Thereus ortaloides ( Lathy, 1930 ), 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 : 230-231

Thereus ortaloides ( Lathy, 1930) , stat. rev.

Figures 23, 24 , 44 , 60 , 73 , 80 , 86 , 94, 95, 98

Thecla ortaloides : Lathy: 1930: 78: 135

Type material. This species was described from a unique male specimen collected around Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The holotype is stored in MNHN ( Fig. 23 ). We included in our study the COI extracted from a full genome analysis of this specimen. It was considered until now as a synonym of Thereus ortalus (Godman & Salvin) because of their ventral resemblance ( Robbins 2004). Wing pattern, genitalia and DNA indicate they do not represent the same species. Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. seems to be an Atlantic Forest endemic that is only found in southern Brazilian states (from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul) and Uruguay.

HOLOTYPE ♂: “ Thecla // ortaloides // ♂ Lathy // Spec. typicum” (white rectangular label, handwritten); “4” (white rectangular label, handwritten); “ Petropolis // 10-2- 76 ♂ ” (white triangle label, handwritten); “MNHN, Paris // EL84503” (white rectangular label, printed, with a flash code); “NHM - B. Huertas // Prél. Tissu 23.2.2024 // ADN-EL84503” (white rectangular label, printed).

Other material examined ( 3♂, 2♀). BRAZIL. Paraná . 1♂, 1♀, Curitiba , Jardin dos Americas, 25.i.2002 & 14.iii.2001, Bizarro leg., DZ 67.474 & DZ 67.475* ( DZUP) . Santa Catarina. 1♂, São Bento do Sul , 836m, S 26°15’, W 49°22’, i-iii.2021, O. Rank Leg., CF-LYC-1713* ( RCCF) ; 1♂, São Bento do Sul , 6.iii.2023, gen. prep. K. Florczyk CFCF218 ( RCCF) ; 1♀, São Bento do Sul, Serra Rio Natal , 500-800m, 18.ii.2009, Moser leg., RCCFXPL7H10*, gen. prep. K. Florczyk CFCF219 ( RCCF) .

iNaturalist data. BRAZIL. São Paulo. São Paulo; Santo André . Paraná. Curitiba . Santa Catarina. Reserva Águas do Brilhante, Itajaí . Rio Grande do Sul. Moinhos, Lajeado; Camobi, Santa Maria; Porto Alegre; Parque Estadual de Itapuã; Capão do Leão; Rio Grande . URUGUAY. Cerro Largo. Bioparque 37000 Melo . Rocha.

Diagnosis and description. In the ML tree ( Fig. 1 ), Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. is sister to Thereus confusus sp. nov., but differs from it by: (1) narrower brown margins on male DFW ( Figs 44, 45 ); (2) smaller crescent shape scent pad (rounded in Thereus confusus sp. nov.) and bigger tear-shape scent patch (very flattened oval in Thereus confusus sp. nov.); (3) male genitalia valvae in ventral view with short extension and dorsal pair of brush organs less close to saccus in lateral view ( Figs 60-61 ); (4) female corpus bursae without signum while triangular signa are present in Thereus confusus sp. nov. ( Figs 73-74 ); (5) 2.66 % mean genetic distance divergence ( Table 3). Barcoded specimens of Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. (n=4) and T. ortalus (n=6), including type material, have 3.22% mean divergence, in addition to different wing span (examined specimens of T. ortaloides stat. rev. were one third smaller than those of T. ortalus ), and wing differences (in the extent of blue dorsally, the background color ventrally, the size of the VHW cubital spot); confirming our choice to refute the previously established synonymy. Male genitalia ( Fig. 60 ). One male dissected. Similar to Thereus confusus sp. nov. with the differences listed in the diagnosis. Eighth tergite subrectangular with straight posterior border and W-shaped anterior border. Female genitalia ( Fig. 73 ). One female dissected. Similar to other species in the group. No signum in the bursa, compared to Thereus confusus sp. nov. Papillae anales with two sclerotized half capsules facing each other and located on the membrane in between them ( Fig. 80 ). Eighth tergite subrectangular.

Biology. Alexandra Bächtold raised Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. in 2011 and 2012 on Struthantus polyanthus Mart. ( Loranthaceae ) in cerrado savanna areas in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil ( Bächtold 2014, under the name Thereus ortalus ). Lucas Kaminski (Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brazil) reared Thereus ortaloides stat. rev. (firstly identified as Thereus ortalus ) in urban areas of the Petrópolis neighborhood in Porto Alegre in 2016 and 2018 ( Kaminski 2023a, b) and in the Parque Estadual de Itapuã, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in 2017 ( Kaminski 2021). In these two places, the larvae were eating leaves of Tripodanthus acutifolius (R. & P.) van Tieghem, commonly known as the southern mistletoe, or ‘erva-de-passarinho’ in Portuguese ( Loranthaceae ). Caterpillars have been found alone on Viscaceae in March and April in Barra do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil ( Oliveira-Neto et al. 2023). The authors noted their resemblance to bird droppings and wrote that “they are very similar to young caterpillars of Heraclides which present the same type of defensive strategy”. Maria Isabel Weyermanns has also bred this species on Loranthaceae in Reserva Águas do Brilhante, Santa Catarina, Brazil, in February 2024 ( Weyermanns 2024). The caterpillar at last stage ( Figs 94, 95 ) looks like fresh bird droppings. It is mostly brown, has a viscous appearance, a thoracic bulge more visible in dorsal view and a tripartite yellowish anal protrusion. The pupa ( Fig. 98 ) is purple with whitish marks; its thoracic crest is also whitish. The pupa hatched after 12 days. The biome of all these regions is Mata Atlântica.

Sympatry. According to the known distribution ( Fig. 86 ), T. ortaloides stat. rev. is allopatric with all the other species of the genena group.

Known distribution ( Fig. 86 ). Brazil ( RJ, SP, PR, SC, RG). Uruguay .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Thereus genena species group, phylogenetic tree generated with IQ-Tree using 83 COI sequences. Each specimen has the following information (if available): scientific name, process ID, country, department. Type material in red. Method of construction of the tree: Maximum-Likelihood.

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 78–80. Illustration of some diagnostic elements and differences between species. 78. Male genitalia of syntypes T. endera (left) and T. ortalus (right) in dorsal view. Arrows show differences in brush organs length and position: black arrow for dorsal brush organs, red for ventral ones. 79. Different shapes of male eighth tergite in ventral view of T. endera (subrectangular, at left) and T. praxioides sp. nov. (longer length but narrower width, at right). Arrows show differences in the anterior edge: black for posterior edge (convex), red for ventral one (W-shape). 80. Structure in the papillae anales of some species like T. ortaloides stat. rev. in lateral view (left) and ventral view (right). Arrow indicates invaginations on membrane attached to ventro-lateral sides of papillae anales. Scale bars: 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.

FIGURES 90–98. Biology of Thereus. 90. Food plant of Thereus praxis in Colombia: Passovia pedunculata (Loranthaceae). 91. Dolichoderus bidens (Hymenoptera: Dolichoderinae) in relation with T. praxis. 92, 93. Larvae of T. praxis in lateral and dorsal view (head on the left side). 94, 95. Larvae of T. ortaloides stat. rev. from south Brazil in lateral and dorsal view (head on the left side). 96, 97. Pupae of T. praxis in lateral and dorsal view (head on the left side). 98. Pupae of T. ortaloides stat. rev. in lateral view (head on the right side) with pupal molt on the left. Pictures 90-93, 96, 97 courtesy of Gregory Nielsen (Colombia). Pictures 94, 95, 98 courtesy of Maria Isabel Weyermanns (Brazil).