Penaincisalia libertada Hall

Hall, Jason P. W., Willmott, Keith R. & Busby, Robert C., 2005, Five new Penaincisalia species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Eumaeini) from the Andes of southern Ecuador and northern Peru, Zootaxa 797, pp. 1-20 : 14-16

Penaincisalia libertada Hall , new species ( Figs. 1 F; 2D; 3I,J; 5)

Description.— Male: Forewing length of HT 13 mm. Forewing costal and distal margins approximately straight, apex pointed; hindwing anal margin convex, apex rounded, and tornus formed into a round lobe with a short triangular tail extending from vein Cu2; venation typical for genus. Dorsal surface: Forewing iridescent purple, except for a narrow black border at distal margin that broadens at apex and a very narrow black border at costal margin, hindwing a silvery dark turquoise blue, except for a narrow black border at distal margin that broadens at apex and extends along costal margin, and a gray hindwing anal fold, hindwing tornal lobe with extensive dark red scaling; forewing androconial cluster appears to be a scent pad, with very densely layered, elongate, smooth­tipped black scales, scent pad oval and positioned in upper distal corner of discal cell ( Fig. 2 D); fringe on both wings black, with a few white scales at tip and base of hindwing tail. Ventral surface: Ground color of both wings grayish brown, becoming paler towards anal margin of forewing and darker towards base of both wings (particularly on hindwing); discal cell ends marked by a narrow rufous brown line; broader rufous brown postdiscal bands have an ill­defined proximal edge and a sharply defined distal edge with a fine line of black and then gray scaling, straight forewing band extends diagonally from costa to vein Cu2, broader and very jagged hindwing band extends from costa to vein Cu2 and then turns sharply towards anal margin; very narrow, diffuse band of scattered gray scales between postdiscal and submarginal bands on both wings; thin, undulating, dark red submarginal band that broadens in apex extends on forewing from costal margin to vein Cu2, and on hindwing from apex to tornus, hindwing band also becomes broader in tornus and ends at wing margin with a few white scales and a round black patch immediately distally, dark brown marginal spots small and faint on both wings; fringe on both wings reddish brown, becoming black in hindwing tornus.

Head: Labial palpi brown dorsally, gray and brown speckled ventrally; second segment with long, dense, ventrally directed scales; third segment short, pointed slightly downwards; eyes brown and setose, surrounded by pale gray scaling; frons with long dense, brown and gray setae; antennae 50–60% length of forewing, segments brown with darker sclerotization around tip and white scaling at base, clubs broad and black, with orange­brown tips.

Body: Thorax dull blue gray dorsally and grayish ventrally; tegula dull blue gray; all legs grayish; abdomen not seen prior to historical dissection.

Genitalia ( Figs. 3 I,J): Uncus rectangular with a broad medial indentation dorsally; gnathos smoothly rounded at elbow, constricted in diameter before tip; tegumen enlarged into a broadly rounded posterio­ventral projection two to three times width of lower portion of vinculum, tegumen with deep dorsal notch, small saccus is triangular in ventral view and extends at approximately 110° from vinculum; valvae in lateral view consist of elongate, broadly triangular, blunt­tipped posterior processes, with a very short, broadly triangular projection at their ventro­lateral base that has a convex ventral margin, valvae joined at anterio­dorsal margin by membranous tissue; aedeagus long and approximately uniformly narrow throughout, with a slightly convex medial section and a blunt angular tip, ductus ejaculatorius exits anterior region of aedeagus from a very elongate dorsal area immediately before rounded anterior aedeagal tip (caecum), two cornuti present very similar in size, shape and position to those of P. j u l i a e; eighth abdominal tergite a simple rectangle.

Female: Unknown.

Type material.— Holotype ɗ, PERU: La Libertad, Cumpang, between Tayabamba and Ongón [c. 8°12'S, 77°10'W], 2400–2700 m, 20 Oct (T. Parker) ( MUSM).

Etymology. — This species is named for the Peruvian department (La Libertad) from which the unique male holotype originated.

Diagnosis.— Despite substantial differences in male genital morphology, P. libertada appears to be very closely related to P. andreae , the two species sharing an exceedingly similar ventral wing pattern and a male hindwing shape that is unique within the genus, with the tornus elongated to form a small rounded lobe with a very small tail emanating from vein 2A at the junction of the lobe and the distal wing margin. Penaincisalia libertada is distinguished in detail from P. andreae in that species account, but its most diagnostic feature is its two­tone blue dorsal coloration, with an iridescent purple forewing and a silvery dark turquoise blue hindwing.

For the sake of completeness, it is worth mentioning that there is a male specimen in the MUSM from Junín, central Peru (2100 m), that appears to be another undescribed “ juliae group” species, but, because it has no body, its description must await the collection of more material. It is similar to P. libertada , but its blue dorsal coloration is similar on both wings, and the postdiscal and submarginal bands on the ventral forewing and the postdiscal band on the ventral hindwing are merely thin red lines (with the typical black and then grayish scaling distally), without the broad, ill­ defined areas of dark scaling proximally.

Biology.— Nothing is known about the biology of this species.

Distribution.— Penaincisalia libertada is currently known only from the upper Río Marañón valley in northeastern Peru (La Libertad) (see Fig. 5 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Penaincisalia adults (dorsal surface on left, ventral surface on right) at x 1.6 life­size. A, paratype ɗ P. caeruleanota, Cerro Palma, S. Ecuador (JHKW). B, paratype Ψ P. caeruleanota, km. 11 Yangana­Cerro Toledo rd., S. Ecuador (RCB). C, paratype ɗ P. juliae, km. 34 Jimbura­San Andrés rd., S. Ecuador (JHKW). D, paratype Ψ P. juliae, La Playa, Huicungo, P. N. Río Abiseo, N. Peru (MUSM). E, holotype ɗ P. andreae, Río San Francisco, Zamora­Loja rd., S. Ecuador (USNM). F, holotype ɗ P. libertada, Cumpang, between Tayabamba and Ongón, N. Peru (MUSM). G, holotype ɗ P. i s m a e l i, km. 10 Loja­Zamora rd., S. Ecuador (USNM).

FIGURE 2. Male Penaincisalia dorsal forewing scent pads. A, P. caeruleanota. B, P. juliae. C, P. andreae. D, P. libertada. E, F (higher magnification view of E), P. is ma eli.

FIGURE 3. Penaincisalia male genitalia in lateral (A, C, F, I) and ventral (B, D, G, J) views, with lateral view of eighth tergite in E and H; all genitalia are figured at approximately the same scale, with the width of each boxed figure 3.4 mm. A, B, P. caeruleanota. C, D, E, P. juliae. F, G, H, P. andreae. I, J, P. libertada.

FIGURE 5. Topographic maps of the northern Andes, illustrating the known geographic ranges of the five new Penaincisalia species.