Cristalinaia Freitas, Barbosa & Zacca 2019, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Freitas, André V. L.
name: Mota, Luísa L.
name: Zacca, Thamara
name: Barbosa, Eduardo P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Cristalinaia

description: Cristalinaia Freitas, Barbosa & Zacca gen. nov.
Type species. Cristalinaia vitoria Mota, Zacca & Freitas sp.n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C917EF80-C62A-4E41-8AA8- 1CCD6637EB5 Eurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 0A7CC6EA-95F5-4179- AAF8-6220389C4B6D
Diagnosis. Cristalinaia gen. nov. differs from all other genera of Euptychiina by the VHW ocelli with very broad orange ocellar rings, reduced black ocelar spots with no pupils (Fig. 1C) and the male 8th abdominal tergite strongly sclerotized, except by the unsclerotized antero-dorsal region (Fig. 4B, C). The female is unknown.
Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Cristalino River, a river of dark translucent waters near which the specimens were collected (the word “cristalino” is Portuguese for “crystal clear”, alluding to the translucent waters of the river). It also alludes to the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Cristalino (Cristalino Private Reserve) and to the “Fundação Ecológica Cristalino” (Cristalino Ecological Foundation), both founded by Vitoria da Riva Carvalho. The gender of the name should be considered feminine.
Cristalinaia vitoria Mota, Zacca & Freitas sp. nov. (Figs. 1–6).
Type material. Holotype male, deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (ZUEC), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil (Fig. 1C). Labels on the holotype (five labels separated by transverse bars): / HOLOTYPUS / BRAZIL, Mato Grosso, Alta Floresta, Cristalino Lodge, 9 ◦ 35 l 41 llS 55 ◦ 55 l 52 llW, 2.II.2016, 240– 260 m, LLM 280, Luisa L. Mota leg., ex larva /DNA voucher – BLU 883/ZUEC LEP 10648/ Cristalinaia vitoria Mota, Zacca & Freitas det. 2018 /.
Paratypes. 2 males (1 dissected). BRAZIL – Mato Grosso: Alta Floresta, Cristalino Lodge, 9 ◦ 35 l 41 llS 55 ◦ 55 l 52 llW, 1 male, 20.IV.2016, LLM 509 (DNA voucher BLU 1055), ZUEC LEP 10650, 1 male, 3.VIII.2018, LLM 52.2018 (DNA voucher YPH 0835), ZUEC LEP 10649*, Luisa L. Mota leg, ZUEC.
Diagnosis. Cristalinaia vitoria sp. nov. superficially resembles several other species of Euptychiina (e.g. Pareuptychia species, Pseudeuptychia species, Splendeuptychia toynei Willmott & Hall, 1995, S. aurigera (Weymer, [1911]), S. triangula (Aurivillius, 1929)) by the white ground color on the wings, but it can be easily distinguished from them by the incomplete median line and four tiny ocelli from M 1 to CuA 2 on the VFW, by the five VHW ocelli between M 1 to 2A that have a very broad orange ocellar ring and black ocellar
1 cm
spot in the distal half of ring plus a very small ocelli in Rs-M 1, and the broadened VHW reddish brown marginal line forming crescents in each cell.
