Dargida mocoides Dolibaina & Blas & Specht & Casagrande & Mielke 2020, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo
name: Blas, German San
name: Specht, Alexandre
name: Casagrande, Mirna Martins
name: Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Dargida
Dargida mocoides

description: Dargida mocoides (Dognin, 1897) comb. nov.
(Figs 17–22, 32, 37, 41, 43)
Leucania mocoides Dognin, 1897: 245.— Hampson 1905: 554.— Poole 1989: 582.
Cirphis mocoides (Dognin); Draudt 1924: 168, pl. 24, fig. i[4].
Diagnosis. Dargida mocoides comb. nov. slightly resembles D. phaeoneura and its ally species mentioned in the diagnosis above. Dargida mocoides can be easily distinguished by its ochre forewing ground color, with grayishsilver areas through the costal area, first 1/4 of 2A, and outer margin extending proximally over veins R 5, M 1, CuA 1 and CuA 2. In D. phaeoneura and ally species the forewing ground color is light brown, with areas of different coloration, but never grayish-silver. The male genitalia of D. mocoides is very similar to D. phaeoneura, differentiated by a cucullus of 2/5 the length of valva and point-ended digitus, whilst in the latter the cucullus has a length of 1/3 the length of valva and the digitus is rounded ended.
Redescription. Head: densely covered by pale ochre scales; antennae light brown dorsally; labial palpi and eyes as in D. radiata.
Thorax: patagia rust-brown; tegulae, thorax, and legs ochre, gradually lighter posteriorly; legs as in D. radiata.
Forewing: male 14.5 mm (n=2), female 15.8 mm (n=1); wing shape as in D. radiata. Dorsal: ground color ochre, paler along discal cell and M 1 extending to last 1/3 of R 5 and along CuA 2 –2A, below anal fold; costal area and first 1/4 of 2A light grayish-silver; outer margin with a continuous grayish-silver band extending over veins R 5, M 1, CuA 1 and CuA 2, followed proximally by a discontinuous black stripe between R 5 and 2A; rust-brown stripes on R 4 –R 5, R 5 –M 1 (surrounding first 2/3 of R 5), bordering anteriorly CuA, from origin of CuA 2 to M 2 –M 3, and bordering posteriorly CuA, from base to near origin of CuA 2, vanishing along CuA 2, and at about the center of the anal area (between 2A–anal margin); basal dash just posterior to the origin of CuA 2; postmedial arch-shaped row of black rounded spots between R 5 and anal margin; outer line rust-brown; fringe pale yellow basally and apically, pale rustbrown medially. Ventral: ground color lustered brown, darker at center; outer line narrower than dorsally; fringe lighter than dorsally.
Hind wing: wing shape as in D. radiata. Dorsal: mostly translucent pearly cream, suffused by light brown scales along costal and outer margins; fringe as in dorsal forewing but with median rust-brown line reduced. Ventral: similar to dorsal but more uniformly pearly cream.
Abdomen: ochre, slightly darker than dorsal thorax, with a black thin line along pleura.
Male genitalia (Figs 32, 37): tegumen, ventral tegumen arm, dorsal projection of saccus, saccus, uncus, subscaphium and transtilla similar to D. phaeoneura. Valva about six times as long as wide (at widest part), wider at the base then slightly narrower, dorsal margin strongly concave at the middle, ventral margin slightly convex, disto-ventral margin angled; sacculus with meso-dorsal margin about angled and extending beyond base of costa and transtilla; costa uniformly narrow, dorsal margin strongly concave; costal process reduced, slightly sclerotized, not projected beyond apex of valva, fused with digitus; ampulla spear-like, curved proximally, margins straight, about 1/3 as long as cucullus, base wide tapering to a pointed end; clasper as a small triangular projection at base of ampulla; digitus perpendicular to valva, about straight, as long as ampulla, base wide narrowing distally to a pointed end; sensory plate not observed; cucullus 2/5 the length of valva, dorsal margin convex, proximal 2/3 narrow, increasing in width distally, distal half triangular, about twice as wide as the mid width of valva, disto-ventral projection longer and narrower than disto-dorsal projection, corona uniseriate, extended throughout apical margin, four ventral setae wider, strongly sclerotized, the two ventral most setae tooth-like. Fultura inferior broken (cannot be observed). Aedeagus thick, shorter than valva, slightly arched ventrally (the distal part of the aedeagus broken apart); vesica not completely distended, apparently bearing two groups of cornuti.
Female genitalia: not analyzed (the only two known females could not be dissected).
Etymology. Although not mentioned by the author, the name probably is a rearrangement of the letters of Leucania commoides Guenée, a species compared by the author with D. mocoides in the original description (Dognin 1897).
Distribution. Dargida mocoides is another Andean member of the genus, only known from a few specimens collected in the Ecuadorian province of Carchi in the north, at 3200 m of elevation, and Loja (type locality) in the south, at around 2200 m (Fig. 43).
Type material. The holotype male of Leucania mocoides is deposited at the USNM with the following labels: / Environs de loja Equateur 1890 / Dognin Collection / TypeNo 31970 U.S. N.M. / Leucania mocoides Dgn. Type [male symbol] / Mamestrinae Leucania mocoides Dgn. Hmpsn. [indistinguishable letters and/or numbers] / [indistinguishable text] 96 / mihi[?] in Berlin [indistinguishable] 1891 / [male symbol] Genitalia Slide: USNM /225 J.G. Franclemont / Genitalia slides m Franclemont USNM 33237 /; the following labels are glued on the genitalia slide of the holotype: / USNM 33,237 / NO. USNM / 225 Leucania mocoides Type Dognin Loja, Ecuador DATE 7 Apr 1950 J. G. FRANCLEMONT /.
Analyzed material. ECUADOR: Carchi: Maldonado, 3200 m, 1 ♂ and 2 ♀, 11.I.1993, V. O. Becker leg. (VOB 105352). Loja: Loja, 1 ♂ (holotype), 1890 (USNM).
Comments. This rare species is only known from a handful of specimens collected in the northern and southern Andes of Ecuador, above 2000 m of elevation. Dargida mocoides was described by Dognin (1897) in Leucania, combined with Cirphis Walker by Draudt (1924), and returned to Leucania by Poole (1989) where it is currently. However, the wing pattern and the morphology of the male genitalia point it to as a member of Dargida (comb. nov.).
description: Published as part of Dolibaina, Diego Rodrigo, Blas, German San, Specht, Alexandre, Casagrande, Mirna Martins & Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik, 2020, Taxonomy of five neglected South American species of Dargida Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), pp. 199-217 in Zootaxa 4853 (2) on pages 208-210, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4853.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4519085