Porphyrogenes splendidus Austin and Mielke, 2008

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 : 22-23

Porphyrogenes splendidus Austin and Mielke , new species

( Fig. 87, 88 , 126 , 145 )

Description. Male ( Fig. 87, 88 ) - forewing length = 27.0 mm (holotype); forewing with costal fold, apex slightly produced, pointed, termen relatively straight, anal margin convex; hindwing termen nearly straight, tornus produced to short lobe, vein Rs arising mid-base and end of discal cell and well basad of CuA 2 ( Fig. 126 ); dorsum brown, unmarked; forewing overscaled with tawny, heaviest basad, anal margin with very sparse tuft proximad; hindwing overscaled with tawny posterior to vein Rs; shining yellow-tan speculum at base in anterior discal cell, shining gray speculum in proximal 1/4 of Sc+R 1 -Rs and proximal 2/3 of costal cell; moderately long ochreous-tan recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs covering speculum in that cell, slightly thicker semierect ochreous-tan tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering speculum in discal cell ( Fig. 126 ); conspicuous erect tawny tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent tan tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings slightly paler than ground color.

Venter similar to dorsum, duller and browner; forewing vein 2A strongly sinuate, but otherwise unmodified ( Fig. 126 ); shining gray speculum in proximal 1/4 of CuA 2 -2A (continued to beyond mid-wing as modified brown scales) and in proximal 1/2 of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified tan scales); hindwing with no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax tawny, palpi gray-tan, eyes red, antennae black, yellow distad on venter and beneath apiculus, nudum red-brown, 30 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax ochreous-gray, pectus ochreoustan, legs yellow-orange, dorsal abdomen brown, gray at segments, overscaled with tawny, ventral abdomen charcoal brown.

Genitalia ( Fig. 145 ) - tegumen broad in lateral view, broad and quadrate in dorsal view, long and thin dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft double and sparse; uncus strongly decurved in lateral view, divided in dorsal view, arms widely spaced, short and broad, ventral process of uncus thin; gnathos shorter than uncus, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus strongly curved; saccus narrow, long, oriented dorso-cephalad; valva with costa-ampulla broadly triangular, harpes asymmetrical, long, broad proximad, right harpe curving abruptly upward to broader and finely serrate caudal end, dorsal edge also serrate, left harpe evenly curved upward to pointed caudal end oriented dorso-caudad, dorsal edge grossly serrated; aedeagus slightly shorter than valva, broad with blunt caudal end; cornuti of about 14 slightly curved, moderately robust, and short spikes in two rows.

Female - unknown.

Type. Holotype male with the following labels: white, printed - / R. Yapacani , / E. Bolivia, / Alt. 600 m. / J. Steinbach. /; white, printed and handprinted - / Sept. / 1914 /; white, printed - / Carn. Mus. / Acc. 5570. /; white, printed and handprinted - / Genitalic Vial / GTA - 4182 /; red, printed - / HOLOTYPE / Porphyrogenes splendidus / Austin & Mielke /. Deposited at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania .

Type locality. BOLIVIA: Rio Yapacani , 600m in elevation. Johnson et al. (1990) commented on the confusion concerning date and locality data on specimens attributed to Steinbach .

Etymology. The name refers to the large size and bright color of this species.

Distribution and phenology. The species is known only from the holotype.

Diagnosis and discussion. A bright tawny and completely unmarked species, P. splendidus is one of the largest of the known Porphyrogenes , comparable in size to P. probus . It appears unique in the genus by having asymmetrical valvae. It resembles the species to be described next (see discussion there).

Figures

Figure 83-100. Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 83) undescribed species, male, COSTA RICA: Ciudad Colon, Finca Hamadryas, 15 September 1998, ds. 84) same, vs. 85) P. convexus, holotype male, data in text; 86) same, vs. 87) P. splendidus, holotype male, data in text, ds. 88) same, vs. 89) P. simulator, holotype male, data in text, ds. 90) same, vs. 91) P. spadix, holotype male, data in text, ds. 92) same, vs. 93) P. sparus, holotype male, data in text, ds. 94) same, vs. 95) P. specularis, holotype male, data in text, ds. 96) same, vs. 97) P. spina, holotype male, data in text, ds. 98) same, vs. 99) P. sporta, holotype male, data in text, ds. 100) same, vs.

Figure 124-128. 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 -2A and anal 2 cell) and origins of veins on hindwing. Insert is of anterior portion of dorsal hindwing showing hair-like tufts. 124) P. zohra, HONDURAS (GTA #8903); 125) P. convexus, holotype, BRAZIL:Rondônia (GTA #2760); 126) P. splendidus, holotype, BOLIVIA (GTA #4182); 127) P. simulator, holotype, BOLIVIA (GTA #4181); 128) P. spadix, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3894).

Figure 140-145. 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). 140) P. sororcula, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3493); 141) P. spanda (also including posterior view of harpe), BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3225); 142) P. stresa (also including posterior view of harpe), BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3927); 143) P. zohra (also including posterior view of harpe), HONDURAS (GTA #8903); 144) P. convexus, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #2760); 145) P. splendidus (also including interior view of left valva), holotype, BOLIVIA (GTA #4182).