Stamnodes favilla Matson 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Matson, Tanner A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Stamnodes
Stamnodes favilla

description: Stamnodes favilla sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 83B71C9F-6AD4-461F-BC04-063140501D7B
Figs 7, 46, 64, 77, 94–95
Diagnosis
Individuals of S. favilla sp. nov. may be confused with S. carota sp. nov., S. clara sp. nov., S. aumatlapalli sp. nov., and S. penguinifera. The dark red outlining of the white patterning of the forewing underside apex and hindwing underside distinguish S. favilla from the previous species. While Stamnodes favilla is phenotypically most similar to S. carota and S. clara, these species are allopatric – S. carota and S. clara inhabit the Sierra Madre Occidental while S. favilla inhabits the Sierra Madre Oriental.
The number, shape, and orientation of cornuti on the vesica are diagnostic. The vesica of S. aumatlapalli sp. nov. bears an echinate field of several dozen small cornuti (Fig. 41b); while S. favilla sp. nov. (Fig. 46b) has a dense cluster of approximately nine spinose cornuti of varying size that are much larger and more heavily sclerotized than those of S. aumatlapalli; and S. penguinifera has dozens of spinose cornuti in a dense cluster (Fig. 43b).
The female genitalia of S. favilla sp. nov. are very much like S. penguinifera in size, shape, and signum attributes; however, S. favilla has a posterior, asymmetric lateral sclerotization of the corpus bursae not found in examined material of S. penguinifera. The female genitalia cannot easily be distinguished from those of S. aumatlapalli sp. nov.
Etymology
The specific epithet favilla is Latin for ‘glowing ashes, embers, or sparks’, and was inspired by the burnt orange ground colour and dark red perimeter around the reticulate white patterning of the forewing underside apex and hindwing underside.
Material examined
Holotype
MEXICO • ♂; Querétaro, 35 mi. W of Xilitla; [21.37° N, 99.53° W]; elev. 1585 m; 31 Jul. 1992; P.J. Landolt leg.; BOLD Process ID: LNAUS1668-13; GenBank: OP898461; USNMENT00868520.
Paratypes (8 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀)
MEXICO – México • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; México, Ixtapalapa, San Juan Joya, Vicente Dávila; 19°20′56.69″ N, 98°53′17.97″ W; 20 Jul. 2017; A. Ibarra Vázquez leg.; genitalia: TAM-2020-037; CNIN. – Hidalgo • 1 ♂; Santiago de Anaya; 20°24′07.61″ N, 98°53′17.97″ W; 22 Jun. 2018; A. Ibarra Vázquez leg.; genitalia: TAM-2020-042, genetic voucher: TAM0055, Bold Process ID: WAGL2450-20; GenBank: OP898431; CNIN. – Coahuila • 1 ♂; Saltillo, Lomas de Lourdes; 25.36366° N, 100.9774° W; 13 Jun. 2020; Emily Estefanía Espinosa Villarreal leg.; CNIN. – Nuevo León • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; Santiago; 25°21′ N, 100°18′ W; elev. 1760 m; 25–30 May 2000; V.O. Becker leg.; Becker 120894; VOB • 1 ♂; 4 mi. W of Iturbide; [24.74° N, 99.97° W]; elev. 5500 ft; 22 Sep. 1975; J. Powell, J. Chemsak, and T. Friedlander leg.; EMEC1748444.
Description
Male
FOREWING LENGTH. 16 mm (n = 9).
HEAD. Antenna filiform, fuscous to black. Vertex pink; frons mostly fuscous, pink dorsolaterally and white along ventral margin. Labial palpus short, slightly porrect, subequal to diameter of eye, fuscous and white, tipped with pink. Cephalic collar mostly pink, but with some white, especially laterally.
THORAX. Patagium mostly pink; tegula fuscous above, white below. Mesothorax fuscous above, white and pink below. Legs mixture of pink (mostly on coxa), fuscous, and white; tibial spur formula 0–2–4; epiphysis well developed.
FOREWING. Ground colour burnt orange (similar to S. carota sp. nov.). Costa grey at base and gradually darkening towards apex. Apical area black with patch of burnt orange ground colour just below costa; ground colour also extending into apical area at subterminus of outer margin. Underside like upperside but with several white patches outlined in dark red at dark grey apical area: (1) small patch along costa near postmedian, (2) larger patch at costa just before apex extending posteriobasad at oblique angle toward the body, and (3) side-by-side chevron patches near outer margin below apex. Fringe starkly checkered with black and white.
HINDWING. Concolourous with forewing above, apical area with small black patch (sometimes reduced); pattern elements of underside clearly visible when viewed from above. Underside much different than upperside, predominantly dark grey, blotted with large irregular white patches outlined in dark red. Largest patch, irregular, extending medially and longitudinally from base to postmedian of wing. Smaller patches at costal median, apex, outer margin median, tornus, and median of inner margin (see Fig. 7b). Fringe as in forewing.
ABDOMEN. Fuscous above, paler below, with a few lateral pink scales; subtle banding from pale scales at posterior of segments.
GENITALIA (Fig. 46). Uncus long, slender, and tapering. Subscaphium well developed. Juxta wide and U-shaped with posterolateral, long, acuminate-conical processes (processes more inset, straight, and blunted at the apex than in S. fuego sp. nov.). Inner face of valva with two hair tufts: smaller tuft arising basally from digitate tubercle; second, larger more laterally widened tuft residing in slight depression and extending to subapical area of valva. Costal sclerite terminating just short of apex. Vesica with nine or more clustered cornuti of varying size, smallest about one-third length of largest.
Female
Outwardly undifferentiated from male.
FOREWING LENGTH. 17 mm (n = 5).
GENITALIA (Fig. 64). Ovipositor short. Anterior apophysis two-thirds length of posterior apophysis. Ductus bursae short and narrow with prominent sclerite flattened on ventral surface and dorsolaterally rolled toward median; more widened anteriorly than most congeners. Corpus bursae ovoid, laterally sclerotized near posterior base, and with circular and depressed signum bearing minute papillae; signum situated at anterior third of corpus bursae.
Distribution (Fig. 77)
Mexico: the distribution of Stamnodes favilla sp. nov. is not well circumscribed, but generally, this species is found throughout the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests. To the south, S. favilla has been collected in the states of Mexico and Hidalgo. To the north, this species extends to Coahuila, in the vicinity of Saltillo, and eastward to at least Santiago, Nuevo León.
Biology
Stamnodes favilla sp. nov. is known to fly from May through September across its range. The immature stages remain unknown but are likely hosted by mints (Lamiaceae).
Molecular characterization
This species is represented in BOLD by two BINs: BOLD:ACG0444 (n = 1, Querétaro) and BOLD:AEH2871 (n = 1, Hidalgo). The pairwise distance between these two BINs is 2.32%. The distance to the nearest adjacent interspecific neighbour, Stamnodes fuego sp. nov. (n = 1), is around 5% (Fig. 94).
Remarks
Much of the type material from CNIN had missing parts, mostly legs, but at least one paratype appears to have been decapitated and the head reapplied upside down.
description: Published as part of Matson, Tanner A., 2023, A review of Mexican Stamnodes (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) with the description of 16 new species, pp. 1-79 in European Journal of Taxonomy 911 on pages 13-15, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.911.2371, http://zenodo.org/record/10376790