Robinsonia simulans Laguerre, 2021

Laguerre, Michel, 2021, Partial revision of the genus Robinsonia Grote 1866: description of five new species for the Neotropical fauna (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Phaegopterina), Zootaxa 4990 (1), pp. 65-80 : 67-69

Description of Robinsonia simulans Laguerre , sp. nov.

(BIN = BOLD:AAI0853) Fig. 4 .

Holotype. ♂, FRENCH GUIANA, Piste de Kaw —PK 40 + 2, 24-VII- 2003, 260 m, 4°32.535 N 52°07.485 W, M. Laguerre leg.— Gen. ML 3205 (light-blue manuscript label)— Sample ID MILA 0745—BOLD Process ID ARCTB086-08 (yellow printed label). Will be deposited in MNHN.

Paratypes. 14 ♂ 2 ♀ all from FRENCH GUIANA . 1 ♂, Piste de Kaw —PK 38 + 2, 31-VII- 2003, 260 m, 4°32.953 N 52°07.803 W, M. Laguerre leg. —Gen. ML2127 (white manuscript label)—Sample ID MILA 0753— BOLD Process ID ARCTB094-08 (yellow printed label). 2 ♂, Piste de Kaw , PK 38, 19-I-1996, M. Laguerre leg. 1 ♂, Piste de Kaw , PK 36, 6-VIII-1994, M. Laguerre leg. 1 ♂, Piste de Kaw , PK 36, 24-I-1996, M. Laguerre leg. 2 ♂, Piste de Saut Léodate , PK 12, 12-II-1999, M. Laguerre leg. 2 ♂, Piste de Kaw , PK 38, 17-II-1999, M. Laguerre leg. 2 ♂, Piste de Kaw , PK 37 + 3.3, 31-VII-2001, M. Laguerre leg. 1 ♂, same data but 24-VII-2001 . 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Piste Coralie , 26-IX-2013, 40 m, 4°29’07.4” N 52°23’49.4” W, M. Laguerre leg. 1 ♂, Piste Patagaï , 21-IX-2013, 58 m, 5°20’34.2” N 53°12’47.9” W, M. Laguerre leg. 1 ♀, Carbets de Coralie , 11-X- 2015, 284 m, 4°30’45.5” N 52°25’57.9” W, M. Laguerre leg. —Gen. ML3208 (light-blue manuscript label). All in MLC.

Holotype male description ( Fig. 4A–B ). Head and thorax. Antennae bipectinate, shaft and rami dark brown, scape orange. Frons half white and half dark gray, vertex ochreous orange, basally white. Patagia, tegulae and thorax, white. Palpi below dirty white, slightly darker upper side, last segment very short.

Legs. Anterior coxae pure white. First pair of legs dark brownish grey. Second and third pairs dirty white below with a dark greyish line above.

Forewing. Wings elongated with a concave termen, entirely silky white with the veins creamy yellow. The costa up to the apex is covered by a narrow black line bordered inside by a greyish line then by a creamy yellow color ending on cell. Underside similar to upper side but the costa narrowly black at base then widening toward apex, bordered internally by dirty creamy yellow until the cell.

Hindwing. Rounded wings entirely silky white, some veins being creamy yellow. Underside similar to upper side, the costa being suffused with creamy yellow.

No androconial structures on both wings.

Abdomen. Silky white and hairy upper side and creamy yellow underside.

Forewing length: 15–16 mm (n =14).

Male genitalia ( Fig. 5A–E ). No coremata. Uncus narrow and long, with an enlarged tip, pointing downward. Valvae well-developed extending beyond the uncus tip, subrectangular in the first half with a dorsally rounded expansion in the second half. There is a small tooth ventrally at 4/5 of the length, just before a small translucent lobe covered with long hairs. The extremity of the valvae tapers as a digitate, slightly spatulate process. Saccus as a rounded triangle. Aedeagus long and cylindrical, slightly bent in the middle, caecum penis present and long. Vesica small with a single lobe bearing a scobinated area just after a slightly sclerotized curved narrow band.

Female ( Fig. 4C–D ). Similar to male with the following differences: forewing termen straight, costa with narrowly dark grey band upper and under side, basal part of antennae shaft light beige, frons gray and black, vertex light yellowish, palpi with a yellowish tinge upper side.

Forewing length: 16–17 mm (n = 3).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 6A–C ). Pheromone glands long, narrowly cylindrical and slightly twisted. Apophyses anteriores shorter than posteriores. Antrum slightly sclerotized, more or less V-shaped, ductus bursae as a flat, undulated ribbon. Bursa copulatrix very large, almost cylindrical, entirely covered with small spicules, except near the end which is subrectangular and smooth. Ductus seminalis emerging from the tip of the bursa.

Early stages. Unknown.

Etymology. By reference to its misleading similarity with Robinsonia praphoea .

Distribution. Presently only known from French Guiana where it is common throughout the entire area.

Ten years ago, Thibaud Decaëns had the opportunity to collect in several spots located in the lower Amazon area (around Belém or near the Marañhao / Parà border). This material proved to be highly endemic and has led to the description of several new species (see Laguerre 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Unfortunately this area is heavily influenced by forest fragmentation and habitat loss, contributing to large biodiversity loss and silent Centinelan extinctions. Accelerated invertebrate surveys are urgently needed ( Lamarre et al. 2016). In fact among the material collected during the above mentioned survey and which has been entirely sequenced, we found two more entities close to R. simulans Laguerre sp. nov. One of these entities was comprised of two males similar to R. simulans Laguerre and collected near Moju (Parà) in the Reserva de Floresta da EMBRAPA, i.e., 80 km S.S.E. of Belém and at around 50 km East of the Amazon River. Despite a habitus identical to R. simulans , the two sequences align at a distance of 8.9 % and at a distance of 6.6 % from R. praphoea (see Fig. 3 ). These differences and the large divergences found in the male genitalia fully justify the description of a new species under the name Robinsonia decaensi Laguerre sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Neighbour-Joining tree of 17 selected COX1 sequences of the studied group, distances in % are given below each branch and bootstrap supports are given above each branch in bold (only if larger than 70 %) (obtained with MEGA7, see Ku- maR et al., 2016). The newly described species are highlighted in bold.

FIGURE 4. Robinsonia simulans Laguerrre sp. nov., A–B: male holotype, A dorsal view, B ventral view; C–D: female paratype, C dorsal view D ventral view. Labels not to scale. Scale = 10 mm.

FIGURE 5. A–E: male genitalia of Robinsonia simulans Laguerre sp. nov., A ventral view, B dorsal view, C lateral view, D valva view from inside, E aedeagus with everted vesica.

FIGURE 6. A–C: female genitalia of Robinsonia simulans Laguerre sp. nov., A ventral view, B dorsal view, C detail of the antrum, ductus bursae and papillae anales.