Gloora gen. nov. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Arctiini: Ctenuchina) for several Agylla - like Arctiinae
Author
Grados, Juan
Author
Laguerre, Michel
Author
Boppré, Michael
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-10-09
4497
2
226
240
journal article
29213
10.11646/zootaxa.4497.2.4
b8659502-0b20-4078-93c1-314893e84fda
1175-5326
1452133
88F187EB-1ECF-4563-B39D-D7B62CF5951C
Gloora alba
(
Druce, 1894
)
comb. nov.
(
Figs. 1‒7
,
15‒18
,
31‒34
,
47‒48
,
51
,
55‒56
)
Idalus alba
Druce, 1894
:172
(
♀
only);
Type
locality:
MEXICO
,
Jalapa—Figs
5‒7.
Type
depository:
NHMUK
.
Idalus
alba—
Druce (
1881
‒1900: Tab. 73, 22; 1897: 366).
Eucereon album
(Druce)
—
Hampson (1898: 514)
,
Zerny (1931: 25)
.
Hyaleucerea agylloides
Dyar, 1912
: 50
;
Type
locality:
MEXICO
, Orizaba—Figs. 8‒10
.
Type
depository:
NMNH
.
Synonymized
by
Hampson
(1934: 358) (as
E. alba
).
Eucereum
[sic, recte
Euceron
]
album
(=
agylloides
Dyar
)—
Draudt (1915: 184, fig. 25k)
.
Eucereon
alba—
Pliske (1975)
,
Pinheiro & Gaal-Haszler (2015)
,
Beccacece & Zapata (2017)
,
Janzen & Hallwachs (2017)
.
Material examined.
MEXICO
,
1 ♂
, Vera[Cruz], Misantla, Col. R. Müller No 10961, CNIABM 3199 (CNIABM).
VENEZUELA
,
1 ♂
, [
Carabobo
], Valencia, Rothschild Bequest B.M.
1939-I
(
NHMUK
).
COSTA RICA
,
1 ♀
,
San José
, Brade
7-III-09
(
NHMW
); <
30 ♂♂
and <
30 ♀♀
, Finca Hamadryas nr El Rodeo, Ciudad Colon (
9° 54' N
, 84°
17' W;
870 m
asl) (FZE). [All examined.] Note: at
NHMW
there are
2 specimens
in a row with
alba
: one misidentified as
alba
, the other being obviously
G. sericea
♀
from
Rio
Grande do Sul
,
Brazil
. At
ZMHB
there is also a specimen, misidentified as
alba
.
FIGURE 14.
Gloora
gen. nov.
, wing venation. Scale bar: 5 mm.
Voucher material of FZE will be deposited at ZSBS, ZMHB, NHNH, MUSM and NHMW.
Diagnosis.
A small and fragile species entirely silky white with the costa narrowly lined with dark brown scales in males. In male genitalia valvae largely longer than uncus.
Description. Male. Head.
Proboscis light brown. Palpi entirely covered with white scales, the first segment very hairy ventrally. Frons and vertex hairy and pure white. Eyes very large and black. Antennae bipectinate, scape, rami and shaft dorsally covered with white scales but ventrally the shaft is brown and rami are very dark brown.
Body and wings.
The whole body (collar, thorax and abdomen) is entirely pure silky white. Ventrally there are some scattered yellowish scales on the abdomen. All legs pure white except the claws which are dark brown and some rows of brownish hairs on the tarsi. All wings pure silky white and veins concolorous with background. Forewing length
11‒12 mm
(n = 8). There is a thin dark brown line along the forewing costa, darker at base and becoming lighter toward the apex. Fringes pure white. Ventrally all wings are pure white except a thin dark brown line along the forewing costa from base to apex.
Genitalia
(
Figs. 31‒34
). Uncus cylindrical slightly spatulate in the terminal half and with a sharp spine on tip. Above uncus two symmetrical processes, tongue shaped, reaching almost the tip of the uncus. Valvae subrectangular, long and narrow, slightly undulate in ventral view and extending beyond the tip of the uncus. The tip well sclerotized, pointed and bent inwards. A small translucent cucullus covered with hair in ventral position. Hardly noticeable triangular expansion pointing inwards just after the middle of valvae. Vinculum wide with a small pointed and triangular saccus. Juxta well developed, sclerotized and shaped as a long tongue almost reaching the base of uncus. In lateral view the genitalic capsule appears extremely flat. Phallus cylindrical, slightly sinuate, long and narrow. Vesica with a unique and large ventral lobe with longitudinal wrinkles and a patch of well-developed cornuti.
FIGURES 15‒30.
Gloora alba
comb. nov.
(15‒18),
G. mundula
comb. nov.
(19‒22),
G. sericea
comb. nov.
(23‒26), and
G. canae
sp. nov.
(27‒30), habitus male (15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28) and female (17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 30), dorsal (left) and ventral (right) view. Scale bar: 5 mm.
FIGURES 31‒34.
Gloora alba
comb. nov.
, male genitalia; dorsal (31), ventral (32), lateral (33), phallus (34). Scale bar: 1 mm.
Female.
Identical to male but slightly larger and without a dark forewing costa. Antennae similar to male but just ciliate. Abdomen with a slightly yellowish tinge dorsally. Forewing length
12‒13 mm
(n = 9).
Genitalia
(
Fig. 51
). Genitalia generally slightly sclerotized, apophyses anteriores and posteriores subequal, thin and long. Ductus bursae as a narrow cylindrical tube strongly bent and sinuous in the last third where it is strongly sclerotized. Bursa copulatrix, first almost cylindrical and smooth then large and almost spherical, strongly sclerotized at the narrow end near the junction with ductus bursae. Bursa covered with spicules on its entire surface except near the junction with the ductus bursae.
Barcode.
See Discussion.
Early stages.
Janzen & Hallwachs (2017)
provide photographs of larvae and list
Rhipidocladum racemiflorum
(Steud.) McClure
, a New World bamboo (
Poaceae
) with wide distribution in
Central
and South America (
Clayton
et al.
2006
) as well as
R. pittieri
and
Senna papillosa
(
Fabaceae
) as larval hostplants of
Eucereon alba
. Paul Gloor (pers. comm.) has reared
G. alba
on
R. racemiflorum
.
Biology.
Gloora alba
exhibits pharmacophagy with respect to pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs); it has been reported to be attracted to
Heliotropium indicum
, a source of PAs, in
Venezuela
at
1,100 m
by
Pliske (1975; as
Eucereon alba
)
; strong attraction of both sexes to various pure PAs and PA-containing plants in evenings has also been found in
Costa Rica
by P. Gloor (MB unpubl., cf.
Fig. 4
). Both sexes are attracted to artificial light, too. Males possess interesting tymbal (see
Figs. 55‒57
) and androconial organs and emit pheromones which are detectable with the human nose―details will be reported elsewhere (Boppré
et al.
in prep.).
Distribution.
COSTA RICA
,
MEXICO
,
VENEZUELA
.
Remarks.
Because of the great similarity of
G. alba
to
Agylla septentrionalis
Barnes & McDunnough, 1911
, "
G. agylloides
" would be a more appropriate name but
alba
has priority.