Westindia haxairei Vincent

Vincent, Benoit, Hajibabaei, Mehrdad & Rougerie, Rodolphe, 2014, A striking new genus and species of tiger-moth (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini) from the Caribbean, with molecular and morphological analysis of its systematic placement, Zootaxa 3760 (2), pp. 289-300 : 293-296

Westindia haxairei Vincent new species

Figs. 1–6

Type material. Holotype; male: Dominican Republic, Monseñor Nouel department, Road El Blanco to Constanza pK 10, Reserva Scientifica Ebano Verde, alt. 1360m. N 19°10.729’ W 70°30.988’; 15.viii.2007; attracted to UV light, J. Haxaire and O. Paquit leg.; genital prep. BV 372; Barcode SampleID/GenBank Acc.: BEVI 0552/ KF930933 : Deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle ( MNHN, Paris). Allotype, female: same data as the holotype; genital prep. BV 373; Barcode SampleID/GenBank Acc.: BEVI 0554/ KF930920 . Deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle ( MNHN, Paris). Paratypes: 5 males and 4 females, same data as the holotype, 2 males with a barcode sequence available (SampleID/GenBank Acc.: BEVI 0553/ KF930928 , BEVI 0555/ KF930922 ). Deposited in collections of the first author except for two specimens deposited respectively in the Natural History Museum (NHM, London) and the National Museum of Natural History ( USNM, Washington D.C.); 2 males, same data as the holotype but collected on 08.viii.2007, in collection of the first author; 2 males, Dominican Republic, La Vega department, Road Valle Nuevo to Constanza Km 10, alt. 2015m. N 18°50.123’ W 70°41.677’; 05.viii.2007; attracted to UV light, J. Haxaire and O. Paquit leg., in collection of the first author. 2 males and 2 females, Dominican Republic, Monseñor Nouel, Cordillera Central, Casavito, 1050-1280m, vii.1999; 2 males and 2 females, Dominican Republic, Monseñor Nouel, Cordillera Central, La Palma de Constanza, 600m, vii.1999; R. Marx leg., in Museum Witt (München). 1 male Dominican Republic, Constanza, 1200m, 21.XI.1995, Westphal leg., in coll W. Speidel (München).

Description. Male ( Fig. 1 ) Wingspan 57–65 mm; forewing length 26–30 mm. Head Antennal scape spherical, pedicel narrow. Antennae monofiliform with 87 flagellomeres; dorsal and ventral surfaces black, delimited by a thin white line, except for the apical twenty flagellomeres white dorsally, and for the proximal ten segments with white scale patches on the distal end of each segment. The apical third with few bristles. Frons, head and labial palpi orange powdered with yellow. Thorax. All thorax, legs excepted, is orange powdered with yellow, as the result of the presence of long orange scales tipped with yellow, giving an orange powdered with yellow hue to the whole head and thorax. Ventral and dorsal surface the same color. Femur of all legs orange. Tibia and tarsi of the middle and hind legs black with dorsal surface streaked with two white longitudinal lines; area around the hindtibial spurs white. Fore-tibia and tarsi with a single white longitudinal line dorsally, tibia orange ventrally. Tarsal claw toothed. Forewing. Dorsum - Ground color orange with the central area more strongly colored with a vivid red hue, the proximal two thirds with opalescent scattered scales. The forewing is crossed by two transversal ivorywhite bands bordered by thick black lines. Antemedian band narrower in its central area; the postmedian band starts from the costa parallel to the antemedian band, then turns to reach the external margin of the wing in its middle; this second section of the band is strongly narrowed in its middle, where the black lines become almost fused, and it becomes wider when reaching the fringe which is white toward the anal angle and black toward the apex. The costa is marked by brownish scales. The central area of the forewing, between the two ivory-white bands, with three longitudinal grey streaks, slightly converging basally. The central grey coloration is surrounded by a thin yellowish area. Ventrum—Colors more vivid than on the dorsal face. The antemedian band is poorly contrasted, the postmedian interrupted at the costa and the three grey streaks not visible. Hindwing Dorsum - White and semihyaline. The anal area is slightly marked in grey; the costal area is grey with a similarly colored indentation toward the tip of the discal cell. Ventrum - Same coloration than dorsal face, but for the costa orange at its base and becoming grey toward its apex. Discoidal lunula grey. Abdomen. Tergites A1–4 covered by long vivid reddish orange scales. The posterior tergites with shorter scales and a slightly stronger coloration. Each spiracle is marked with black scales, forming a regular punctuation along the pleurites. Sternites uniformly vivid orange. Ventral surface identical in color. Male genitalia ( Figs. 2–3 ; 5–6) Tegumen and Uncus narrow and elongated. Uncus with a pointed apex slightly curved ventrally. It is covered by long bristles laterally. Anal tube slightly sclerotized laterally. Scaphium sclerotized, concave and tongue-shaped ( Fig. 5 ). Transtilla subrectangular. Valves large, symmetrical, bifid with a deep notch ( Fig. 6 ). The dorsal branch is long and curved with a very pointed tip. Ends of the ventral branch with two digitiform processes: one broad and rounded, the other fine and curved with some bristle at the end. Vinculum with a short pointed saccus. Juxta slightly sclerotized with a U-shaped excavation on the ventral margin. Phallus long, slightly curved. Caecum penis short and rounded. Vesica with a single lobe lacking cornuti ( Fig. 3 ). Female. The female is identical to the male but for the absence of a dense tuft of golden bristles on the ventral face of the flagellomeres. Female genitalia ( Fig. 4 ). Tergite A7 twice as wide as tergite A6, slightly sclerotized and rectangular. Sternite A7 large with a strong V-shaped posterior indentation. Pseudopapillae entirely joined and covered with short bristles. Ductus bursae uniformly sclerotized, elongated, ribbon shaped, curved near the insertion of the corpus bursae which shape is pyriform, wrinkled and without signum. There is a protuberance close to the insertion of the ductus bursae. The ductus seminalis is short, opening into a large wrinkled and rounded bulla seminalis. Papillae anales trapeziform, uniformly covered with long bristles. Dorsal pheromone glands with a pair of long unbranched tubes.

Variation. The postmedian band exhibits some variations in the extent of its central contraction. Some specimens display a 1 mm interruption of this band whereas in others the contraction is almost absent allowing a continuous ivory-white coloration.

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to our colleague Jean Haxaire.

Distribution, phenology and biology. W. haxairei seems restricted to middle elevation localities of the central cordillera in the Dominican Republic. All the specimens known to us were collected in July and August, and this species was not collected during previous sampling in the same area during April/ May 2004, suggesting that Westindia is a mid-summer flier. The early stages and foodplants are unknown.

Figures

FIGURES 1. Westindia haxairei n. sp. 1: Holotype, dorsal view.

FIGURES 2 – 4. Westindia haxairei n. sp. 2: Holotype, genitalia; 3: Holotype, aedeagus; 4: Paratype female, genitalia.

FIGURES 5 – 7. Westindia haxairei n. sp. 5 Holotype, genitalia, lateral view of the uncus (un), scaphium (sc) and tuba analis (ta); 6 Holotype, genitalia, valvae; 7 Holotype, genitalia, membranous lobe (ml) between vinculum (vin) and tegumen (tg), valvae (va).