazil (Pará). The distribution of P. omphale has not been adequately delimited due to misidentifications of its female (see below). Records for central Rondônia, where it is the most commonly encountered Porphyrogenes , are for July (4 records), August (10), September (7), October (1), November (4), and December (1).

Diagnosis and discussion. This strikingly-colored black, blue, and orange species is known from southern Central America and northern South America, southward into Brazil and Bolivia ( Draudt 1922, Bell 1946, Evans 1952, de Jong 1983, this study). Its color and pattern differs from other congeners that are largely reddish brown and lightly marked. Porphyrogenes omphale is also not crepuscular or nocturnal like other Porphyrogenes , being active largely during the afternoon (timed records for 1230 to 1600 hours). The phenotypic aspect of P. omphale suggests its membership in a mimicry complex potentially including certain diurnal moths ( Notodontidae : Dioptinae , Arctiidae ) and butterflies including riodinids such as female Necyria manco Saunders, 1859 , Ancyluris inca (Saunders, 1850) , female A. miranda (Hewitson, 1874) , some female Setabis Westwood, 1851 , Esthemopsis pherephatte (Godart, [1824]) and nymphalids (e.g., certain Callicore Hübner, [1819] , perhaps some Agrias Doubleday, [1845] ).

Evans (1952) identified the female of this species as a dark brown phenotype with “shining greenish blue” bases to the dorsal wings and a “macular white band” across the forewing. That phenotype had been described as Eudamus passalus Herrich-Schäffer, 1869 . This synonymy, without apparent justification, seems to be incorrect since the apparent female of P. omphale is a black, blue, and orange phenotype ( Fig. 59, 60 ) similar to the male as described above. Therefore, Eudamus passalus is removed from synonymy with P. omphale and the latter is returned to its original species-level status.

The male type, one of two specimens in the BM(NH) from Venezuela ( Fig. 7, 8 ), is here designated as the lectotype. It has four labels: / Type H. T. /, / omphale type /, / Venezuela /, / Venezuela Dyson 47-9./. This unequivocally defines Telegonus omphale and will serve to facilitate discussion of its yet unresolved apparently geographic variation. Evans (1952) recognized two subspecies of P. omphale (as P. passalus ), one putatively smaller with a broad orange band on the forewing occurring in northwestern South America ( Venezuela, Colombia) and the other larger with a narrower band occurring elsewhere. The measurements given above are representative of a sample of males from Rondônia, Brazil, but others from elsewhere have forewing lengths ranging from 21.3 mm to 27.7 mm. Material examined in this study suggests no consistent pattern of geographical variation in size or width of the orange band on the forewing; the male genitalia remain constant throughout (also illustrated by Williams and Bell 1934, Evans 1952). Consequently, no subspecies are here recognized.

Figures

Figure 1-18. Types and associated specimens of Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 1) Porphyrogenes boliva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 2) same, vs. 3) Phareas ferruginea Plötz, 1883, lectotype male, ds. 4) same, vs. 5) Augiades despecta Butler, 1870, lectotype female, ds. 6) same, vs. 7) Telegonus omphale Butler, 1871, lectotype male, ds. 8) same, vs. 9) Eudamus pausias Hewitson, 1867, lectotype male, ds. 10) same, vs. 11) Porphyrogenes pausias, female associated with lectotype, ds. 12) same, vs. 13) Telegonus probus Möschler, 1877, lectotype female, ds. 14) same, vs. 15) Porphyrogenes suva Evans, 1952, [holo]type male, ds. 16) same, vs. 17) Telemiades vulpecula Plötz, 1882, lectotype male, ds. 18) same, vs.

Figure 51-64. Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 51) P. boliva, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 17 August 1993, ds. 52) same, vs. 53) P. ferruginea, male, ECUADOR: La Selva, ds. 54) same, vs. 55) P. despecta, male, [BRAZIL], Pará, no date, ds. 56) same, vs. 57) P. omphale, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 18 November 1992, ds. 58) same, vs. 59) P. omphale, female, PANAMA: Panamá Prov.; Distrito de El Llano, Cordillera de San Blas, north of El Llano, ca. 330m, 9 May 1978, ds. 60) same, vs. 61) P. pausias, male, BRAZIL: Rondônia; linha C-10, 5 km S of Cacaulândia, 13 November 1994, ds. 62) same, vs. 63) P. pausias, female, BRAZIL: Rondônia; Fazenda Rancho Grande, 16 April 1997, ds. 64) same, vs.

Figure 115-123. Venation and some secondary sexual characters of male Porphyrogenes. Shown is ventral surface including modification of vein 2A and extent of speculum on ventral forewing (irregular line in CuA 2 -2A and anal cell) and origins of veins on hindwing. Insert is of anterior portion of dorsal hindwing showing hair-like tufts. 115) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #1616); 116) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 117) P. despecta, BRAZIL: Pará (GTA #7587); 118) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 119) P. omphale, BRAZIL:Rondônia (no number); 120) P. probus (GTA #6700); 121) P. sororcula, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #8879); 122) P. spanda, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3225); 123) P. stresa, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3927).

Figure 134-139. Male genitalia of Porphyrogenes; shown are lateral view of uncus, gnathos, tegumen, and saccus; dorsal view of uncus and tegumen; ventral view of uncus and gnathos; juxta; lateral view (with extended vesica) and often dorsal view of aedeagus; internal lateral view of right valva (inset shows the flattened harpe). 134) P. boliva, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3499); 135) P. ferruginea, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4184); 136) P. despecta, BRAZIL:Pará (GTA #7587); 137) P. omphale, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3229); 138) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4212); 139) P. probus, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #6700).

Figure 154-159. Female genitalia of Porphyrogenes (ventral view). 154) P. omphale, PANAMA (GTA #8908); 155) P. pausias, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #8885); 156) P. sororcula, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #4426); 157) P. probus, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #4425); 158) P. vulpecula, BRAZIL: Amazonas (GTA #13796); 159) P. spanda, VENEZUELA (GTA #13797).