Agripialus Mielke & Grehan & Koike 2021, gen. n.
Creators: name: Mielke, Carlos G. C.
name: Grehan, John R.
name: Koike, Ricardo M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Hepialidae
Agripialus

description: Agripialus gen. n.   
(Figs 1–7, 20–23, 25–26, 29, 31–33, 36–37, 40, 43–44, 47–48, 51–53)  
 Type species: Agripialus itatiaia sp. nov., by present designation.   
 Included species: A. campos sp. nov., A. caparao sp. nov., A. itatiaia sp. nov., and A. variabilis sp. nov.   
 Diagnosis. Distinguished from all other Hepialidae by (i) sternite VII in males (when known) forming two distinct plates (Figs 43–44), (ii) pseudotegumen partially membranous (Figs 47–48) and (iii) the lamella antevaginalis Wshaped and not connected to tergum IX (Figs 51–53). Also by the following combination of characters: i) transverse tuft over the eyes emerging just below the antennal socket, ii) labial palpus trisegmented, iii) antenna lamellate, iv) ‘hepialine’ venation, v) ♂ hindwing 1A and 2A complete (Fig. 25), vi) ♀ hindwing 1A, 2A and 3A complete (Fig. 26), vii) ♀ hindwing 1A and 2A closer at basal half (Fig. 26), viii) arolium present, and ix) tergite and sternite VIII sclerotised in both sexes.   
 Description. Male (Figs 5, 7, 22–23, 25, 40, 43–44, 47–48).   
 Head. Clypeus glabrous, projected, and differentiated from frons. Frons with piliform and porrect scales, transverse ocular scale tuft from medial eye margin. Vertex scales as for frons. Eyes large, occupying 3/5 of the head in anterior view. Labial palps trisegmented. Antenna lamellate, each segment ventrally projected, scattered sensilla caetica and sensilla trichodea present; scape and pedicel with scales as for frons.   
 Thorax. Legs (Figs 22–23): epiphysis and arolium present. Venation (Fig. 25): fore- and hindwing without Sc1; hindwing CuP absent, 1A and 2A complete; hindwing Sc and Rs separated. Dorsal forewing ornamentation slightly marked by transverse blackish patch between cubital veins which sometimes extends disto-anteriorly, in parallel to outer margin. Ventral forewing, dorsal and ventral hindwing uniformly coloured, sometimes darker distally, unornamented.   
 Abdomen (Figs 40, 43–44). Tergosternal sclerite with strongly curved tergosternal bar curving disto-anteriorly, intermediate zone weakly sclerotized with robust posterior edge angled ventrally almost to tergosternal bar separated by narrow ‘notch’; lateral ridge anterior to tergosternal bar short, dorsal ridge not fused with anterior ridge of tergum I. Tergite and sternite VII and VIII sclerotized.   
 Genitalia (Figs 47–48). Tegumen fused to pseudotegumen. Tergal lobes and posterior portion of pseudotegumen membranous. Pseudotegumen fused anteriorly. Fultura superior membranous. Valva elbowed and heavily sclerotised.   
 Female (Figs 1–4, 6, 20–21, 26, 29, 31–33, 36–37, 51–53).   
 Head. As for male.   
 Thorax. Legs (Figs 20–21): as for male. Venation (Fig. 26): 1A, 2A and 3A complete.   
 Abdomen (Figs 29, 31–33). As for male.   
 Genitalia (Figs 51–53). Each dorsal plate (tergite IX) dorsally separated, other than a sclerotised dorsal ridge or a thickened membrane; ventrally separated from lamella antevaginalis. Latter W-shaped with mesal fusion of each of lateral plates. Ductus bursae tube-like and corpus bursae globular.   
 Etymology. Agripialus gen. n. comes from the Latin prefix Agri - (field, open land) added ‘ pialus ’ extracted from the first described Hepialidae genus Hepialus Fabricius. The name is a reference of the biotope where all species described below have been found, areas with natural grasslands. The gender is masculine.   
 Geographical distribution. Known from eastern Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and likely to northeastern (Tucumán) and eastern (Buenos Aires) Argentina (Fig. 58). It appears to be restricted to areas where grasslands are part of the natural vegetation (Figs 59–62). Such biotopes are typical of humid subtropical areas at moderate to high altitudes. Although not examined, two records are known to us from Argentina. Both records are not taxonomically treated herein.   
 Remarks. All Agripialus gen. n. species are monovoltine in late spring and summer.   
 A single female specimen potentially of Agripialus sp. n. from northeastern Argentina (Fig. 58, white circle), not dissected, was not included because this is an article dedicated to the Brazilian fauna. If indeed confirmed, the distribution of the genus would not only be greatly expanded but also disjunct between the Andes and Atlantic coast. A second female from another potential Agripialus sp. n. from south of Buenos Aires in Argentina (Fig. 58, question mark) was presented to us by Ezequiel Núñez Bustos (Buenos Aires) through an image only. Such a record, almost at sea level, would represent a further range boundary within the grassland biotope.
description: Published as part of Mielke, Carlos G. C., Grehan, John R. & Koike, Ricardo M., 2021, Descriptions of two new genera and six new species of ghost-moths (Lepidoptera Hepialoidea: Hepialidae) from south-eastern and southern Brazil, pp. 561-580 in Zootaxa 5020 (3) on pages 562-564, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5020.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/5224139