Thereus confusus Faynel & Fåhraeus, 2025

Faynel, Christophe, Huertas, Blanca, Crom, Jean-François Le, O’Brien, Richard & Fåhraeus, Christer, 2025, Diagnostic male secondary sexual structures and wing patterns in the Thereus genena species group (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae) with the description of nine new species from Colombia, Peru, Brazil and French Guiana, Zootaxa 5728 (2), pp. 201-246 : 231-233

Thereus confusus Faynel & Fåhraeus sp. nov.

LSIDurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7974BB39-D598-4FDC-A791-22E7BA630B63

Figures 25, 26 , 45 , 61 , 74 , 86

Type material. Holotype male ( Fig. 25 ), FW: 13.49 mm, labelled as “Reserva “Sonho Azul” // PA 140—Km 15—68786 // SANTO ANTONIO DO TAUÁ // PARÁ — BRASIL // 05.X.2008 // Pierre JAUFFRET leg. // Coll. C. Faynel n° 10657” (white rectangular label, black printed and blue handwritten); “CF-LYC-831” (orange rectangular label, black printed); “CFCF027 // Thereus confusus ♂ // 27/11/2022 // Diss. Klaudia Florczyk” (green rectangular label, black printed); “ Holotype ♂ // Thereus confusus // Faynel & Fåhraeus, 2025 ” (red rectangular label, black printed). The GPS data of the exact site are S 01°09’77.5” S, 48°07’46.1’’ W ( Faynel & Moser 2008). Currently in RCCF collection. The holotype will be deposited in MPEG.

Paratypes ( 9♂, 3♀). ECUADOR. Sucumbios . 1♀, Lumbaqui , 820m, 0°04'22.8"N, 77°18'46.8"W, 07.vii.2019, Fåhraeus / Miranda leg., CFC35102*, gen. prep. K. Florczyk ( FILS) ; 1♀, same locality, 1000m, 18.ix.2020, Fåhraeus / Miranda leg., CFC39447*, gen. prep. K. Florczyk ( FILS) . Napo. 1♂, Rio Pimpilala , SW of Tena, 1°04.6’ S, 77°56.2’ W, 8.i.2011, 600-900m, E. Aldas & R.C. Busby leg., RCB05148 ( RCB) . PERU. Loreto. 1♂, Contamana , Rio Ucayali, vii.2007, Coll. C. Faynel n° 15449, CF-LYC-830*, gen. prep. K. Florczyk CFCF216 ( RCCF) . Huánuco. 1♂, Tingo María , 10.viii.2002, ex-coll. A. Pereira ( RCCF) ; 1♂, Honolulu , 855m, 9°26'50.4"S, 75°58'58.8"W, 15.xi.2020, Fåhraeus / Tony leg., CFC13951* ( FILS) . BRAZIL. Pará . 5♂, same locality as holotype, 2.viii.2003, 10.ix.2003, 1.xi.2004, 7.xii.2004, 4.ii.2005, Pierre Jauffret leg., Coll. C. Faynel n° 10762, 10162, 10555, 10579, 10665 ( RCCF) ; 1♂, Bom Jesus do Tocantins, Rio Jacundá , 10.vi.2004, Pierre Jauffret leg., Coll. C. Faynel n° 10108 ( RCCF) ; 1♀, same locality as holotype, on Cordia schomburgkii , 16.x.2008, Pierre Jauffret leg., Coll. C. Faynel n° 10549, CF-LYC-832*, gen. prep. K. Florczyk CFCF028 ( RCCF, illustrated on Fig. 26 ) .

Paratypes have the following labels “ Paratype ♂ [or ♀] // Thereus confusus // Faynel & Fåhraeus, 2025 ” (blue rectangular label, black printed).

iNaturalist data. BRAZIL. Amazonas. 1♂, Coari , 5.viii.2018 . 1♀, Careiro, Lago do Maçarico , 4.ix.2025 .

Diagnosis and description. Thereus confusus sp. nov. differs from closest relative, T. ortaloides stat. rev., by: (1) wider DFW black margins on males; (2) different shapes of scent patch, respectively flattened oval in the first and teardrop-shaped in the latter; (3) 2.66 % mean genetic divergence ( Table 3). Thereus confusus sp. nov. was often confused with T. ortalus , a more distantly related species. It is distinguished from it by: (1) bigger VHW red cubital spot; (2) different scent patch size on males (two times thicker in T. ortalus ); (3) 5.60% mean genetic divergence ( Table 3). Ventrally, the white postmedian line of Thereus confusus sp. nov. is inwardly bordered by dark brown scales, appearing more pronounced than in the other two species and the VHW anal spot is more filled with black. Male ( Fig. 25 ). FW length: 14.2 mm (n = 2). Wing. DFW dark blue covering a large part of the wing, brown apex and outer margin; flattened oval black scent patch at the distal end of the discal cell; much smaller round brown scent pad, located after the discal cell. VHW typical of the genena group, tornus black, anteriorly bordered by white and reddish orange scales, a few orange scales present in CuA 2 -2A. Male genitalia ( Fig. 61 ). Three males dissected. Similar to T. ortaloides stat. rev., but with dorsal pair of brush organs closer to saccus in lateral view and valvae longer and narrower. Saccus short and angled in ventral view, penis straight. Eighth tergite long with W-shaped anterior border and straight posterior one. Female ( Fig. 26 ). FW length: 13.9 mm (n = 2). Wings. brown dorsally, beige-brown ventrally but lighter than male, same ventral patterns except a bigger red cubital spot on HW. Female genitalia ( Fig. 74 ). Two females dissected. Large and long funnel-shaped ostium bursae, deeper than in T. ortaloides stat. rev. Ductus bursae aligned with ostium with a lightly sclerotized part in the middle (black arrow on Fig. 74a ). Two thorn-shaped signa observed in the middle of the bursa, like in T. ortalus (black arrow showing a magnification of one signum on Fig. 74b ). Papillae anales with two sclerotized invaginations on the membrane (half capsules facing each other) attached to ventro-lateral sides of the anales papillae. Eighth tergite subrectangular. The association of the sexes was based on identical type locality (Pará, Brazil), similar ventral wing patterns, and the same COI sequence (same BIN ADL3630).

