Marimatha squala Ferris &amp; Lafontaine 2010, sp. n.
Creators: name: Ferris, Clifford
name: Lafontaine, Donald
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Marimatha
Marimatha squala

description: <i>Marimatha squala</i> Ferris &amp; Lafontaine, sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 9D 012295 -1CCF-4AE8-8943-283CFC9DC278 Figs 3, 4, 12, 19 <b>Type material.</b> <b>Holotype</b> &amp;male;: <b>Arizona</b>, Cochise Co., Peloncillo Mts., Guadalupe Cyn., 30 July 1989, B. &amp; J.F. Landry; Genitalia CNC slide # 14892 m. CNC. Paratypes 29 &amp;male;, 23 &amp;female;: <b>Arizona</b>. Santa Cruz Co., Madera Canyon 4880’, 10 July – 28 Aug. 1959 (16 &amp;male;, 11 &amp;female;), 24 June – 20 July 1960 (4 &amp;male;, 1 &amp;female;), J. G. Franclemont; Santa Cruz Co., Peña Blanca 3950’, 14 July 1960 (7 &amp;male;), 2–5 Aug. 1960 (1 &amp;male;, 2 &amp;female;), J. G. Franclemont; Santa Cruz Co., Atascosa Mts., Peña Blanca Canyon 3900’, 31°38'N, 111°09'W, 3 Aug. 2008, C. Schmidt &amp; B. Walsh (3 &amp;female;); Santa Cruz Co., Oro Blanca Mts., Peña Blanca Lake 3700’, 10 mi WNW Nogales, 25 July 1971, L. M. Martin (1 &amp;male;, 1 &amp;female;). <b>Mexico.</b> Guerrero, 33 mi S Iguala, 1450’, 5 Aug. 1954, J. G. Chillcott (5 &amp;female;). Paratypes deposited in CDF, CNC, CUIC, JBW, and USNM. <b>Other material examined and distribution.</b> <b>USA. Arizona</b>. Cochise Co. Carr Canyon, Huachuca Mts, 31°26.38'N 110°15.87'W, 5600’, 6 August 2009, C. D. Ferris; Cochise Co., Brushy Canyon, Chiricahua Mts, 31°44.19'N 109°14.16'W, 5470’, 31 July 2009, C. D. Ferris; Cochise Co., Banning Creek, Mule Mts, 31°27.78'N 109°52.22'W, 5700’, 2 August 2009, C. D. Ferris. Santa Cruz Co., Peña Blanca, 5 July 2009, Nate Gibson; Santa Cruz Co., Patagonia (in town), 31°32.62' N 110°45.31' W, 4050', 7–8 August 2009, C. D. Ferris. <b>Costa Rica</b>. <b>Guanacaste</b>, Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Sector Santa Elena, La Angostura, 25 May 2006, F. Quesada &amp; R. Franco. <b>Etymology.</b> The species name is derived from the shark genus <i>Squalus</i> in reference to the sharkfin-like process on the dorsal margin of the male valva. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Head with frontal protuberance. Male genitalia: dorsal margin of valva smooth with sharply pointed triangular process at about 1/4 from apex; vesica with single large subbasal cornutus and a spine-covered diverticulum near apex. Female genitalia: ostial plate protruding, wedge shaped with convex sides, posterior margin cleft in middle 1/3 to base. <b>Description. Adult:</b> <i>Head</i> <b>–</b> Frontal protuberance crater-like, nearly circular, flattened above haustellum. <i>Thorax</i> <b>–</b> Yellow with brown flecks. <i>Legs</i>: yellow, flecked with brown scales, more heavily on forelegs and middle legs, and in females. <i>Wings</i> (both sexes): DFW lemon yellow with dark discal spot and additional dark spot in fold at 1/4 from wing base; usually a smaller third spot below costa at 1/4 from base; a thin orange-brown postmedial line evenly curving around discal spot in most specimens. DHW fuscous. VFW yellowish buff, heavily infused with brown scales with well-defined pale band along inner margin. VHW yellowish, moderately flecked with brown scales, indistinct brown marginal line; in some specimens a suggestion of a brown discal spot and postmedian line. <i> Male genitalia <i>–</i> Uncus</i> : decurved, slender, expanded slightly apically with blunt rounded tip. <i>Valvae</i>: symmetrical, basally broad tapering to approximately middle (at apex of sacculus), then narrowing to a rounded apex, without corona; dorsal margin with prominent, sharply-pointed, triangular process at about 1/4 from apex; sacculus broad with slightly pointed rounded apex and with small spines sparsely distributed along dorsal margin. <i>Aedeagus</i>: smoothly sclerotized; vesica with single large dorsal cornutus projecting anteriorly, a flat sclerotized plate by opening into ductus ejaculatorius, and with long, tapered, spine-covered diverticulum to left of ductus ejaculatorius. <i>Female genitalia</i> <b>–</b> Corpus bursae ovoid without surface features, tapered posteriorly; ductus seminalis arising on left near junction with ductus bursae. Anterior 1/2 of ductus bursae lightly sclerotized, narrow at opening to corpus bursae, then expanded to sclerotized posterior part; a thumb-like diverticulum on ductus bursae on right just posterior to constriction at corpus bursae; posterior 1/2 of ductus bursae well sclerotized with a pleated-like (corrugated) section. Ostial plate an elongate wedge with concave sides, convex posterior margin cleft in middle 1/3 to base. <b>Distribution and biology.</b> Arizona and southward to Costa Rica. Flight season is from mid-July to mid-August in Arizona and from late May in Costa Rica.
description: Published as part of <i>Ferris, Clifford &amp; Lafontaine, Donald, 2010, Review of the North American species of Marimatha Walker with descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Eustrotiinae) and the description of Pseudomarimatha flava (Noctuinae, Elaphriini), a new genus and species confused with Marimatha, pp. 117-135 in ZooKeys 39 (39)</i> on pages 124-126, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.39.424, http://zenodo.org/record/576637