Podanotum pulsar Prieto & Rodríguez, 2012

Prieto, Carlos & Rodriguez, Gabriel, 2012, A new iridescent “ elfin ” butterfly species of Podanotum (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Eumaeini) from the Colombian Andes, Zootaxa 3303, pp. 59-64 : 60-63

Podanotum pulsar Prieto & Rodríguez , n. sp.

( Figs. 1 A–D; 2 A–D)

Type material: Holotype 3 ICN: COLOMBIA, Antioquia, Yarumal, Llanos de Cuiva, 2800m , 08/07/2009, m1150 C. Prieto Leg.

Paratypes: 2 3 CP: COLOMBIA, Antioquia, Yarumal, Llanos de Cuiva, 2800m , 08/07/2009, m1151, m1152 C. Prieto Leg.; 3 3 CP: COLOMBIA, Antioquia, Belmira, Páramo de Belmira 3100m, 05/01/2011, m1315, m1316, 1317 C. Prieto Leg.; 1 Ƥ CP: COLOMBIA, Antioquía, Yarumal, Llanos de Cuiva, 2800m , 08/07/2009, m1153 C. Prieto & Cuenca Leg.; 1 3 GR: COLOMBIA, Antioquia, Belmira, Páramo de Belmira, 3100m, 16/01/2001, 357 G. Rodríguez; 1 3 GR: COLOMBIA, Antioquia, Santa Rosa de Osos, 2800m, 10/07/2009, G. Rodríguez.

Description

MALE.

Wing shape: Forewing average length 10.8 mm (measured from forewing apex to base at thorax, n= 4). Hindwing rounded, lacking tornal lobe, tails or lobules. Fringe on both wings formed of long gray or light brown scales.

Dorsal surface: Both wings brilliant iridescent blue-green with narrow blackish border (aprox. 1.5mm) limited to FW and HW margin. Wide blackish border (aprox. 4mm) on apical and subapical area of FW. Ventral surface: Sub-marginal and medial bands constituted of well differentiated, separated and independent spots giving the appearance of a randomly distributed spot pattern, especially on HW. Ground colour on both wings light gray. FW sub-marginal band of 5 blackish irregular and well separated spots. FW post discal band of 6 wide bipartite (basally light brown, distally black scales) lines. Inconspicuous discal spot on FW. HW Sub-marginal band of 8 bipartite (basally black, distally light brown scales) lunular spots. Medial band formed of an arc of 7-8 bipartite (basally light brown, distally black scales) lunular spots. Large and conspicuous discal spot on HW.

Body: Thorax blackish, abdomen blackish dorsally and light gray ventrally.

Genitalia: Eighth abdominal tergite simple and rectangular; caudal extension of valvae (sensu Prieto 2008) in lateral view aproximately 1/2 length of valvae; valvae ventral keel absent; uncus with very deep and rounded medial indentation dorsally; penis relatively short and robust, near 1.8 times the valva length. Distal portion of penis with bifurcated tip in dorsal view ( Fig 2 C) and a prominent ventral keel. Saccus small and triangular in shape.

FEMALE.

Wing shape: as in the male.

Dorsal surface: Both wings brilliant sky blue with narrow blackish border (aprox. 1.5mm) limited to FW and HW margin. Wide blackish border (aprox. 4mm) on apical and subapical area of FW.

Ventral surface: As in the male.

Genitalia: Fluted lamella postvaginalis with spines, posterior ductus bursae very short and robust, anterior ductus bursae large and thin. Membranous area between anterior and posterior ductus bursae absent. Corpus bursae with two very large signa, inwardly toothed in lateral view.

Etymology: This species is named in reference to the rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation at very regular intervals (Pulsars), an effect which is reminiscent of the intermittent blue light reflected by some Podanotum species when adults flies.

Diagnosis and discussion: No other Podanotum has such a scattered ventral wing pattern. The most similar species, P. glorissimum Bálint & Wojtusiak , has continuous faint bands while in P. pulsar the bands are not continuous but constituted of well differentiated and separated spots or lines. The slight anal lobe present in P. glorissimum is not present in P. p u l s a r. Although all Podanotum are rare in collections, making it difficult to assess geographic variation and P. pulsar is not known to be sympatric with any other Podanotum species, it possesses unique wing pattern characters that facilitate its identification. Moreover, because wing pattern and genitalic structures in the species of the genus do not vary geographically to a great extent and there is no indication of morphological intergradation, it appears unlikely that P. pulsar is a geographical variant of another named Podanotum species. Based on current evidence, P. pulsar is a distinct, allopatric species.

Behavior: The males of this species display patrolling behavior on hilltops or ridgetops, which is typical of the members of this genus, where individuals rapidly circle each tree or bush before continuing to the next. Quite often it seems the males follow along the same routes. The individuals observed by Prieto were assembled on small and isolated bushes 1-2 m high, between 12:30 and 14:30 hours. The larval host plants and the nectar sources of the adults are unknown.

Distribution

Spatial: The species is known only from the type locality in Colombia ( Fig. 3 ) between 2800 and 3100 m. The “Complejo Belmira” and its surrounding high plateau is a compact massif extending in a north-south direction in the central cordillera of Antioquia and constitutes the highest elevations in the most north part of the central “cordillera” in Colombia. This geographical area was defined as a local center of endemism for cloud forest butterflies by Pyrcz & Rodriguez (2006) and another species of Eumaeini , Penaincisalia cuiva Prieto & Rodriguez (2007) , recently described from the same locality. The upper slopes of the specific locality are clothed in patchy high-altitude elfin forest. However, most of the area is devoid of vegetation and constitutes livestock pastures.

Temporal: Known only from January and July.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Adults. A, B Holotype male P. p u l s a r n. sp.; C, D Paratype female P. pulsar n. sp; E, F female P. glorissimum, Peru.

FIGURE 2. Genital structures of Podanotum pulsar sp. n. A, Male genitalia in lateral view; B, Male genitalia in ventral view (penis removed); C, penis in ventral view (arrow points external penis tip); D, female genitalia, ductus bursae and signa. (LP, lamella postvaginalis; pd, posterior ductus bursae; ad, anterior ductus bursae; sg, signa).

FIGURE 3. Map of Colombian Andes illustrating the known distribution of Podanotum pulsar.