A review of Mexican Stamnodes (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) with the description of 16 new species
Author
Matson, Tanner A.
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2023
2023-12-14
911
1
79
https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2371/10397
journal article
10.5852/ejt.2023.911.2371
2118-9773
10376790
DB29E6F1-7925-46DB-8C9E-055C639203CE
Stamnodes patamon
(
Druce, 1893
)
Figs 24
,
55
,
94–95
Marmopteryx patamon
Druce, 1893: 178
, ibidem 3: pl. 58 figs 7–8.
Type
locality:
6000 ft
, Amula,
Guerrero
,
Mexico
. [NHMUK].
Stamnodes patamon
–
Scoble 1999: 902
(catalogue). —
Scoble & Hausmann 2007
(online catalogue). —
Rajaei
et al.
2022
(online catalogue).
Redescription
Druce’s original description of
S. patamon
did not include genitalic morphology. To his description, the following genitalic redescription and associated images are supplemented:
MALE
GENITALIA
(
Fig. 55
). Uncus long, narrow, slightly enlarged at apex. Inner face of valva with about five, long, sickle-shaped sclerotized ribbons originating from basal tubercle. Juxta cat-faced with stiff, crossing, submedial setae on posterior surface. Vesica with large spinose cornutus and adjacent patch of several hundred filamentous cornuti.
FEMALE
GENITALIA
. No material available for study.
Distribution
Mexico
:
Stamnodes patamon
is primarily known to inhabit the pine-oak forests of the Northern
Oaxaca
Highlands and Sierra Madre del Sur, ranging north and westward into the Sierra Madre Occidental to at least western
Durango
. Reviewed material was often collected at elevations around
2000 m
.
Biology
Stamnodes patamon
is bi- or multivoltine, with adult records in March, April, May, and October. The immature stages of this taxon remain unknown, but its phylogenetic kin are mountain mahogany (
Cercocarpus
) feeders (Matson & Wagner in prep.).
Molecular characterization
Stamnodes patamon
is represented in BOLD as BIN: BOLD:ABU6207 (n = 3). At present, the average pairwise intraspecific distance is 0.71%, the pairwise maximum intraspecific distance is 1.01%, and the distance to the nearest neighbour,
Stamnodes
sp.
(?undescribed) (n = 1,
Nuevo León
), is 3.53%.
Remarks
During my review of this species, I came across individuals from the Sierra Madre Occidental that were located as far north and west as western
Durango
, which was surprising as I had previously considered
S. patamon
to be exclusive to the Sierra Madre del Sur. However, after examining the male genitalia of these individuals from
Durango
, I regard them as the same species.
Figs 90–93.
Final instar larval variation of North American species of
Stamnodes
Guenée, [1858]
.
90
.
S. albiapicata
Grossbeck, 1910
, collected from
Pholistoma membranaceum
(Benth.) Constance
; USA: California: San Diego Co. (2017C29); photo credit Moria L. Robinson.
91
.
S. coenonymphata
(
Hulst, 1900
)
collected from
Cercocarpus betuloides
Nutt.
; USA: California: Sonoma Co. (2018E171).
92
.
S. formosata
(
Strecker, 1878
)
collected from
Cercocarpus montanus
Raf.
; USA: Arizona: Cochise Co. (2014K98), photo credit David L. Wagner.
93
.
S. fergusoni
Matson & Wagner, 2020
, collected from
Salvia pinguifolia
(Fernald) Wooton & Standl.
; USA: New Mexico: Lincoln Co. (2018J32), photo credit David L. Wagner (
Matson & Wagner 2020
).
A population that resembles
S. patamon
(
S
. nr
patamon
in
Fig. 95
) also extends into the northernmost areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Vitor Becker collected individuals in Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, in May of 1997, and in Cerro Potosí, Nuevo León, in June of 1997. Unfortunately, I could only examine photographs of this material sent to me by Becker, as all but
one specimen
are held in his collection in
Brazil
, where regulations often prohibit biological material from leaving the country. However, one individual (
Fig. 23
) from Becker’s collection in Cerro Potosí is deposited at the USNM and has been barcoded. This specimen appears somewhat aberrant compared to most of the rest of Becker’s series and may represent yet another questionable entity. The COI barcode (BOLD Process ID: LNAUY180-19) was found to be 3.5% (pairwise) different from Oaxacan
S. patamon
. Although
S. patamon
from Durango, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and the putative
S
. nr
patamon
individuals from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas bear a subapical white patch on the forewing, this feature is lacking in the sequenced individual. The sequenced individual also has an overall lighter cream ground colour, and the medial transverse white patch on the hindwing underside appears straighter than the more arcing norm for
S. patamon
. Unfortunately, the sequenced individual is female, so I could not compare its genitalia to the entirely male series of
S. patamon
available for this study, nor to the putative individuals of
S
. nr
patamon
from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas in Becker’s collection in
Brazil
. For now, the sequenced individual will be regarded as the sole representative of a potentially undescribed species that warrants further investigation. In the Discussion and
Figs 94
and
95
, it is listed as
Stamnodes
sp.
(?undescribed).