Argyria diplomochalis Dyar, 1913

Landry, Bernard, Bilat, Julia, Hayden, James, Solis, M. Alma, Lees, David C., Alvarez, Nadir, Leger, Theo & Gauthier, Jeremy, 2023, The identity of Argyria lacteella (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera, Pyraloidea, Crambinae), synonyms, and related species revealed by morphology and DNA capture in type specimens, ZooKeys 1146, pp. 1-42 : 1

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1146.96099
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F9860399-D281-42A6-B703-C4115E01DDA1
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/256937A6-D27D-550C-9464-135CD76242F0
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Argyria diplomochalis Dyar, 1913
status

Treatment

Argyria diplomochalis Dyar, 1913 View in CoL

Figs 9 View Figure 9 , 14 View Figure 14 , 19, 20 View Figure 20 , 25 View Figures 24–26 , 31 View Figures 29–32 , 35 View Figure 35

Argyria diplomochalis Dyar, 1913: 113. Type locality: [USA] Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Błeszyński and Collins 1962: 213; Kimball 1965: 234, US specimens misidentified; Błeszyński 1967: 96; De la Torre y Callejas 1967: 20; Alayo and Valdés 1982: 61; Munroe 1995: 35.

Argyria diplamachalis [sic]: Schaus, 1940: 400.

Type material examined.

Other specimens examined.

41 (see Suppl. material 2).

Morphological diagnosis.

Measuring 10-13 mm in wingspan this species (Figs 9 View Figure 9 , 14 View Figure 14 ) is quite similar in size and forewing markings to A. gonogramma (Figs 8 View Figure 8 , 12 View Figure 12 ), but it lacks a median line on the forewing and the median marginal markings are reduced to a faint brown bar on costa and a small dark-brown spot on the dorsal margin; the forewing costa and the head also appear more strongly marked (Fig. 31 View Figures 29–32 ), notably more thickly dark brown at the base of the costa, on the frons laterally and on the labial and maxillary palpi; the costa of the forewing is also gold yellow to the apex, following the dark brown base. In male genitalia (Figs 19, 20 View Figure 20 ), this species differs most noticeably from the others treated here in the thicker and less strongly bent apical section of the gnathos and in the short valva with a prominent sickle-shaped projection at its base. In female genitalia (Fig. 25 View Figures 24–26 ), A. diplomochalis differs from the others treated here more noticeably by the long and narrow ductus bursae without sclerotised section as well as in the large, circular corpus bursae; the ostium region also lacks any sclerotised ‘pockets’.

Molecular results.

The phylogenetic clade corresponding to the species A. diplomochalis comprises only three samples sequenced for this study. It appears that no sequence available in the BOLD database corresponds to this species. All three species delimitation approaches identify this clade (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ) and the average genetic divergence with the two closest species, A. insons and A. centrifugens , are respectively 9.25% and 7.16%, which confirms the high divergence of this clade and its specific status. Within this species, the GMYC and PTP approaches separate CRA04 on one hand and CRA05 and CRA06 on the other; and a mean divergence of 2.87% is observed between the samples of this clade. But this divergence may be related to a geographical divergence since CRA04 comes from the island of Anguilla and CRA05-CRA06 come from the US Virgin Island of Saint Croix. The integration of a larger number of samples in a genetic study could allow a finer molecular characterisation of this species.

Distribution.

Antilles, from Cuba in the West to Dominica in the Lesser Antilles in the east (Fig. 35 View Figure 35 ).

Remarks.

Described from 12 cotypes from Culebra Island and Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a lectotype is designated here to ensure that the name continues to refer to this species exclusively. Dyar (1913) stated "Cotypes, 12 specimens", but only seven specimens were found at the NMNH while two others (now paralectotypes) are in the NHMUK.

Examination of specimens of " A. diplomochalis " cited by Kimball (1965), including ones in the FSCA labelled “5958,1” ( Kimball’s number for that species), are A. gonogramma with scattered honey-brown scales on the forewings. This may be melanism caused by pupation during cold weather; all the specimens have been collected in winter or early spring.