SYNOPSIS OF A NEW NEOTROPICAL HAIRSTREAK GENUS, JANTHECLA, AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES (LYCAENIDAE)

We describe Janthecla Robbins and Venables in the Eumaeini with Thecla janthina Hewitson as type, transfer eight additional neotropical species from Thecla Fabricius to Janthecla, and name a new species, J. leea Venables & Robbins. The new species had been misidentifled as T. janthina, but the two are sympatric in northern Venezuela. We give distribution, habitat, and distinguishing traits for each Janthecla species and present an identification key to males. New synonymies are J. janthina (Hewitson) = J. venezuelae (Lathy) and J. rocena (Hewitson) = J. major (Lathy); J. janthodonia (Dyar) is removed from the synonymy of J. janthina. We code 12 characters, from which we infer phylogenetic relationships among Janthecla species. Additional key words: Theclinae, Eumaeini, androconia, cladogram, comparative morphology. The current taxonomy of Thecla janthina Hewitson (Theclinae) is incorrect. Draudt (1921-22) recorded T. janthina from Guatemala to Brazil, but individuals from South America east of the Andes belong to an undescribed species that is sympatric with T. janthina in northern Venezuela. Similarly, T. janthina and T. janthodonia Dyar have been considered conspecific (Hoffmann 1940), but are distinct and sympatric. Lastly, T. venezuelae Lathy, which was described as a subspecies of T. janthina, is a synonym of T. janthina. The original purpose of this paper was to correct the nomenclature for T. janthina and to describe the South American species that had been confused with it. However, we could not place the T. janthina complex in an existing eumaeine genus•Thecla Fabricius belongs to the Theclini, not the Eumaeini (Eliot 1973). In the process of determining those eumaeines that are closely related to T. janthina, we discovered enough information to expand upon our original purpose. Thus, in this paper, we (1) describe a new genus, Janthecla, for T. janthina and relatives, (2) name the new species that had been confused with T. janthina, (3) discuss the species that belong to Janthecla, with notes on their distribution, morphology (emphasizing androconia), and biology, (4) present an identification key to males, and (5) propose a preliminary cladogram of phylogenetic relationships among these species. A secondary reason for expanding the paper is that it allows us to 12 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS" SOCIETY assess the phylogenetic position of T. rocena Hewitson, a species that had been reported to have an aberrant male foreleg (Robbins 1987). Abbreviations for museum collections are as follows: AME•Allyn Museum of Entomology, Sarasota; AMNH•American Museum of Natural History, New York; BMNH•The Natural History Museum (formerly British Museum), London; CMNH•Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh; MIZA•Instituto de Zoologia Agricola, Maracay; NMNH•National Museum of Natural History, Washington; MUSM• Museo de Historia Natural Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima; and UFPC•Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba. Abbreviations for private collections are: CVC•Charles V. Covell Jr., Louisville, Kentucky, USA; JBS•J. Boiling Sullivan, Beaufort, North Carolina, USA; ROM•Romero family, Maracay, Venezuela. Janthecla Robbins & Venables, new genus Type species. Thecla janthina Hewitson 1867. Systematic placement. Janthecla belongs to the Eumaeini (Lycaenidae: Theclinae) as characterized by Eliot (1973). It has ten forewing veins (Fig. 22), hairy eyes, a stubbytipped male foreleg tarsus (Fig. 21), and "greyhound-shaped" male genitalia lacking a juxta (Figs. 23-26). The closest relatives of Janthecla within the Eumaeini are unknown. We discuss interspecific morphological variation in the Comparative Morphology section below. Unique character state. The cervix of the female genitalia characterizes Janthecla. Attachment of the corpus bursae to the ductus bursae is more posterior ventrally than dorsally (Figs. 27-29). However, in /. malvina the anterior ductus bursae is sharply curved so that the points of attachment are ventral and dorsal (Fig. 28), rather than posterior and anterior. This cervical morphology has not been reported previously in the Eumaeini and appears to be unique. Field identification. A conspicuous submarginal green spot in ventral hindwing cell Cu2-2A (Figs. 2, 4, 8, 9) coupled with either two ventral forewing white lines or a single disjoint white line distinguish Janthecla from all other eumaeines. Because the genus contains two ventral wing patterns, that typified by J. leea (Figs. 2, 4) and that of J. rocena (Figs. 8, 9), learning these two patterns is an easy means of field identification. Specific identification. Most Janthecla species are not easy to identify. Males are distinguished by presence or absence of a dorsal forewing scent patch, and when present, its shape and placement. For this reason, we emphasize description and illustration (Figs. 12-20) of these patches. Other useful distinguishing characters are presented in the identification key. Although we examined antennae, labial palps, wing patterns, and abdomens, including genitalia, we cannot distinguish females of some sympatric species. Biology. Janthecla species occur most often in wet (> 200 cm annual precipitation) lowland forests (they are uncommon above 1000 m) except that J. flosculus apparently is not found in the lowlands. Males of J. rocena are territorial in the mid-afternoon. No larval foodplants are recorded for the genus. Etymology. Janthecla is an arbitrary combination of "janthina" and "Thecla. " Its gender is feminine.