Automeris llaneros
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Ordo: Lepidoptera
Familia: Saturniidae
Genus: Automeris
Name
Automeris llaneros Decaëns, Rougerie & Bonilla sp. nov. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link – Pensoft Profile
Type material
Holotype. Colombia • ♂ (Fig. 1D, H); Casanare, Orocue; 4.7943°N, 71.3353°W; elevation: 150 m; Aug. 1999; at MV light; TD and DB leg.; BOLD SampleID: BC-Dec0711; deposited in the IAvH.
Paratype. Colombia • 1 ♂; Meta, Carimagua research station; 4.5716°N, 71.3320°W; elevation: 170 m; July 1999; at MV light; TD and DB leg.; BOLD SampleID: BC-Dec0712; deposited in CTD.
Diagnosis
Automeris llaneros sp. nov. is phenotypically very similar to A. cinctistriga, from which it is quite difficult to distinguish based on wing patterns alone. However, the two known specimens of A. llaneros sp. nov. have less elongated forewings with less acute apices than most of the examined specimens of A. cinctistriga. The background colour of the forewing is also duller in A. llaneros sp. nov., less orange, and the ante- and postmedian lines are finer, beige instead of yellow, and contrasting much less markedly with the general colour of the wings. Finally, the distance between the ante- and postmedian lines at the point where they join the anal edge of the forewings seems greater in A. llaneros sp. nov. (1 cm in the two known specimens) than in A. cinctistriga (4–7 mm). The DNA barcodes of A. llaneros sp. nov. are assigned to a different BIN than those of A. cinctistriga (see discussion), and the two species are very clearly separated in the DNA barcode tree, bringing additional support to their treatment as two distinct species.
DNA barcodes place A. llaneros sp. nov. near A. belizonensis, A. mineros sp. nov., and A. fieldi on the NJ tree (Fig. 4). This proximity seems to be confirmed by the examination of the male genitalia, whose bifid protuberance of the uncus is strongly developed, exceeding the tip of the valves, as in A. mineros sp. nov. (described here), A. belizonensis, and A. fieldi (Lemaire 1971[1]; Brechlin and Meister 2014[2]). In comparison, A. cinctistriga generally presents a less developed and less deeply indented uncus (Lemaire 1971[1]). The new species is also easily distinguished from these close relatives based on its wing shape and patterns. For instance, A. belizonensis has more elongated forewings with more pointed apex, and an overall more vivid and orange colouring. Automeris mineros sp. nov. also has a very different coloration, notably due to the contrasting orange-red periocellar area of the hindwings. Finally, A. fieldi, a species occurring from the Pacific slopes of the Andes to Costa Rica (Fig. 3) and probably north to Honduras (Bénéluz, pers. comm.), stands out again by the slightly more elongated shape of the forewings, but also by the presence of a continuous ring of black scales external to the eyespot of the hindwings, which is lacking in A. llaneros sp. nov.
Description
♂ (Fig. 1D, H). Wingspan: 72–74 mm. Head: Dark brown, labial palpi and antennae brown. Thorax: dorsally dark brown and ventrally light brown; legs light brown. Abdomen: dorsally orange brown, ventrally light brown. Forewings: Length 32–35 mm, slightly elongated, slightly prominent apex, straight to slightly convex outer border; dorsal ground colour dull orange brown; antemedial line thin and beige, doubled with a brown line proximally; postmedial line slightly convex, barely visible as it reaches the costal margin 2–3 mm from the apex, thin and beige, distally bordered by dark brown scales; basal and median areas concolorous; discocellular mark of the median area rectangular, darker than the surrounding wing surface, with three clearly visible dark brown spots at corners and one faint central spot. Ventral side yellow brown, with darker postmedial and premarginal lines, and a large black discocellular mark, marked in its centre by a white discal spot; venation marked with orange scales. Hindwings: Basomedian area dull orange suffused by dark brown scales, with a large eyespot in its centre formed by, from its centre: an almost completely white small pupil, suffused with few black scales, a large grey brown iris, surrounded by a large black ring and then a thinner yellow ring (in paratype specimen we observed a few black scales external to this outer yellow ring of the eyespot); postmedial line black, lunular, bordered proximally and distally by thin lines of yellow scales; postmedian area dull orange; marginal band large and grey. Ventral side uniformly orange brown, with a weak oblique postmedial line interrupted before it reaches the costal margin, a vestigial premarginal line forming darker U-shaped marks between veins, and a small white discal point.
Female unknown.
Genitalia ♂ (Fig. 2C): very similar to those of A. mineros sp. nov. Uncus elongated, large and strongly bifid apically, largely extending beyond the valves. Valves relatively short, rounded, with a broad, rounded dorsal lobe; arms short and strongly curved. Median plate of the gnathos highly sclerotised, as wide as the saccus and subrectangular. Saccus well developed, triangular and acute anteriorly.
Distribution
Automeris llaneros sp. nov. is only known from the region of Carimagua and Orocué, in the Colombian part of the Orinoco watershed, the so called “Llanos Orientales” of Colombian Eastern Plains (Fig. 3). The region has been poorly investigated for saturniid diversity but is known to host a few endemics whose exact distributions need to be clarified (see for example Decaëns et al. 2005[3]).
Etymology
This species is named in reference to the Llanos region, which refer to the large area of savannahs that cover most of the Colombian and Venezuelan Orinoco watershed.
Original Description
- Decaëns, T; Bénéluz, F; Ballesteros-Mejia, L; Bonilla, D; Rougerie, R; 2021: Description of three new species of Automeris Hübner, 1819 from Colombia and Brazil (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae, Hemileucinae) ZooKeys, 1031: 183-204. doi
Images
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Other References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lemaire C (1971) Révision du genre Automeris Hübner et des genres voisins. Biogéographie, éthologie, morphologie, taxonomie (Lep. Attacidae).Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) (A) Zoologie68: 1–232.
- ↑ Brechlin R, Meister F (2014) Neu taxa der Gattung Automeris Hübner, [1819] (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae).Entomo-Satsphingia4(1): 5–89.
- ↑ Decaëns T, Bonilla D, Naumann S (2005) Dirphia carimaguensis, a new Hemileucinae from the Eastern Plains of Colombia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Galathea (Nuremberg, Germany), suppl.15: 13–21.
