Porphyrogenes convexus 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 : 21-22

Porphyrogenes convexus Austin and Mielke , new species

( Fig. 85, 86 , 125 , 144 )

Description. Male ( Fig. 85, 86 ) - forewing length = 23.3 mm (holotype); forewing with costal fold, apex slightly produced, pointed, posterior termen slightly concave, anal margin convex; hindwing termen convex, apex produced, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and distad of CuA 2 ( Fig. 125 ); dorsum brown; forewing overscaled with tawny basad, especially along anal margin where sparse pale tan tuft occurs 1/3 distance from base to tornus; hindwing extensively overscaled with tawny posterior to vein Rs, nearly reaching margin at tornus; shining gray speculum in base of anterior discal cell, proximal 1/2 of Sc+R 1 -Rs, and entire costal cell; prominent dense, short and small pale tan basad and contrasting dark brown distad recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs, similar, but larger and contrastingly more orange than ground color, semierect tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering speculum in discal cell and, with anterior tuft, covering basal 2/3 of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 125 ); conspicuous erect tawny tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent tawny-tan tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings dark brown.

Venter dark brown, forewing vein 2A strongly sinuate, bare and moderately swollen in central 1/3, this conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 125 ); shining gray speculum in proximal 1/2 of CuA 2 -2A and in proximal 2/3 of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified brown 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, eyes reddish, antennae black, yellow distad on venter and beneath apiculus, nudum red-brown, 27 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax gray-green with some tawny scales, pectus gray-brown, legs brown, dorsal abdomen brown overscaled with tawny, ventral abdomen dark gray, very pale gray at segments.

Genitalia ( Fig. 144 ) - tegumen narrow in lateral view, broad and more or less oval in dorsal view, long and thin caudally oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft single across entire breadth between processes of tegumen and relatively sparse especially centrally; uncus decurved, long, and thin in lateral view, very broad in dorsal view, divided with arms widely spaced, long and thin, ventral process of uncus long and thin; gnathos shorter than uncus with long caudal arm upcurved and spiculose caudad, terminal ends somewhat rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus curved; saccus broad, oriented dorso-cephalad; valva with costa broadly rounded, grading into ampulla that angles ventro-caudad to harpe; harpe long, proximal end narrow, curving dorsad to broader, more or less triangular caudal end, this densely dentate; aedeagus nearly as long as valva, broad, tapering cephalad, flaring caudad, ventral surface shagreened cephalad of caudal end; cornuti of about 12 short and straight spikes in two bundles.

Female - unknown.

Type. Holotype male with the following labels: white, printed - / BRASIL: Rondonia / 65 km S Ariquemes / linea C- 20, 7 km E / B-65, Fazenda / Rancho Grande / 22 November 1992 / leg. G. T. Austin / at paper lures / 1400-1430 /; white, printed and handprinted - / Genitalia Vial / GTA - 2760 /; white, printed - / G. T. Austin colln. / MGCL Accession / # 2004-5 /; red, printed - / HOLOTYPE / Porphyrogenes convexus / Austin & Mielke /. Deposited at the Departamento de Zoologia , Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil .

Type locality. BRAZIL: Rondônia; 65 kilometers south of Ariquemes, Linha C-20, 7 kilometers (by road) east of route B-65, Fazenda Rancho Grande , elevation 180 m. This is approximately 5 km northeast of Cacaulândia in typical lowland tropical rainforest .

Etymology. This species is named after its prominently convex hindwing.

Distribution and phenology. Porphyrogenes convexus is known only from the holotype taken in November.

Diagnosis and discussion. Porphyrogenes convexus is readily recognized by the extreme convexity of the hindwing similar to that of P. omphale and by the dark and contrasting anterior tuft on the dorsal hindwing. The genitalia of P. convexus are very different from any heretofore described species with the harpe having an expanded and dentate caudal end, but generally similar to those of an additional five species described below.

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).