Biology. In 2018, Lucas Kaminski found a Thereus sp. feeding on Oryctanthus , a parasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae ( Kaminski 2025a, b) in Coari, Amazonia, Brazil. The penultimate instar larva is attended by ant Crematogaster sp. The larva looks like the two others previously described. Its color is green and white at penultimate instar and brown-orange with amber anal part at last instar. Pupal exuvia and adult are deposited at UFRGS. We identified the adult ( Kaminski 2025c) by wing patterns as a male T. confusus sp. nov.

Ethology. Specimens of both sexes collected were found feeding on Cordia schomburgkii A. DC. ( Boraginaceae ) in Pará, Brazil.

Sympatry. Thereus confusus sp. nov. is sympatric with Thereus praxioides sp. nov. in Pará, Brazil ( Fig. 86 ), allopatric with T. ortaloides stat. rev. and T. ortalus .

Known distribution ( Fig. 86 ). Ecuador (SU, NA). Peru (LOR, HUC, CUS). Brazil (AM, PA).

Etymology. Derived from the Latin confűsus, meaning “mixed” or “confused”. It refers to the historical confusion with closely related Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. or more distantly related Thereus ortalus . Thereus confusus sp. nov. is a third species in this group previously considered as representing only one taxon. It is a Latinized name considered as masculine.

Remarks. Specimens of this taxon were wrongly cited as Thereus ortalus in the butterfly fauna of the Cosñipata Valley study, in Cusco, Peru ( Lamas et al. 2021). This locality represents the most southern known for Thereus confusus sp. nov. A male Thereus confusus sp. nov. from Peru, Huánuco (CFC13951, identified from DNA) has a bigger scent patch and wider black margins on DFW than the males we examined from Brazil, Pará. However, both have the big black anal spot on VHW.

Figures

FIGURES 23–33. Adults of Thereus. 23. ♂ Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. (HT, Brazil, MNHN). 24. ♀ Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. (Brazil, DZUP). 25. ♂ T. confusus sp. nov. (HT, Brazil, MPEG). 26. ♀ T. confusus sp. nov. (PT, Brazil, RCCF). 27. ♂ T. praxioides sp. nov. (HT, French Guiana, MNHN). 28. ♀ T. praxioides sp. nov. (PT, French Guiana, RCCF). 29. ♂ Thereus praxis (ST, Colombia, NHMUK). 30. ♀ Thereus praxis (Colombia, Collection Gregory Nielsen). 31. ♂ Thereus ortalus (ST, Mexico, NHMUK). 32. ♀ Thereus ortalus (ST, Mexico, NHMUK). 33. ♂ T. aguacatal sp. nov. (HT, Colombia, ICN-MHN).

FIGURES 34–49. Male forewing androconia. 34. ♂ Thereus endera. 35. ♂ T. geminus sp. nov. 36. ♂ T. cacao sp. nov. 37. ♂ T. antecum sp. nov. 38. ♂ Thereus genena. ♂ 39. ♂ Thereus tiasa. 40. ♂ Thereus angulus stat. rev. 41. ♂ T. borbaensis sp. nov. 42. ♂ T. chontachaca sp. nov. 43. ♂ T. ramirezi sp. nov. 44. Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. 45. ♂ T. confusus sp. nov. 46. ♂ T. praxioides sp. nov. 47. ♂ Thereus praxis. 48. ♂ Thereus ortalus. 49. ♂ T. aguacatal sp. nov. Wings not at same scale for comparison purpose.

FIGURES 60–65. Male genitalia. From left to right: left lateral view with penis in place, left lateral view with penis and brush organs removed (at least one), ventral view and penis in lateral view above. Black arrows show diagnostic characters (see in the text). 60. Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. 61. Thereus confusus sp. nov. 62. Thereus praxioides sp. nov. 63. Thereus praxis. 64. Thereus ortalus. 65. ♂ T. aguacatal sp. nov. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIGURES 66–77. Female genitalia. Left lateral view (at left), ventral view. 66. Thereus endera. 67. Thereus geminus sp. nov. 68. Thereus cacao sp. nov. 69. Thereus antecum sp. nov. 70. Thereus genena. 71. Thereus tiasa. 72. Thereus chontachaca sp. nov. 73. Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. 74. Thereus confusus sp. nov. 75. Thereus praxioides sp. nov. 76. Thereus praxis. 77. Thereus ortalus. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURES 86–87. Geographic distribution of the species of Thereus belonging to the genena group (question mark for imprecise data placed in the center of the province/state, circle for mounted specimen data, square for iNaturalist data). 86. T. ortalus, T. ortaloides stat. rev. (), T. confusus sp. nov., T. praxis, T. praxioides sp. nov. 87. T. endera, T. angulus stat. rev., T. cacao sp. nov., T. geminus sp. nov.