Zaphanta acuta St Laurent & Giusti 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: St Laurent, Ryan A.
name: Giusti, Alessandro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Mimallonidae
Zaphanta
Zaphanta acuta

description: Zaphanta acuta sp. nov.
(Figures 19, 20, 35, 36, 42) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A5FA3ED1-5994-46B4-B018-1FA055C76496
Diagnosis
Zaphanta acuta is one of the few Zaphanta species that can usually be recognised from its external appearance. This species has a more triangular and narrower fore wing shape than that of any other Zaphanta, with a relatively acute fore wing apex, although the single examined specimen from Espírito Santo has more rounded wings. The wing colouration is darker, more heavily suffused with purple-brown and brown scales, with greatly reduced postmedial markings. The black marks near the apex, which are typical of Zaphanta, are especially well developed in this species. Male genitalia (the female is unknown) are also unique in their dense covering of setae along the costal base of the valvae; these setae obscure an outwardly curving, weakly sclerotised valvae apodeme projection. Zaphanta elephanta and Z. elephanticula also have dense coverings of setae on a similar region of the valvae, but the latter species have dramatically differently shaped (rounded) valvae and a paired uncus projection, which allow a clear distinction between these Amazonian taxa and Z. acuta which inhabits the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. The phallus of Z. acuta is also unlike that of any other Zaphanta species, being generally elongated and cylindrical, not stout as in all previous species, and distinctly dorsolaterally flattened. Apically, the phallus bears a single tooth-like projection dorsally, and the downward apical extension typical of the genus is less strongly developed in Z. acuta.
Description
Male. Head: As for genus. Thorax: As for genus. Legs: As for genus. Fore wing dorsum: Fore wing length: 9.5–12 mm, avg.: 10.9 mm, wingspan: 21–26 mm, n = 4. As for genus, but apex usually more acute; markings, although typical of the genus, are very faint except for the black costal marks which are apparent; postmedial line essentially absent; colouration darker due to presence of suffusion of purple-brown and brown scales; antemedial area particularly darkly coloured. Fore wing ventrum: As for genus, but antemedial line especially well developed with dense purple-pink scaling antemedially; postmedial line not developed, restricted to a few black markings near the apex and medially. Hind wing dorsum: As for genus, but colouration mostly suffused by dark brown-pink scales, antemedial and postmedial markings absent. Hind wing ventrum: As for genus; ante- and postmedial lines particularly well defined. Abdomen: As for genus; colouration slightly purple-brown. Genitalia: (Figures 35 and 36) n = 4. Vinculum ovoid. Tegumen broad, rectangular. Uncus triangular and heavily sclerotised apically with minor indentation mesally, appearing bidentate. Subuncus region with narrow strip of weak sclerotisation along ventral margin of tegumen, strip of sclerotisation downwardly converging mesally forming ‘V’, upper margin of this strip slightly dentate; uncustegumen complex slightly narrower than width of vinculum. Ventral margin of tegumen with slight paired projection. Transtilla apparently absent. Valvae extremely narrow, elongate, slightly curved upward. Costal base of valvae (valva apodeme) densely covered in setae, setae becoming denser proximal to base of tegumen, setae obscure presence of lightly sclerotised valva apodeme projection which curves outward. Juxta as Y-shaped sclerotisation which attaches ventrally to phallus and between saccular valvae apodemes. Caecum of phallus half length of phallus, caecum phallus rounded. Phallus cylindrical, elongated, dorsolaterally flattened, weakly projected ventrally at apex, ventral projection not much more heavily sclerotised than remainder of phallus, dorsal apex of phallus with minute tooth, phallus otherwise smooth.
Female. Unknown.
Type material
Holotype ♂. Brazil: São Paulo: Itanhaen [Itanhaém], Sao [São] Paulo, April 1928. (R. Spitz)./ Zaphanta infantilis Dyar Pearson det./ Rothschild Bequest BM 1939–1/ NHMUK010890532 / Genitalia vial NHMUK010402349 / HOLOTYPE ♂ Zaphanta acuta St Laurent and Giusti, 2019 /(NHMUK).
Paratypes. (3 ♂ total) Brazil: Espírito Santo: 1 ♂, Linhares, 40 m: 1 ♂, 5–9 April 1992, V. O. Becker Col., Col. Becker 82033, Becker genital prep. 2793 (VOB). São Paulo: 1 ♂, Apiaí, 750 m: 12 October 2006, C. Mielke leg., 26.647 Col. C. Mielke (CGCM). Rio de Janeiro: 1 ♂, No additional locality data, November, St Laurent diss.: 7-21-18:4 (CMNH). Paratypes with yellow label reading ‘ PARATYPE ♂ Zaphanta acuta St Laurent and Giusti, 2019 ’.
Additional putative specimen
1 ♂, Brazil: Goiás: Goiás, 500 m: 13–15 October 1984, V.O. Becker col., Col. Becker 52800, USNM-Mimal: 2335, St Laurent dissection: 5-16-18:2 (USNM) (not included in type series).
Distribution
Zaphanta acuta is found in central and south-eastern Brazil, with records from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Goiás, but see remarks regarding the Goiás record.
Etymology
Zaphanta acuta is named for the acute fore wing apices (Latin acutus).
Remarks
Although genitalia of specimens from São Paulo and Goiás are more similar to each other than to those of any other population of Zaphanta (compare Figures 35 and 36), we hesitate to include the specimen from Goiás in the type series. The holotype and paratype specimens of Z. acuta are from Mata Atlântica in São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, whereas the specimen from Goiás was collected in Cerrado. The different biomes inhabited by these populations, as well as minor differences in phallus structure, result in our restriction of the type series to specimens from Mata Atlântica to avoid the possibility of including cryptic species.
description: Published as part of St Laurent, Ryan A. & Giusti, Alessandro, 2019, Revision of Zaphanta Dyarı 1910 (Lepidoptera: Mimallonidae: Zaphantinae) ı with descriptions of nine new species, pp. 1209-1246 in Journal of Natural History 53 (19) on pages 1236-1243, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2019.1634772, http://zenodo.org/record/3673463