Heteropsis menamenoides Lees, sp. nov.
Creators: name: C, Lees David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Heteropsis
Heteropsis menamenoides

description: Heteropsis menamenoides Lees, sp. nov.
LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D2FCD726-B198-484F-846C-B5229FE174E0
Prior references: sp. 62 (Lees 1997; Torres et al., 2001: 462).
Type material., Holotype, deposition BMNH: ♂ (Fig. 21 A), Madagascar NW, Bekolosy, RS Manongarivo, 950 [880] m, [14.0487o S, 48.29495o E +/- 0.15 km, 95 m +/- 50 m], 15/12/1994: 09:50, D.C. Lees: DLBEK 94_160; KAP16 [=KA-P16 DNA extract voucher], IA312 [isotope voucher], NHMUK 010289153 [QTR barcode].
Paratypes: Deposition BMNH: ♂, NW, Bekolosy, RS Manongarivo, ca. 800 m, [14.05135o S, 48.2937o E +/- 0.15 km, 800 +/- 50 m], 16/12/1994, D.C. Lees: DLBEK 94_179, DL 9639 [DNA voucher], 0 443 [= DL 0443; DNA extract number], BMNH (E) #697857 [cytochrome b]; CCDB-02225-G03, BMAD 075-09; HM40425 [DNA barcode voucher], KA571, KA4084 [=KA-P571, KA-P4084; DNA extract numbers]; ♂ (Fig. 18 D), Madagascar NW, Bekolosy, RS Manongarivo, 890 m, 14.04936o S, 48.294o E +/- 0.15 km, 890 +/- 60 m, 15/12/1994, 10:59, D.C. Lees: DLBEK 94_180, 231 DL (genitalia), BMNH (E) #1053956; ♂, NW, Bekolosy, RS Manongarivo, 925 m, 14.04894o S, 48.2945o E +/- 0.15 km, 925 +/- 50 m, 13/12/1994, 09:56–11:15, D.C. Lees: DLBEK 94_181, NHMUK 010289187 [QTR barcode].
Deposition summary: BMNH (HT ♂, 3 PT ♂♂).
Type locality. Madagascar NW, Bekolosy, RS Manongarivo, 950 m, [14.0465o S, 48.3o E +/- 0.2 km, 950 +/-70 m].
Diagnosis. Heteropsis maeva is similar on the dorsal wing surface. In Asia, a group that includes Mydosama anapita (Moore, 1858), M. marginata (Moore, 1881) and M. patiana Eliot (1869) (see Brattström et al., 2014) are superficially similar on both surfaces. Like M. anapita, of which Mycalesis menamena Mabille 1877 (“ Madagascar ”; see d’Abrera 1980: 186 for a photograph) is a synonym according to Lees et al., (2003), Ht. menamenoides has a dark orange Mb and Smb ventrally, with contiguous pale yellow shading distad to the Mb, and dark orange somewhat triangular blotches distal to that. However, in Ht. menamenoides, only the space-CuA1 ocellus is expressed as typical of the Ht. strigula group, and the HW margin is less crenulated, whereas in the Mycalesis anapita group, a full complement of ocelli are expressed, especially on the HWV. Within the ‘true’ Malagasy mycalesine fauna, the upperside of Ht. menamenoides is similar to that of Ht. maeva, to which the species is apparently closely related, and shares a smooth HW margin, but differs by a much lighter and more uneven orange colouration on both wing surfaces, whereas the HW-crenulate Ht. barbarae is not known from the northwest of Madagascar, and has a almost entirely mid brown dorsal wing colouration. Among the only other distinctly ‘orange’ Heteropsis (in both sexes) known from Madagascar, the Malagasy Region complex of Ht. narcissus (Fabricius, 1798) lacks ventral abdominal dark androconial scales in the ♂, while Ht. laetifica and Ht. laeta which are similar in dorsal wing pattern, have them, but are paler yellow on underside. Orange ♀ forms of Ht. erebina (‘ Culapa grandis Oberthür 1916 ’) and Ht. antahala (‘ Mycalesis benacus Mabille, 1884 ’) (see, e.g., Lees, 1997: 56 and d’Abrera, 1997) are also not confusable because the Mb shows through to the upperside more strongly and delineates an area just proximad of the space-CuA1 ocellus which is highlighted more contrastingly in paler orange. Ht. erebina and Ht. antahala belong to different clades with different wing shapes and particularly ventral wing patterning. In particular, none of these species have such a distinctly zigzagged orange Sml, that is especially characteristic of the FWV of Ht. menamenoides.
Description. Wings: Upperside orange with wide darkish brown border along margin that widens from costa towards apex in FWD and that is more diffuse on HWD, narrowest at margin and broader at costa and tergal edge. Lighter orange is evident around space-M3 of FWD and HWD. Space-CuA1 ocellus expressed more strongly in FWD than in HWD; Orng not evident and black iris considerably smaller diameter than spacing of veins CuA1 and CuA2. Underside generally of lighter orange cast especially distad of Mb of central symmetry system, and there is a diffuse darker orange band running through arc of ocelli and a very wavy darker orange line before another darker orange Sml that closely tracks the margin on both wings; the margin is fairly smoothly cut and only very gently crenate. The dark orange Mb is relatively straight in the HWV and curves towards the tergal angle of the FWV, tergad of the space-CuA1 ocellus, which is very small in the HT. In FWV, Cbs delineated by two sets of approximately parallel darker orange transverse lines in the FWV cell area, not as evident as in the (anyway brown) species Ht. roussettae. Space-M2 ocellus as small white point surrounded by narrow black ring in FWV while space-CuA1 ocellus of HWV only slightly larger; no other ocelli expressed. Basal area strongly strigulated with darker orange lines in both wings, and PMb is more evident in the HWV than FWV. Variation. ♂♂ similar to each other, but seasonal variation has not been quantified, as the type series were collected over a few adjacent days in mid December. ♀ unknown.
