Rejectaria villavicencia Dognin 1924
Creators: name: Goldstein, Paul Z.
name: Janzen, Daniel H.
name: Hallwachs, Winnie
name: Proshek, Benjamin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Rejectaria
Rejectaria villavicencia

description: Rejectaria villavicencia Dognin, 1924
Habitus Figs 9, 11–12, 33–34, 41. Male genitalia Figs 49–50, 61–64. Female genitalia Figs 88, 96. Larva Figs 105, 107.
Rejectaria villavicencia Dognin, 1924, Hétérocéres nouveaux de l’Amerique du Sud 15: 4, Type locality: Colombia: Villavicencio (Holotype ♂, USNM)
Material examined. Type material: Holotype ♂. COLOMBIA: Type No. 32293 U.S.N.M.; Villavicencio Colombia IX-18, Rejectaria villavicencia Dogn. type ♂, USNMENT0973787 USNM slide 148642
Other material. COSTA RICA. Alajuela, Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (4♂♂, 2♀♀):
1♂, Sector San Cristobal: Sendero Corredor, 10.87868, -85.38963, el. 620m, larva on Cyclanthus bipartitus, 08/18/2006, ecl. 09/20/2006, Gloria Sihezar, collector, 06-SRNP-6834, USNMENT01493395, USNM slide 148571; 1♂, Sector San Cristobal: Sendero Palo Alto, 10.88186, -85.38221, el. 570m, larva on Cyclanthus bipartitus, 11/23/2004, ecl. 12/31/2004, Gloria Sihezar, collector, 04-SRNP-61056, USNMENT01493499. 1♂, Sector Del Oro: Catarata Orosi, 10.99325, -85.47464, el. 700m, larva on Cyclanthus bipartitus, 11/29/2003, ecl. 01/02/2004, Roster Moraga, collector, 03-SRNP-37826, USNMENT01493396, 1♂, Sector Pitilla: Sendero Cuestona, 10.99455, -85.41461, el. 640m. larva on Cyclanthus bipartitus: 08/24/2011, ecl. 10/09/2011, Manuel Rios, collector, 11-SRNP- 32473, USNMENT01493494. 1♀, Sector Rincon Rain Forest, Sendero Rincon, 10.8962, -85.27769, el. 430m, larva on Asplundia utilis: 01/02/2005, ecl. 02/01/2005, Jose Perez, collector, 05-SRNP-40000, USNMENT01493454. 1♀, Sector Del Oro: Catarata Orosi, 10.99325, -85.47464, el. 700m, larva on Cyclanthus bipartitus: 11/29/2003, ecl. 12/30/2003, Roster Moraga, collector, 03-SRNP-37825, USNMENT01493478, USNM slide 148572.
Diagnosis. Rejectaria villavicencia may be the largest named species of New World Herminiinae. Both villavicencia and villosa are sexually dimorphic, but villavicencia less pronouncedly; the paler tannish-brown coloration in the median field of the female FW is more diffuse in villavicencia than in villosa. Male villavicencia are slightly larger than male villosa with more elongate forewings, but the am and pm lines are wavy in both sexes of villavicencia, whereas the pm line in villosa is straight. The reniform spot in villavicencia is light brown, larger than that in villosa, and, in the male of villavicencia, more clearly divided and circumscribed with a black boundary. The am and st lines in villavicencia are discontinuous and less faint than in villosa, and the terminal line is a series of alternating black and orange-brown curved dashes; all lines reappear in the same configuration on the middle third of the HW, as in villosa. The male genitalia of villavicencia are distinct, with the costal sclerotization terminating less than midway along the costa as a thorn-like projection. The female genitalia, again most similar to those of villosa, share with that species a laterally produced deformation above the whorled appendix bursa; both share with magas and ritaashleyae the distinct band of signa but the number of serrate hemi-discs differs.
Re-description. Head. (Figs 33–34, 41) Frons, vertex gray-brown; antennae setose-ciliate; male palpi (Fig. 33) sweeping over head, with eye-level notch at the acutely angled junction of 1st and 2nd segment; 2 nd segment broad at base and tapering as it arches over head; 3 rd segment approximately as long as 2 nd; female palpi (Fig. 34) incomplete on specimens examined but 2 nd segment arches gently upward. Thorax. Wings— (males, 30mm, n=5; female, 30mm, n=1[type]) Sexual dimorphism conspicuous, with paler tannish-brown coloration dominant but diffuse in median field of female FW; reniform spot tannish-orange, outlined in black; bands and coloration continue on hind wings. Legs— (Figs 33–34, 41) Male forefemoral tufts massive; legs more or less uniformly tannish-gray throughout; bands faint, if present.
Abdomen. Gray-brown above, concolorous with ground color of uppersides of wings.
Male genitalia. (Figs 49–50, 61–64) Uncus elongate, setose, sheepsfoot-shaped; costa rudimentary, sclerotized in basal ~third only, free terminus reduced to a small nub mid-way along the costa, bearing a small setal tuft; vinculum bluntly tapered; small phallic ridge present; vesica multi-lobate; microspines distributed on phallus at base of vesica, concentrated on subbasal lobe and more diffusely throughout lower vesica; localized sclerotization apically. Female genitalia. (Fig. 88, 96) Ductus bursae elongate with sclerotized bands along most of its length; corpus bursae deformed where it meets ductus, at base of whorled appendix bursae comparable to that of villosa and ritaashleyae; well-developed mid-ventral band of micro-spinules (Fig. 96) on corpus bursae, subparallel to long axis of corpus, punctuated by a series of 14 internal perpendicular ridges comparable to those in villosa, richardashleyi, ritaashleyae, and magas; secondary band of spinules present near junction with ductus bursae.
Immature stages. (Figs 105, 107) Mature larvae purplish with reddish intersegmental rings; head and prothoracic shield dark brown; spiracles dark, conspicuous.
Etymology. The specific epithet villavicencia refers to the type locality, Villavicencio, Colombia.
Biology. Larvae have been documented feeding on Cyclanthus bipartitus (5) and Asplundia utilis (1).
Distribution. Colombia, Costa Rica
Remarks. This and the closely related villosa are the two largest species of New World Herminiinae of which we are aware. We acknowledge the possibility that the reared specimens of villavicencia from Costa Rica represent a distinct species from the Colombia holotype, but without the benefit of examining and multiple barcoded specimens, there is no evidence to support the description of a second species. Hence we treat the Costa Rican material as villavicencia pending the accumulation of more data.
description: Published as part of Goldstein, Paul Z., Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie & Proshek, Benjamin, 2022, New species in Rejectaria Guenée (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Herminiinae) with a focus on the Cyclanthaceae-feeders, pp. 451-483 in Zootaxa 5087 (3) on pages 456-458, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5087.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/5826945