Porphyrogenes sparta Evans 1952
Creators: name: Austin, George T.
name: Mielke, Olaf H. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Hesperiidae
Porphyrogenes
Porphyrogenes sparta

description: Porphyrogenes sparta Evans, 1952   
(Fig. 35-38)  
 Porphyrogenes sparta Evans, 1952. Type locality: Pará [Brazil]; male [holo] type (Fig. 35, 36) in BM(NH).   
 Description. Male (measured and described from photographs of [holo] type, Fig. 35, 36) - forewing length = 17.1 mm; with costal fold, apex pointed, not produced, termen and anal margin slightly convex; hindwing termen convex, tornus produced to short lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than its base and just distad of CuA 2; dorsum brown, unmarked, anal margin with apparent sparse blackish tuft basad of middle; hindwing brown, vague indication of discal macules; specular area proximad at least along costa, dark brown tufts towards base (origins not determinable from photograph), brown tuft along anterior edge of vein 2A; fringes on both wings brownish.   
 Venter brown, duller than dorsum; forewing vein 2A nearly straight (“centrally bare” with “oval dull yellowish brand” according to Evans 1952); shining grayish speculum in proximal 1/4 of CuA 2 -2A and in proximal portion of anal cell (continued to tornus as modified gray-brown scales); hindwing with vague indication of dark discal macules, tornus blackish; cell 2A-3A with deep groove just caudad of vein 2A.   
Dorsal head and thorax brown, palpi brown, eye color uncertain from photograph, antennae black on dorsum, pale on venter and beneath apiculus, ventral thorax and pectus brownish with apparent greenish tinge, legs brown, dorsal abdomen brown.  
Genitalia - not examined. Evans’ (1952) figure indicated an apparent long process from the tegumenuncus, a long and narrow uncus hooked caudad, and a valva upturned caudad to a double pointed terminus.  
 Female (measured and described from photographs of specimen associated with the [holo] type, Fig. 37, 38) - forewing length = 17.9 mm; forewing apex pointed, not produced, termen slightly convex, anal margin nearly straight; hindwing termen nearly straight, slightly concave just anterior to short tornal lobe, vein Rs arising nearer to end of discal cell than to its base and distad of CuA 2; dorsum brown; forewing with two white macules, that in M 3 -CuA 1 notably distad of origin of M 3, truncated caudad, that in CuA 1 -CuA 2 large and more-or-less quadrate, centered under origin of CuA 1; hindwing with no indication of discal macules; brown tuft on dorsum of vein 2A; fringes on both wings brown paler than ground color.   
 Venter brown, duller than dorsum; forewing vein 2A nearly straight, modified tan scales in proximal 1/4 of CuA 2 -2A and in anal cell; hindwing with no indication of discal macules, tornus blackish; cell 2A-3A with groove just caudad of vein 2A.   
Dorsal head and thorax brown, eyes dark, palpi brown, antennae black on dorsum, pale on venter, ventral thorax and pectus brown, legs brown, dorsal abdomen brown, ventral abdomen gray.  
Genitalia - not examined.  
 Distribution. Porphyrogenes sparta is apparently known only from Pará, Brazil (Evans 1952).   
 Diagnosis and discussion. Evans (1952) indicated that the female of P. sparta was similar to that he described as P. spanda, but with oblique macules on the forewing. The female associated with the [holo] type of P. sparta has short forewings and is similar to P. pausias, but has a better-developed tornal lobe.   
 One of the two males from Pará (Fig. 35, 36) in the BM (NH) (Evans 1952) is the [holo] type of Porphyrogenes sparta.
description: Published as part of Austin, George T. & Mielke, Olaf H. H., 2008, Hesperiidae of Rondônia, Brazil: Porphyrogenes Watson (Lepidoptera: Pyrginae: Eudamini), with descriptions of new species from Central and South America, pp. 1-56 in Insecta Mundi 2008 (44) on pages 19-20, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5169696