Description. Head: Brown and glabrous eyes; antennae with 38 flagellomeres (n = 1), whitish short scales at base of each flagellomere; labial palpi covered by dark brown elongated scales mixed with creamy scales; third segment with short brown scales and creamy scales in lateral view, first and third labial palpi segments almost same length, second segment 1½ length of third segment (Fig. 2). Thorax: dark brown covered by whitish short scales and elongated filiform scales; coxae and femur covered by whitish short scales, tibia and tarsus covered by dark brown short scales and reduced spines; pair of tibial spurs at distal end of tibia. Wings: FW length: 16.5 mm (HT) – 17–19 mm (PT). Venation (Fig. 3): FW with subcostal and media-cubital veins dilated at mid-basal region (more than 10 times wider than mid-apical region of vein) and 2A slightly dilated at mid-basal region (about twice wider than mid-apical region of vein); discal cell half-length of wing length. HW with developed humeral vein curved in direction to costal margin; discal cell 2/3 length of entire length of wing. DFW: ground color brown, whitish area between M 3 and inner margin from base to median region. DHW: ground color brown, whitish area between costal and inner margin from base to median region. Elements of ventral wings can be seen throughout transparency. VFW: similar to DFW; thin submedian line restricted to discal cell, irregular thin median line from costal margin to 2A, thin crenulated submarginal line from costal margin to tornus, thin marginal line from costal margin to tornus; four tiny ocelli from M 1 to CuA 2. VHW: thin submedian line from costal to inner margin, thin median line restricted to CuA 2 and inner margin, submarginal line crenulated from costal to inner margin, broad marginal line forming crescents in each cell (Fig. 1C); six ocelli from Rs to 2A, tiny ocellus in cell Rs-M 1, ocelli from M 1 to 2A with a broad orange ocellar ring surrounding, black ocellar spot distally and with no pupils. Abdomen: dark brown covered by whitish short scale; 8th tergite rectangular and strongly sclerotized, excepted by the antero-dorsal unsclerotized region (Fig. 4B, C); 8th sternite reduced. Male genitalia (Fig. 4A, D–H): Tegumen subtriangular laterally; appendix angularis absent; ventral projection of tegumen and dorsal projection of saccus fused and angulated at mid-region; anterior projection of saccus well-developed and ventrally open; uncus robust, tapering at apex laterally; gnathos smaller than uncus and robust; valvae trapezoid, 2/3 length of saccus with two reduced spines at apex, covered by small filiform scales, costae reduced; phallus 2/3 length of anterior projection of saccus, vesica without cornuti. Female: Unknown.
Distribution. Cristalinaia vitoria sp. nov. is known only from its type locality in the region of Cristalino Lodge, Alta Floresta, northern Mato Grosso. The site is a private protected area (the “Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Cristalino”).
Natural history. This species is extremely scarce; only three individuals have been observed (and collected) over the course of about 600 h of field work, distributed over more than 250 days in all months, from September 2015 to August 2018. In addition, previous collecting trips to the type locality by Keith S. Brown Jr. and AVLF (in February and June 2000) and several butterfly watching groups that visited the area did not detect this species (LLM & AVLF in prep.). Based on the very few available data from the three known individuals, C. vitoria sp. nov. is restricted to the dense bamboo patches that are common within the forests of the region. The two adults were found within 5 m from each other, although more than two years apart. They were both observed in the shady understory of the bamboo patch at around midday with temperatures above 30 ◦ C, which are not unusual in the area (LLM pers. obs.). Their flight was low (between 0.5 and 1.0 m) and erratic, and they rested on the
0.04
upper side of leaves with wings closed. A single last instar (Fig. 5A, B) was found in the field, in a sunny area about 100 m away from where the adults were collected, feeding on mature leaves of the common bamboo Guadua aff. paniculata. The larva is entirely green with numerous longitudinal thin light stripes on the body and with a pair of caudal filaments about four times the length of the 10th abdominal segments. The head is green with a pair of short scoli, one on each side of the epicranial/vertical notch (Fig. 5C). The total larval length was 27 mm, the head capsule width was 2.34 mm and the head scoli were of length 1.1 mm. The pupa (Fig. 5D, E) is elongated and smooth, entirely green with thin subtle dorsal dark green stripes and a white line dorsally bordering the wing cases. The ocular caps are very short and rounded, the cremaster is green and the dorsal abdomen is smooth, without projections. The total pupal length was 13 mm.
Etymology. The specific name is after Vitoria da Riva Carvalho, in recognition of her pioneering work on the conservation of the southern Amazon, and founder of the Cristalino group (which includes the “Fundação Ecológica Cristalino”, Cristalino Lodge and Cristalino Private Natural Heritage Reserves). The specific epithet should be considered feminine and indeclinable in accordance to the Article 31.2.3 (ICZN, 1999).
description: Published as part of Freitas, André V. L., Mota, Luísa L., Zacca, Thamara & Barbosa, Eduardo P., 2019, Description of a new and highly distinctive genus and species of Euptychiina (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) from the Brazilian southern Amazon, pp. 254-261 in Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (Rev. Bras. Entomol.) (Rev. Bras. Entomol.) 63 (3) on pages 255-259, DOI: 10.1016/j.rbe.2019.05.004, http://zenodo.org/record/13196176