Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica
Author
García-Díaz, José De Jesús
Posgrado en Ciencias, Instituto de Ecología A. C., Red de Biodiversidad y Sistemática, Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, 91073 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico; Sociedad Mexicana de Lepidopterología A. C.
Author
Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A.
BioAlfa, Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund Costa Rica, 749 - 1000, San José, Costa Rica
Author
Worthy, Robert
10 The Hill, Church Hill, Caterham, Surrey CR 3 6 SD, U. K.
Author
González, Jorge M.
Austin Achieve Public Schools, Austin, Texas, (Research Associate, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity), USA
Author
Janzen, Daniel H.
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Author
Hallwachs, Winnie
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
text
Zootaxa
2024
2024-07-16
5481
2
151
202
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5481.2.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5481.2.1
1175-5326
12749637
547F19D4-4558-4D8A-8D01-2ECCCB133A5D
8.
Divana diva diva
(Butler, 1870)
(
Figs. 4A, 4B
,
10D, 10E
,
12E
) (BIN: BOLD:AAD9016)
Castnia diva
Butler, 1870
; Butler, 1870.
Lep. Exotica
, p. 46, pl. 17, figs. 1–2.
Castnia diva
f.
chiriquiensis
;
Strand, 1913
,
in
Seitz.
Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6
, p. 13.
Castnia diva
f.
maculifera
;
Strand, 1913
,
in
Seitz.
Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6
, p. 13.
Cyanostola diva
;
Houlbert, 1918
.
Étud. Lép. Comp. 15
, pp. 65, 514, 695, 711, 721, pl. CDLV, fig. 3824.
Divana diva diva
;
Miller, 1995
,
in
Heppner.
Castnioidea:
Castniidae
:
Castniinae
, Checklist part 2,
Atlas Neo. Lep.
, p. 137.
Divana diva diva
;
Lamas, 1995
.
Revta. Per. Ent. 37
, p. 83.
Divana diva chiriquiensis
;
Lamas, 1995
.
Revta. Per. Ent. 37
, p. 83.
Telchin diva
;
Moraes & Duarte, 2014
.
Zoo. Jour. Linn. Soc. 170 (2)
, p. 33.
Divana diva diva
;
Worthy
et al.
, 2022
.
Zootaxa 5194 (3)
, p. 325, figs. 3A, 6A–C, 12A.
General comments.
Of the three subspecies,
Divana diva diva
is the one with the largest and northernmost distribution (
Miller 1986
;
Vinciguerra 2010
;
Worthy
et al.
2022
). The base-color of the dorsal forewing is dark brown with a broad pale brown band that runs from the costa in the discal region to the anal angle; it has a vertical oval white discal spot and two larger horizontal oval spots near the anal margin; on the hindwing it has a marginal orange band and an iridescent purplish-blue patch between the base and the postdiscal region (
Miller 1986
;
Vinciguerra 2010
). Ventrally, the base-color of both wings is dark brown; on the forewing, the wide band that goes from the costa to the anal angle is light orange and, there are small orange postdiscal and submarginal spots on the hindwing (
Miller 1986
). It exhibits little sexual dimorphism, but females differ from males by having more rounded forewings and a markedly lighter brown diagonal band on the forewing.
It was described by Butler (1870) (as
Castnia diva
) based on specimens collected in
Chontales
,
Nicaragua
. It was later found in
Mexico
and other Central American countries.
Houlbert (1918)
transferred it to
Cyanostola
Houlbert, 1918
, until the genus
Divana
was assigned by J. Y. Miller to replace
Cyanostola
(
Fletcher & Nye 1982
)
.
Moraes & Duarte (2014)
synonymized
Divana
with
Telchin
.
Worthy
et al.
(2022)
reinstated the genus based on evident differences from typical
Telchin
(see above).
Divana diva diva
and
D. diva chiriquiensis
were accepted as different subspecies by
Lamas (1995)
and
Miller (1995)
, but
Worthy
et al.
(2022)
placed the latter as a synonym of the nominal subspecies.
Ecology and behavior.
Divana diva diva
has been observed in jungles and mountain cloud forests in
Mexico
and Central America during the day between 9:00 and 17:00, on sunny days when the temperature exceeds 25°C (
Van den Berghe
et al.
2020
;
Worthy
et al.
2022
; iNaturalist 2023).
Miller (1986)
stated that based on records she found, the species could be crepuscular. Most observations on iNaturalist (2023) for this subspecies have been of males and females perching on branches or leaves up to
1.5 m
above the ground.
Van den Berghe
et al.
(2020)
mentioned that, in
Nicaragua
, adults of
D.
d. diva
fly between May and November in sites with an abundance of
Musa
(
Musaceae
),
Heliconia
(
Heliconiaceae
), and
Zingiber
(
Zingiberaceae
); likewise, they also indicate that adults tend to perch on leaves and stems of ginger plants in shady places and that most flight activity is around noon. However, very little is known about the ecology and behavior of this castniid, and its host plant is unknown. Some authors have pointed out that some subspecies of
D. diva
are multivoltine based on the recorded dates of specimens in entomological collections (
i.e.
Miller 1986
;
Vinciguerra 2010
;
González
et al.
2013
;
Worthy
et al.
2022
). Records of the nominal subspecies from all countries where it is distributed show that their flight period is between April and October.
Distribution and biogeography.
This subspecies is distributed from
Mexico
to
Panama
(
Miller 1986
;
Van den Berghe
et al.
2020
;
Worthy
et al.
2022
).
Salazar (1999)
reported
D. d.
chiriquiensis
in
Colombia
, but the specimen he cited is actually a male of
D.
d. tricolor
.
González
et al.
(2013)
citing
Vinciguerra (2010)
indicated that the subspecies was also found in
Colombia
and
Ecuador
; an unintended confusion since
Vinciguerra (2010)
actually noted that
D.
d. diva
is only found in
Mexico
and Central America.
González
et al.
(2010
,
2013
) cited and questioned
two specimens
from
Brazil
and
French Guiana
, which seem to have been incorrectly labeled, since the records do not coincide with the known distribution of the genus. It has been recorded in
Costa Rica
on both slopes and, according to the known records and biogeographic provinces of
Morrone
et al.
(2022)
, it flies in localities that belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca and Puntarenas-Chiriquí provinces of the Pacific dominion, but also in the Pacific Lowlands province of the Mesoamerican dominion, all in the Brazilian subregion. The provinces and cantons in which it has been found are the following:
Alajuela
:
Alajuela, Guatuso, San Ramón, Upala;
Cartago
:
El Guarco, Turrialba;
Guanacaste
:
Bagaces, La Cruz,
Liberia
, Nicoya;
Heredia
:
Sarapiquí;
Limón
:
Limón, Matina, Pococí;
Puntarenas
:
Buenos Aires, Coto Brus, Garabito, Puntarenas;
San José
:
Desamparados, Escazú, Santa Ana, Vázquez de Coronado.