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

description: Catabenoides insularis Troubridge, new species
(Fig. 44a, 44b, 93, 134)
BIN: BOLD:ACI9518
Diagnosis. In southern Florida, Catabenoides insularis is most like Catabenoides vitrina (Walker) (BIN: BOLD:ACK3449); however, it is distinguished from it by the distinct black line on the forewing of female C. vitrina, absent on that of C. insularis. The forewing of C. insularis is more heavily suffused with gray scales than C. vitrina, which has a whiter appearance, and the gray patch on the tornus of the forewing of C. insularis is larger and more pronounced than that of C. vitrina. Internally, males are easily distinguished by brushing the scales away that obscure the genitalia; the ventral margin of the cucullus of C. insularis is smooth, whereas that of C. vitrina has two low, pointed processes (Fig. 94). The vesicas are abundantly distinct, C. vitrina has a field of spine-like cornuti toward the apex, whereas C. insularis has a long, curved terminal spine. The closest relation to C. insularis is C. lazelli Becker and Miller, described from the British Virgin Islands. Among other differences, the saccular extensions of C. insularis are long and pointed; those of C. lazelli are branching.
Description. Antennae filiform, ciliate; head, vertex, thorax, and abdomen light gray; frons with a narrow black transverse band below scape; tegulae light gray; abdomen with ventrolateral pits with coremata on first abdominal sternite. Dorsal forewing. Forewing length 10–11 mm. Ground color light gray; antemedial and postmedial lines reduced to either black dots on veins or entirely absent; orbicular, claviform, and reniform spots absent; fringe light gray with white scales at tips of veins; a submarginal patch of darker gray scales occurs in tornus and often around cubital veins. Dorsal hindwing. Pearl white with scattered gray marginal and submarginal scales bleeding onto veins; fringe white. Male genitalia (Fig. 93). Valves asymmetrical; cucullus with dense field of fine setae and corona of stouter setae; sacculus with long, spine-like extensions almost extending to base of cucculus; left valve with short, stout, “L”-shaped digitus; right valve with long, narrow digitus; claspers squarish, plate-like, and lie flat against valve, left clasper drawn to a point on ventral margin, arises slightly closer to base of valve than right clasper, which is broader and concave on distal margin; uncus long, narrow, setose, curved downward and drawn to a point; juxta roughly rectangular dorsally, widens laterally to form circular plates toward base of valves; aedeagus with terminal sclerite bending down to support vesica; vesica bending ventrally and then to right with dorsal and left diverticula; a long, stout, terminal cornutus on right arcs anteriorly. A large field of minute spicules covers most of the vesica. Female genitalia (Fig. 134). Ovipositor lobes rounded at tip with numerous setae; ostium bursae with sclerite on ventral side extending half way down ductus bursae to terminate at a short membranous section; anterior half of ductus bursae heavily sclerotized ventrally, becoming a broader plate that bends back on itself to sweep around posteriorly, forming the dorsal side of appendix bursae; corpus bursae forms a large pear-shaped sac with two lateral, elongate signa.
Type material. Holotype male: USA: Florida, Monroe Co.: Dagny Johnson State Park, 25.181°N, 80.364° W, 8.Dec.2013, J. Troubridge, in the CNC. Paratypes: 5♀: Monroe Co.: Dagny Johnson State Park, 25.181°N, 80.364° W, 11.Mar.2012, 2♀; 9.Apr.2013, 1♀; 3 Mar. 2013, 1♀; 10.Feb.2013, 1♀, all J. Troubridge.
Etymology. The Latin word insularis means “of an island” and refers to the island habitat of this species.
Distribution. Catabenoides insularis has been collected in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cuba. To my knowledge, C. vitrina has not been collected in Florida since Hurricane Andrew (1992) and whether it still exists in southern Florida is unknown.
Remarks. Catabenoides insularis is the species previously listed as Callierges divisa Herrich-Schäffer, in the literature. After examining the type in Havana, Becker (2002) synonymized C. divisa with C. vitrina, leaving our Florida species in need of a name. Catabenoides Poole is an interesting genus in need of further work. The species can be arranged into two groups: the terminellus (Grote) group in which the ventral margin of the cucullus is smooth and the vesica has a stout terminal cornutus; and the vitrina group, in which the ventral margin of the cucullus has two short “teeth” and the posterior margin of the vesica has a field of short cornuti. Becker and Miller (2002) illustrate the genitalia of “ C. terminellus ” from Guana Island, B.V.I., which is actually an undescribed species in the terminellus group, there are also two undescribed species in the vitrina group in southern Texas and California and probably more in Mexico and the Antilles. To describe these species here would be extralimital to the scope of this paper.
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 31, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4585782