Divana diva subsp. diva
Creators: name: García-Díaz, José De Jesús
name: Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A.
name: Worthy, Robert
name: González, Jorge M.
name: Janzen, Daniel H.
name: Hallwachs, Winnie
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Castniidae
Divana
Divana diva
Divana diva diva (butler, 1870)

description: 8. Divana diva diva (Butler, 1870)
(Figs. 4A, 4B, 10D, 10E, 12E) (BIN: BOLD:AAD9016)
Castnia diva Butler, 1870; Butler, 1870. Lep. Exotica, p. 46, pl. 17, figs. 1–2.
Castnia diva f. chiriquiensis; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 13.
Castnia diva f. maculifera; Strand, 1913, in Seitz. Die Gross-Schmett. der Erde vol. 6, p. 13.
Cyanostola diva; Houlbert, 1918. Étud. Lép. Comp. 15, pp. 65, 514, 695, 711, 721, pl. CDLV, fig. 3824.
Divana diva diva; Miller, 1995, in Heppner. Castnioidea: Castniidae: Castniinae, Checklist part 2, Atlas Neo. Lep., p. 137.
Divana diva diva; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 83.
Divana diva chiriquiensis; Lamas, 1995. Revta. Per. Ent. 37, p. 83.
Telchin diva; Moraes & Duarte, 2014. Zoo. Jour. Linn. Soc. 170 (2), p. 33.
Divana diva diva; Worthy et al., 2022. Zootaxa 5194 (3), p. 325, figs. 3A, 6A–C, 12A.
General comments. Of the three subspecies, Divana diva diva is the one with the largest and northernmost distribution (Miller 1986; Vinciguerra 2010; Worthy et al. 2022). The base-color of the dorsal forewing is dark brown with a broad pale brown band that runs from the costa in the discal region to the anal angle; it has a vertical oval white discal spot and two larger horizontal oval spots near the anal margin; on the hindwing it has a marginal orange band and an iridescent purplish-blue patch between the base and the postdiscal region (Miller 1986; Vinciguerra 2010). Ventrally, the base-color of both wings is dark brown; on the forewing, the wide band that goes from the costa to the anal angle is light orange and, there are small orange postdiscal and submarginal spots on the hindwing (Miller 1986). It exhibits little sexual dimorphism, but females differ from males by having more rounded forewings and a markedly lighter brown diagonal band on the forewing.
It was described by Butler (1870) (as Castnia diva) based on specimens collected in Chontales, Nicaragua. It was later found in Mexico and other Central American countries. Houlbert (1918) transferred it to Cyanostola Houlbert, 1918, until the genus Divana was assigned by J. Y. Miller to replace Cyanostola (Fletcher & Nye 1982). Moraes & Duarte (2014) synonymized Divana with Telchin. Worthy et al. (2022) reinstated the genus based on evident differences from typical Telchin (see above).
Divana diva diva and D. diva chiriquiensis were accepted as different subspecies by Lamas (1995) and Miller (1995), but Worthy et al. (2022) placed the latter as a synonym of the nominal subspecies.
Ecology and behavior. Divana diva diva has been observed in jungles and mountain cloud forests in Mexico and Central America during the day between 9:00 and 17:00, on sunny days when the temperature exceeds 25°C (Van den Berghe et al. 2020; Worthy et al. 2022; iNaturalist 2023). Miller (1986) stated that based on records she found, the species could be crepuscular. Most observations on iNaturalist (2023) for this subspecies have been of males and females perching on branches or leaves up to 1.5 m above the ground. Van den Berghe et al. (2020) mentioned that, in Nicaragua, adults of D. d. diva fly between May and November in sites with an abundance of Musa (Musaceae), Heliconia (Heliconiaceae), and Zingiber (Zingiberaceae); likewise, they also indicate that adults tend to perch on leaves and stems of ginger plants in shady places and that most flight activity is around noon. However, very little is known about the ecology and behavior of this castniid, and its host plant is unknown. Some authors have pointed out that some subspecies of D. diva are multivoltine based on the recorded dates of specimens in entomological collections (i.e. Miller 1986; Vinciguerra 2010; González et al. 2013; Worthy et al. 2022). Records of the nominal subspecies from all countries where it is distributed show that their flight period is between April and October.
Distribution and biogeography. This subspecies is distributed from Mexico to Panama (Miller 1986; Van den Berghe et al. 2020; Worthy et al. 2022). Salazar (1999) reported D. d. chiriquiensis in Colombia, but the specimen he cited is actually a male of D. d. tricolor. González et al. (2013) citing Vinciguerra (2010) indicated that the subspecies was also found in Colombia and Ecuador; an unintended confusion since Vinciguerra (2010) actually noted that D. d. diva is only found in Mexico and Central America. González et al. (2010, 2013) cited and questioned two specimens from Brazil and French Guiana, which seem to have been incorrectly labeled, since the records do not coincide with the known distribution of the genus. It has been recorded in Costa Rica on both slopes and, according to the known records and biogeographic provinces of Morrone et al. (2022), it flies in localities that belong to the Guatuso-Talamanca and Puntarenas-Chiriquí provinces of the Pacific dominion, but also in the Pacific Lowlands province of the Mesoamerican dominion, all in the Brazilian subregion. The provinces and cantons in which it has been found are the following: Alajuela: Alajuela, Guatuso, San Ramón, Upala; Cartago: El Guarco, Turrialba; Guanacaste: Bagaces, La Cruz, Liberia, Nicoya; Heredia: Sarapiquí; Limón: Limón, Matina, Pococí; Puntarenas: Buenos Aires, Coto Brus, Garabito, Puntarenas; San José: Desamparados, Escazú, Santa Ana, Vázquez de Coronado.
description: Published as part of García-Díaz, José De Jesús, Espinoza-Sanabria, Bernardo A., Worthy, Robert, González, Jorge M., Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2024, Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) of Costa Rica, pp. 151-202 in Zootaxa 5481 (2) on pages 164-165, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5481.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/12749637