Wingspan/fwl: range 36.2–45.5/ 19.7–24.6 mm (n= 4 ♂♂); mean 39.4 +/- 5.3 SD/21.9 +/- 2.0 SD mm (n=4 ♂♂), including HT ♂ 36.2/ 19.7 mm. ♀ unknown.
Androconia: black ventral abdominal patch between A3–A6 divided centrally by narrow yellow overlying scales, in potential contact with diffusely separated and slightly wavy androconial brush largely emanating from base of space-CuA2 before its fork with vein CuA1 and overlying veins 1A+2A and 3A; the latter symmetrically inflated before midlength in compact ‘tear’-shape (Lees, 1997: 97, Fig. 3 b), whereas 1A+2A shows very restricted swelling towards the base of 1A. Fairly short and compact Sdb brownish at base and strongly light yellow towards tip overlying small Sdp with small underlying swelling in HW vein R towards end of cell (Lees, 1997: 97, Fig. 3 b); not described in detail here due to scarcity of material.
Palps: penultimate (medial) segment mainly yellow with a narrow medial dark brown streak, fringed by dark scales on outside face and by light yellow scales on inside face of palp; last segment similarly patterned.
♂ genitalia: 231DL (DLBEK94_180; Fig. 18 D, PT): from LV, tegumen broader dorsally and very angled proximad (scarcely any notch from DV), very narrow at hinge with vinculum; dorsal edge of tegumen forming a fairly straight line to uncus featuring fairly narrow and evenly deep ‘neck’ distad to hook-tip with distinct dorsal ‘head’ as fairly typical for Ht. strigula group; uncus quite strongly inflated before tip from DV. Gnathos particularly straight and tapering (but slightly sinuate from DV and inrecurved at tip), emanating from rounded base and in the specimen examined, transversing uncus at about 40 degrees. Valve with a long straight dorsal ‘shoulder’. Valve base leads without strong constriction to quite broad and flat valve arm covered in spinoid setae along entirety of fairly truncate tip, featuring a slight distal lobe (incurved from DV), with uncus hook-tip protruding to middle of extension of this truncate tip (from LV). Saccus not very long and aedeagus about same length as valve, strongly uprecurved from midlength and featuring a long proximad ostium, slightly bulbous at tip. Juxta somewhat ‘plate-lipped’ at proximad tip.
Etymology. A direct reference to the quite superficial similarity of this new species to Mycalesis menamena Mabille, 1877 (see d’Abrera, 1980), supposedly from Madagascar but actually a synonym of the SE Asian (Mycalesis) anapita Moore, [1858] (Lees, 1997; Lees et al., 2003).
Discussion. This distinctive species I first recognized in the field in December 1994 at Bekolosy mountain in the RS Manongarivo (Lees: 1997: 65). It was not detected in my 2011 expedition to the adjacent mountain Antsatrotro and no historic museum material is known. All relevant types of the ‘orange’ species in Madagascar in the Ht. strigula group were examined (see under Ht. barbarae), as well as the ♀ HT of Culapa grandis Oberthür, 1916 (bearing labels “Nord-Madagascar (Antakares) Isokitra a Diego-Suarez Mai a Octobre 1891 E. & B. Perrot| Culapa grandis Obthr. ♀ type |[Copy of f. 3074]”).
Additional information. DNA divergences: COI-5P cluster number BOLD:AAE4113 (exemplar DLBEK94_179, BMAD075-09, HM404251). The DNA barcode is about 5.5% divergent to an undescribed species, sp. 28 (cluster number BOLD:AAE5458), and about 5.8% pairwise divergent to that of Ht. tianae (BOLD:AAE4112).
Phylogeny/sister species: unknown, new molecular study awaited.
Ecology and distribution.
Habitat: on a very steep slope with a fine leaved bamboo that was considered to be ‘ Nastus ’ manongarivensis A. Camus, not necessarily the hostplant.
Behaviour: flies in the forest substory.
Hostplant: unknown, but possibly grasses.
Early stages: unknown.
Distribution: endemic as far as is known to Mt. Bekolosy, Reserve Speciale de Manongarivo (Fig. 30 C, slateblue dots).
Elevational range: 800–1035 m. (n=8 incl. observations).
Conservation: one of the mycalesines with the smallest known ranges in Madagascar, and likely to be confined to a narrow ‘ecotonal’ bioclimate. The four known specimens were found on a steep ridge in a radius of less than 0.2 km.
Referred specimens. None.
description: Published as part of C, Lees David, 2016, Heteropsis (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Satyrini: Mycalesina): 19 new species from Madagascar and interim revision, pp. 1-97 in Zootaxa 4118 (1) on pages 72-74, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4118.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/264597