Athyrma fakahatchee Troubridge, new species
Creators: name: Troubridge, J. T.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Athyrma
Athyrma fakahatchee

description: Athyrma fakahatchee Troubridge, new species
(Fig. 35, 69, 127)
BIN: BOLD:AAK4103
Diagnosis. Athyrma ganglio Hübner (Fig. 36) is easily distinguished from A. fakahatchee by the reniform spot, which is shaped like an hourglass in A. fakahatchee and as a much smaller inverted comma in A. ganglio. The reniform spot is more similar in A. adjutrix (Cramer), but the forewing has a pinkish tinge, whereas it is brown in A. fakahatchee; the postmedial area is grayer without the heavy dusting of dark-brown scales that is present in A. fakahatchee; there usually is a row of dark-brown or black postmedial spots adjacent to the reniform spot in A. adjutrix, whereas it is absent in A. fakahatchee; the basal corner of the large triangular black spot is rounded in A. adjutrix, but more pointed in A. fakahatchee.
Description. Antennae bipectinate in males, filiform in females. Head, thorax, and abdomen brown; first abdom- inal segment with a dorsal tuft of dark-brown scales tipped with white. Dorsal forewing (both sexes). Forewing
length 17–21 mm. Ground color brown; basal line absent other than a black rectangle on costa; antemedial line black with large triangular basal projection in lower half, edged with rust scales ventral and basal to this triangle; thin, black medial line with ‘S’ shaped mark over vein 1A+2A; postmedial line reduced to two or three black spots above reniform spot; reniform spot very large, black, edged with rust scales; costa of male with button-like scent patch above medial line that extends through wing to form larger scent patch on ventral surface; terminal line deeply scalloped, dark brown, edged outwardly with light brown; postmedial area dusted with dark-brown scales, heavier along veins; fringe brown. Dorsal hindwing: brown, slightly lighter brown toward base; discal spot very faint; terminal line dark brown, edged outwardly with light brown; fringe brown. Male genitalia (Fig. 69). Valves with sclerotized apical finger-like process extending from ventral margin bending inward and slightly pointed at apex, above which a broad, weakly-sclerotized cucullus is supported by a sclerotized extension of costa; uncus relatively short with three short terminal spines, lateral spines directed backward and to center, longer spine angled downward, a narrow, ventral, finger-like process gives uncus a bottle opener look in lateral view; vesica extends to left as globular process with smaller diverticulum projecting to left; a second small diverticulum extends posteriorly; a larger basal diverticulum on right has a comb of stout, spine-like cornuti directed posteriorly. Female genitalia (Fig. 127). Ovipositor lobes setose, drawn to a blunt point; ostium bursae membranous with sclerotized lateral cup-like appendages; ductus bursae with relatively short, membranous, posterior section and heavily sclerotized anterior section that opens into heavily sclerotized appendix bursae; appendix bursae projected to the right with deeply concave pit on right side; corpus bursae more or less round, signa absent.
Type material. Holotype male: USA: Florida, Collier Co.: Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. 25.98° N, 81.39W, 23.Mar.2015, J. Troubridge, in the CNC. Paratypes: 10♂, 4♀: Collier Co.: Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, 25.98°N, 81.39°W, 21.Nov.2013, 1♂; 12.Feb.2013, 1♂; 15.Jan.2012, 1♂; 18.Jul.2012, 1♂; 30.Mar.2016, 2♂, 1♀; 21.Dec.2011, 1♂, 1♀, all J. Troubridge; Fakahatchee, 29.Apr.1986, L.C. Dow, 1♀ (FSCA); Fakahatchee Strand, Royal Park Hammock, 8.Feb.1988, V. P. Lucas, 1♂, 1♀ (MGCL) and 29.Oct.1989, W. Lee Adair, Jr., 1♂ (FSCA); Collier-Seminole State Park, 22.Apr.1988, L.C. Dow, 1♂ (FSCA).
Etymology. The type series was collected at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, hence the name. Noun in apposition.
Distribution. This species seems to be restricted to Fakahatchee Strand and nearby areas in Collier County.
Remarks. There has been confusion around the identities of the Florida species of Athyrma Hübner, which was resolved by analyzing DNA barcode data in conjunction with the examination of type material. Athyrma ganglio (Fig. 36) (described from South America) (BIN: BOLD:AAC7979) from Costa Rica and Florida are conspecific, thus the Florida specimens are correctly classified as A. ganglio. Analysis of the 658 COI base pairs of neotropical Athyrma species splits Costa Rican specimens presently listed as A. adjutrix (described from Surinam) into two distinct species with a 3.4% difference between them. One of these species is represented by Costa Rican specimens in the BOLD database (BIN: BOLD:ABZ2992) and it is this species that matches Cramer’s type image. Its synonym, A. dormitrix Guenée (described from Brazil) is correctly placed under A. adjutrix. It is the other species, represented by both Costa Rican and Floridian specimens in the BOLD database that I describe as A. fakahatchee.
Erebidae: Eulepidotinae (incertae sedis)
description: Published as part of Troubridge, J. T., 2020, A new genus and 37 new noctuoid species from peninsular Florida and the Keys (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea), pp. 1-56 in Insecta Mundi 2020 (789) on pages 24-25, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4585782