Sigela incisa Troubridge, new species
Creators: name: Troubridge, J. T.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Sigela
Sigela incisa

description: Sigela incisa Troubridge, new species
(Fig. 18, 88, 117)
BIN: BOLD:ABA1145
Diagnosis. Sigela incisa is easily distinguished from the other North American Sigela species by indentation of the outer margin of the forewing. Sigela vilhelmina has a broad, smudged gray band in the submargin of the forewing, but in S. incisa a dark gray submarginal spot is present on the lower half of the forewing. Additionally, the ordinary lines of the forewing are reasonably distinct in S. incisa, but muted or absent in S. vilhelmina.
Description. Antennae filiform, ciliate; head, vertex, labial palps and thorax off-white; abdomen light gray brown. Dorsal forewing (both sexes). Forewing length 4–5 mm. Ground color white to very light gray brown; basal, antemedial, and postmedial lines faint brown to gray brown; medial line brown to gray brown, much more pronounced than other lines; reniform spot absent; orbicular spot a black dot. Terminal line and fringe chestnut brown except off-white between veins M3 and CuA1; outer margin scalloped inward between vein R3 and apex and between CuA1 and tornus. Dorsal hindwing. Ground color white to light gray brown; discal dot black, medial line chestnut brown; jagged postmedial line chestnut brown, bordered distally with off-white scales submarginal area filled with dark gray adjacent to postmedial line and gray brown adjacent to off-white terminal line; fringe chestnut brown. Male genitalia (Fig. 88). Valve unarmed, sacculus extends along entire length of valve, with parallel dorsal and ventral margins, rounded and slightly downturned at apex with a field of apical setae, and a slightly elevated dorsal hump in mid section; dorsal portion of valve gradually widens toward rounded apex, apex with field of dense setae; uncus relatively short, gradually narrows to pointed apex; tegumen fused to form a solid dorsal plate with medial suture; juxta forms a broad oval plate between valves; saccus rounded ventrally with ear-like extensions at base of tegumen; aedeagus drawn to an apical point; vesica arises dorsally with elongate posterior diverticulum and subapical diverticulum directed anteriorly. Female genitalia (Fig. 117). Ovipositor lobes setose, non-telescopic; ductus bursae membranous, narrow, terminating at bulbous appendix bursae on dorsal side of corpus bursae; corpus bursae with crescent-shaped field of small, interior signa on dorsal side between appendix bursae and bulbous anterior section.
Type material. Holotype male: USA: Florida, Collier Co.: Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, 25.98°N, 81.41°W, 23.Mar.2015, J. Troubridge, in the CNC. Paratypes: 10♂, 14♀: Collier Co.: Naples, 3875 Arnold Ave., 7. Sep. 993, R.A. Belmont, 1♂ (MGCL). Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park: 21.Feb.2014, 1♂, 3♀; 4.Feb.2014, 2♂, 3♀; 11.Mar.2016, 3♂, 3♀; 20.Jan.2017, 1♂; 11.Nov.2015, 1♀; 25.Feb.2015, 1♀; 3.Mar.2019, 1♂; 1.Apr.2019, 1♂, all J. Troubridge; Miami-Dade Co.: Florida City: 25°24.89′N, 80°26.40W, 29.Jan.2015, J. Troubridge, 3♀.
Etymology. The word incisa refers to indentation along the margin of the forewing.
Distribution. Sigela incisa has been collected in extreme southern Florida, from Collier, Monroe, and Miami- Dade Counties. I have seen photographs of similar specimens from the Greater Antilles, but no specimens are available for study. These either could be conspecific with the Florida material, or additional species in the complex.
Remarks. Sigela vilhelmina (as Araeopteron vilhelmina) was listed in Franclemont and Todd (1983) based on specimens from southern Florida in the USNM. Three species in the BOLD database are members of the vilhelmina group, two of which are from Central America, and one from south Florida. The S. vilhelmina type in the USNM was collected in southern Mexico and closely matches one of these Central American species (BIN: BOLD:AAE5712). The DNA of the Florida specimens was analyzed, and the 658 COI base pairs compared with those of specimens of S. vilhelmina from Costa Rica. The results showed that the Florida specimens represent a distinct species with an 8.25% difference between it and S. vilhelmina.
description: Published as part of Troubridge, J. T., 2020, A new genus and 37 new noctuoid species from peninsular Florida and the Keys (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea), pp. 1-56 in Insecta Mundi 2020 (789) on page 9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4585782