Two new species of Clito from South America and a revision of the Clito littera group (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Pyrginae)
Author
Grishin, Nick V.
text
Zootaxa
2014
3861
3
231
248
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3861.3.2
7beda7dd-c67d-44f3-9e62-cf4500db236c
1175-5326
252285
0F6451EC-F2A1-4EC8-8C86-CB0A4EA73AB9
C. anda
Evans 1953
,
new status
(
Figs. 11–14
,
26
l–o, 27 part, 28 part)
C. anda
differs most prominently from both
C. littera
and
C. nebulosa
in the cucullus being strongly bulged distad at the bend (
Figs. 26
l–o), while the ampulla is similar to
C. littera
. Wing patterns of these three species also amply differ, as stated in the key below and indicated on
Fig. 27
. Due to these differences in genitalia and facies, it seems more reasonable to treat these taxa as distinct biological species rather than subspecies. In researching this question, a difficulty was encountered. Both valvae of
C. anda
[holo]
type
, glued to the carton card by Evans, have been damaged and the cuculli broken off. Apparently, the damage happened after the sketches had been made from them by Evans. These sketches: one pinned in the BMNH collection, the other one published in the book (
Evans 1953
)—while being similar to each other, differ in slight details (
Figs. 26
n–o). Both show very prominent distal expansion of the cucullus (bulge). On the sketch from the collection, this bulge is less expressed, more consistent with a more accurate drawing by
Austin (2000)
of
C. anda
specimen from
Brazil
: Rondônia (
Fig. 26
l). This collection sketch shows a more prominent rise in the ampulla, also more similar to the Austin drawing, and, more importantly, more similar to the
holotype
valva (
Fig.
26
m). It appears that the collection sketch is more accurate. Importantly, since the cuculli were broken off the
holotype
genitalia mount, both of these sketches made from the
holotype
(TL:
French Guiana
, the sole [para]
type
was not dissected, see
Figs. 13–14
) and Austin drawing from a Rondônia specimen show the distal bulge of the cucullus in
C. anda
, thus setting this species apart from both
C. littera
and
C. nebulosa
, the two species without this distal expansion and the cucullus narrowing gradually towards the dorsally pointed tip. After Evan's work, two more
Clito
species with apparent phylogenetic affinities to
C. littera
have been discovered.