Porphyrogenes sporta Austin and Mielke, 2008

Austin, George T. & Mielke, Olaf H. H., 2008, Hesperiidae of Rondônia, Brazil: Porphyrogenes Watson (Lepidoptera: Pyrginae: Eudamini), with descriptions of new species from Central and South America, Insecta Mundi 2008 (44), pp. 1-56 : 28

Porphyrogenes sporta Austin and Mielke , new species

( Fig. 99, 100 , 132 , 151 )

Description. Male ( Fig. 99, 100 ) - forewing length = 23.6 mm (holotype); forewing with costal fold, apex pointed, not produced, termen relatively straight, anal margin straight; hindwing termen nearly straight, tornus produced to short lobe, vein Rs arising very near distal end of discal cell and well distad of CuA 2 ( Fig. 132 ); dorsum brown, unmarked; forewing overscaled with ochreous-olive, heaviest basad, anal margin with sparse tuft proximad; hindwing overscaled with ochreous-olive posterior to vein Rs, no indication of discal macules; shining gray speculum in base of anterior discal cell, proximal 1/2 of Sc+R 1 - Rs, and proximal 2/3 of costal cell; short tan recumbent tuft near base of Sc+R 1 -Rs, slightly larger semierect tan tuft arising from near base of discal cell covering speculum in discal cell, strongly angled anteriorly covering anterior tuft and partially covering the base of speculum in Sc+R 1 -Rs ( Fig. 132 ); conspicuous erect ochreous-olive tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A, recumbent pale brown tuft from posterior edge of 2A; fringes on both wings brown.

Venter similar to dorsum; tawny color duller; forewing vein 2A moderately sinuate, bare and broadly swollen in central 1/3, conspicuously in groove ( Fig. 132 ), shining gray speculum in proximal 3/4 of CuA 2 - 2A and in entire anal cell; hindwing with no indication of discal macules; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.

Dorsal head and thorax ochreous-olive, palpi gray, eyes reddish, antennae black, yellow distad on venter and beneath apiculus, nudum red-brown, 27 (n = 1) segments, ventral thorax gray-brown, pectus pale gray-tan, legs ochreous-brown, dorsal abdomen brown, overscaled with ochreous-olive, ventral abdomen charcoal gray.

Genitalia ( Fig. 151 ) - tegumen narrow in lateral view, broad and nearly round in dorsal view, thin and very long dorso-caudal oriented process from each side of caudal end, tuft double and dense; uncus slightly decurved in lateral view, divided in dorsal view, arms widely spaced, long and thin, ventral process of uncus narrowly triangular; gnathos shorter than uncus, terminal ends rounded in ventral view; combined ventral arms from tegumen and dorsal arms from saccus slightly curved; saccus short and broad, oriented cephalad; valva with costa-ampulla broadly rounded, broadest cephalad, harpe long, broad cephalad, curving evenly upward to broader, finely and densely dentate caudal end oriented dorsocaudad; aedeagus shorter than valva, broad with blunt and slightly flaring caudal end; cornuti as two rows of medium length, slightly curved, and robust spikes.

Female - unknown.

Type. Holotype male with the following labels: white, handwritten - / Cacagualito / 1500 ft. May /; white, handwritten - partially unreadable with descriptive notes in comparison with “ Bungalotis ” vulpecula ; white, printed - / Holland / Collection /; white, printed and handprinted - / Genitalic Vial / GTA - 4180 /; red, printed - / HOLOTYPE / Porphyrogenes sporta / Austin & Mielke /. Deposited at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania .

Type locality. COLOMBIA: Department of Magdalena; Cacagualito .

Etymology. The name means “basket” and refers to the somewhat basket-like shape of the terminal end of the harpe.

Distribution and phenology. The species is known only from the holotype taken in May.

Diagnosis and discussion. Porphyrogenes sporta is similar to P. spina , but differs in having a less extensive speculum on the dorsal hindwing, tan rather than gray tufts, a more sinuate and broadly swollen vein 2A in a conspicuous groove on the forewing, and a gray-tan rather than brown and green pectus. The male genitalia are also similar with both having long processes from the tegumen (being longer on P. sporta ). The uncus on P. sporta is more curvate, the distal arm of the gnathos is shorter, the harpe is curved less sharply and has a more evenly rounded caudal end (without the projection occurring on P. spina ), the aedeagus is less flaring at the caudal end, and the spikes of the cornuti are more robust.

With the description of this and the previous species, there are now six species (also including P. convexus , P. simulator , P. splendidus , and P. spadix ) of Porphryogenes that have a uniformly dark brown venter and an elongate and upcurved harpe to the male genitalia that broadens caudad and terminates in a conspicuously toothed caudal end. This genital configuration is not present on other species of the genus, except perhaps for the smaller P. sparta (see figure in Evans 1952).

Figures

Figure 83-100. Porphyrogenes (ds = dorsal surface, vs = ventral surface). 83) undescribed species, male, COSTA RICA: Ciudad Colon, Finca Hamadryas, 15 September 1998, ds. 84) same, vs. 85) P. convexus, holotype male, data in text; 86) same, vs. 87) P. splendidus, holotype male, data in text, ds. 88) same, vs. 89) P. simulator, holotype male, data in text, ds. 90) same, vs. 91) P. spadix, holotype male, data in text, ds. 92) same, vs. 93) P. sparus, holotype male, data in text, ds. 94) same, vs. 95) P. specularis, holotype male, data in text, ds. 96) same, vs. 97) P. spina, holotype male, data in text, ds. 98) same, vs. 99) P. sporta, holotype male, data in text, ds. 100) same, vs.

Figure 129-133. Venation and some secondary sexual characters of male Porphyrogenes. Shown is ventral surface including modification of vein 2A and extent of speculum on ventral forewing (irregular line in CuA 2 -2A and anal cell) and origins of veins on hindwing. Insert is of anterior portion of dorsal hindwing showing hair-like tufts. 129) P. sparus, paratype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #2806); 130) P. specularis, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3589); 131) P. spina, holotype, PANAMA (GTA #8905); 132) P. sporta, holotype, COLOMBIA (GTA #4180); 133) P. speciosa, holotype, COSTA RICA (GTA #13985).

Figure 146-151. Male genitalia of Porphyrogenes; shown are lateral view of uncus, gnathos, tegumen, and saccus; dorsal view of uncus and tegumen; ventral view of uncus and gnathos; juxta; lateral view (with extended vesica) and often dorsal view of aedeagus; internal lateral view of right valva (inset shows the flattened harpe). 146) P. simulator, holotype, BOLIVIA (GTA #4181); 147) P. spadix, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3894); 148) P. sparus (also including anterior view of harpe), holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3928); 149) P. specularis, holotype, BRAZIL: Rondônia (GTA #3589); 150) P. spina, holotype, PANAMA (GTA #8905); 151) P. sporta, holotype, COLOMBIA (GTA #4180).