Porphyrogenes sparus 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 : 25

Porphyrogenes sparus Austin and Mielke , new species

( Fig. 93, 94 , 129 , 148 )

Description. Male ( Fig. 93, 94 ) - mean forewing length = 22.8 mm (22.1-24.4 mm, n = 5; from Rondônia, Brazil); forewing with costal fold, apex somewhat rounded, slightly produced, termen nearly straight, anal margin slightly convex; hindwing termen slightly convex, tornus produced to short lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and opposite CuA 2 ( Fig. 129 ); dorsum brown; forewing overscaled with dark orange-brown basad and along anal margin, anal margin with dense tuft at convex portion; hindwing overscaled with dark orange-brown posterior to vein Rs except for narrowly brown outer margin; shining gray speculum in anterior discal cell (as small area), proximal 1/2 of Sc+R 1 - Rs, and proximal 1/3 of costal cell; short, tan on basal 1/4 and dark brown distad, recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs, similar (but contrastingly redder than ground color) semierect tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering very base of speculum in discal cell and, with anterior tuft, covering the basal 1/2 of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 129 ); conspicuous erect dark orange-brown tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent dark tan tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings gray-brown.

Venter brown; forewing vein 2A weakly sinuate, bare and moderately swollen in second 1/4 (from base), this conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 129 ), shining gray speculum in proximal 1/2 of CuA 2 -2A and in proximal 2/3 of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified pale brown scales); hindwing with no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax dark orange-brown, palpi ochreous-gray, eyes red, antennae black, yellow on venter distad and beneath apiculus, nudum 26 (n = 1), 27 (n = 1), or 30 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax gray-green, pectus dark orange-brown, legs yellow-orange, dorsal abdomen brown, overscaled with dark orange-brown especially anteriorly, ventral abdomen gray to gray-brown, often paler at segments.

Genitalia ( Fig. 148 ) - tegumen narrow in lateral view, broad and oval in dorsal view, long, thin, and slightly curved dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft double and dense; uncus thin in lateral view, divided in dorsal view, arms widely spaced and robust, ventral process of uncus thin and pointed; gnathos thin in lateral view, proximal arm oriented ventrad, distal arm short, blunt, oriented caudad, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus angled in about middle; saccus broad, oriented cephalad; valva with costa broad, slightly convex grading into ampulla which angles ventro-caudad to harpe, harpe long, very thin, curved to spatulate (most prominent in caudal view) caudal end oriented nearly dorsad; aedeagus slightly longer than valva, broad, cephalic end narrower, caudal end blunt, shagreened cephalad of caudal end; cornuti of about two dozen straight, long, and thin spikes in several clusters.

Female - unknown.

Types. Holotype male with the following labels: white, printed - / BRASIL: Rondonia / 62 km S Ariquemes / linea C- 20, 7 km E / B-65, Fazenda / Rancho Grande / 20 August 1993 / leg. G. T. Austin / associated with Eciton / burchelli - 1400-1430 /; white, printed and handprinted - / Genitalia Vial / GTA - 3928 /; white, printed - / G. T. Austin colln. / MGCL Accession / # 2004-5 /; red, printed - / HOLOTYPE / Porphyrogenes sparus / Austin & Mielke /. Deposited at the Departamento de Zoologia , Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil . Paratypes (all males, deposited at MGCL, all BRAZIL: Rondônia) - same location as holotype, 13 Nov. 1992 ( GTA #3061 ) ; 62 km S Ariquemes, Linha C- 20, 10 km E B- 65, 3 km E Fazenda Rancho Grande, lot 18, 22 Nov. 1992 ( GTA #2806 ) ; Linha C- 10, 5 km S of Cacaulândia, 10 April 1997 ( GTA #8874 ) , 30 July 1995 ( GTA #6586 ) , 11 Sept. 1994 ( GTA #5348 ) .

Type locality. BRAZIL: Rondônia; 62 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 kilometers northeast of Cacaulândia in typical lowland tropical rainforest .

Etymology. The name means a “spear with a curved blade” and refers to the long and curved harpe of the male genitalia.

Distribution and phenology. This species is known only from the types taken in April, July to September, and November.

Diagnosis and discussion. Identification of P. sparus is stymied at couplets 6 and 7 in Evans’ (1952) key with the origin of vein Rs opposite that of CuA 2. Superficially, the species does not resemble any described species. The genitalia have the general form of the several species with a long and upcurved harpe, but differ in many details.

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 129-133. 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. 129) P. sparus, paratype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #2806); 130) P. specularis, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3589); 131) P. spina, holotype, PANAMA (GTA #8905); 132) P. sporta, holotype, COLOMBIA (GTA #4180); 133) P. speciosa, holotype, COSTA RICA (GTA #13985).

Figure 146-151. 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). 146) P. simulator, holotype, BOLIVIA (GTA #4181); 147) P. spadix, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3894); 148) P. sparus (also including anterior view of harpe), holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3928); 149) P. specularis, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3589); 150) P. spina, holotype, PANAMA (GTA #8905); 151) P. sporta, holotype, COLOMBIA (GTA #4180).