Polypoetes milleri Prada, Jimenez-Bolivar & St Laurent 2023, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Prada-Lara, Liliana
name: Jiménez-Bolívar, Andrea C.
name: St Laurent, Ryan A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Notodontidae
Polypoetes
Polypoetes milleri

description: Polypoetes milleri Prada, Jiménez-Bolívar & St Laurent spec. nov.
(Figs. 1-3)
Type material. Holotype: 1 male. COLOMBIA: Cundinamarca: Cachipay. 21.xi.1973, leg. L. Núñez. “Hoja de zapote” CTNI 2656a / Previously identified as Polypoetes aff. cethegus by E. L. Todd in 1974. HOLOTYPE male Polypoetes milleri Prada, Jiménez-Bolívar & St Laurent 2023 [red label] / (CTNI). Paratypes: 14 total; 2 males, 12 females. Same locality, date, and collector data as holotype (CTNI 2656 b-j) (MPUJ _ ENT 0071540-0071539) (USNM JSM-1568 / JSM-1569). Paratypes with the following yellow label: Paratype Polypoetes milleri Prada, Jiménez-Bolívar & St Laurent 2023.
Additional material examined: 4 total; 2 males, 1 female, 1 sex undetermined. Same data as holotype (CTNI 2656).
Diagnosis. The habitus of this species is unremarkable. It can be confused with P. villia Druce, 1897 or P. eriphus Druce, 1885, genitalia must be examined to separate these species. Polypoetes milleri can be distinguished by the horn-like uncus, the naked, twisted and antler-like shape socii, the “M” shape of the tegumen, the aedeagus which is straight rather than bent, tergite 8 naked with two lateral apodemes with an elaborate pocket-like structure, the lateral margins of the 8 th segment of the female terminalia with mesal horn-like projections, and the signum ovoid and dentate.
Description. Male. Head: Small (Fig. 1). Labial palpus greatly elongate, folded elbowlike over frons apex extending posteriorly to the clypeus. Clypeus yellow, white-cream epicranium surrounded by gray scales. Labial palpus segment 1 faded white-cream colored dorsally. Labial palpus segments 2 and 3 with long dark brown scales with inner short white-cream color scales. Eyes very large, comprising more than two-thirds area of the head. Antenna bipectinate, rami relatively long, base of the antenna covered with appressed glossy dark brown scales. Thorax: Dorsally clothed in dark brown scales with two central yellow bands, ventrally clothed with dark brown scales. Legs: Covered in dark brown scales. Epiphysis well-developed. Forewing: Length (base to apex): 15 mm, wingspan: 30 mm. Single frenulum. Dorsal ground color dark gray-brown, veins yellowish to light orange. The postbasal area with diffused scales. An irregular white ovoid spot is present in postdiscal area. Ventrally dark gray-brown, veins slightly yellowish to light orange. Presence of the same white ovoid spot as in dorsum. Hindwing: Dorsal ground color dark gray-brown with a basal white discal patch that extends beyond cell. Ventrally same as dorsal. Abdomen: Covered in glossy dark gray-brown scales. Ventrally with white-cream scales. Terminalia: (Fig. 2). Tergite 8 naked with two lateral apodemes, posterolateral angles expanded to form an elaborate pocket-like structure. Sternite 8 squared naked with sclerotized apex. Horn-like uncus with antler-like, naked, twisted, and sclerotized socii. Base of tegumen sclerotized forming an “M”. Valva mostly membranous enclosing hair-like androconia. Aedeagus relatively long and narrow, with a small, membranous pointed hook-shaped process at the apex. Cornuti not found in the examined genitalia. Female. Differs from male in the following characteristics: Head: Antenna bipectinate, rami extremely short. Forewing: Length (base to apex): 20 mm; wingspan: 34 mm. Frenulum composed a tuft of bristles. Terminalia: Tergite 8 sclerotized (Fig. 3), long, and wide, with two sclerotized lobes, posterior margin convex with a small mesal excavation, lateral margins of 8 th segment with mesal horn-like projections. Posterior margin of sternite 8 with a deep, U-shaped mesal excavation. Anal papilla short, covered and fused with the sernite 8 and tergite 8. Ostium forming an expanded funnel-shaped structure leading to the short and membranous ductus bursae. Corpus bursae membranous and short, almost round. Signum ovoid and dentate, located laterally on the left side from a lateroventral view. Dorsal part of corpus bursae has an internal pocket with rugose surface. Apophyses anteriores are straight, long, and thin, and the apophyses posteriores not clearly visible, they are straight but shorter and thinner than the anteriores.
Etymology. The name milleri is a latinized noun in genitive singular. This new species is named in honor of the late Dr. James S. Miller (affectionately called “Jim” by most of his friends and colleagues), who dedicated a great part of his life to country music and the study of Lepidoptera. Jim was an outstanding lepidopterist, always willing to collaborate and share knowledge. Jim was also the first to recognize this taxon as undescribed in his 2009 monograph on the Dioptinae.
Distribution. Polypoetes milleri spec. nov. is only known from the type locality in Cachipay, a small town in Cundinamarca, Colombia.
Biology. Caterpillars were found feeding on Quararibea cordata (Malvaceae), commonly known as “zapote”. This hostplant is a new record for the Dioptinae.
description: Published as part of Prada-Lara, Liliana, Jiménez-Bolívar, Andrea C. & St Laurent, Ryan A., 2023, A new species of Polypoetes Druce, 1885 (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) from Colombia, with confirmation of a new host plant for the Dioptinae, pp. 101-107 in Revista Chilena de Entomología (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) 49 (1) on pages 103-104, DOI: 10.35249/rche.49.1.23.12, http://zenodo.org/record/10950253