Zischkaia arctoa Nakahara  2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Nakahara, Shinichi
name: Zacca, Thamara
name: Dias, Fernando M. S.
name: Dolibaina, Diego R.
name: Xiao, Lei
name: Espeland, Marianne
name: Casagrande, Mirna M.
name: Mielke, Olaf H. H.
name: Lamas, Gerardo
name: Huertas, Blanca
name: Kleckner, Kaylin
name: Willmott, Keith R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nymphalidae
Zischkaia
Zischkaia arctoa

description: Zischkaia arctoa Nakahara, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: AF533240-EA7F-41D3-8100-F9675291FF95
Figs 2 C–D, 4 B, 14
Diagnosis
Zischkaia arctoa sp. nov. is similar to Z. amalda, but is distinguished by the concavity of the ventral margin of the apical process of the valva, in addition to the distal margin of the winglet of the aedeagus being shorter compared to the basal margin. The ventral margin of the apical process of the valva is less concave than in Z. amalda, and the length of the distal margin of the winglet of the aedeagus is similar to that of the basal margin in Z. amalda. However, given the limited number of specimens of both species available for examination, we suggest diagnosing these two species based on their locality; Z. arctoa sp. nov. is currently known from the Cordillera de la Costa, Venezuela and Z. amalda is known to date from the east Andean foothills from central Peru to Bolivia. We do not know of any putative female specimen for this species.
Etymology
This specific epithet is based on the feminine Latin adjective ‘ arctoa ’, in accordance with the feminine generic name, meaning ‘northern’, ‘of the far north’, in reference to the fact that this species is the most northerly occurring species of Zischkaia.
Type material examined
Holotype
VENEZUELA • ♂; “ // VENEZUELA: DIST. FEDERAL Massif du Naiguata 720–800 m. 28.vii 1943; R. Lichy // Allyn Museum Acc. 1986-5// Genitalic vial SN-17-73 S. Nakahara // UF FLMNH MGCL 1036042 //”; FLMNH.
Paratypes (3 ♂♂)
VENEZUELA – Aragua • 1 ♂; Choroní; [10°29′ N, 67°37′ W]; 1250 m; 1975; RFC • 1 ♂; Choroní; [10°29′ N, 67°37′ W]; 850 m; May 1979; RFC. – Miranda • 1 ♂; Massif du Naiguatá; [10°31′ N, 66°49′ W]; 3 Jun. 1940; R. Lichy leg.; FLMNH-MGCL-1036041; FLMNH.
Description
Male
FOREWING LENGTH. 21–23 mm (n = 4).
HEAD. Eyes naked, with grayish scales at base; frons brownish; post-genal area with lightly colored long hair-like scales and grayish scales; labial palpi with first segment mostly with brownish long hairlike scales; second segment length almost twice as great as eye depth and adorned with brown scales laterally, dorsally mostly with light brownish long hair-like scales, ventrally adorned with brownish and white hair-like scales, about 3–4 times as long as segment width; third segment about two-fifth of second segment in length and covered with brownish scales, ventrally with brownish hair-like scales, with slight patch of creamy-white scales laterally; antennae approximately two-fifth of forewing length, with ca 39 segments (n = 1), distal 13–15 segments composing club, club not prominent.
THORAX. Dorsally, laterally and ventrally scattered with grayish scales with long multi-colored hair-like scales.
LEGS. Foreleg brownish, foretarsus slightly shorter than tibia, femur similar to tarsus in length; midleg and hindleg with femur creamy white ventrally, tibia and tarsus grayish dorsally, whitish ventrally, tarsus and tibia spined ventrally, and a pair of tibial spurs present at distal end of tibia.
ABDOMEN. Eighth tergite as stripe at base of eighth abdominal segment, in addition to presence of distal broader patch; eighth sternite divided into two patches.
WING VENATION. Basal half of forewing Subcosta swollen; base of Cubitus swollen; forewing recurrent vein absent; origin of M 2 towards M 1 than M 3; hindwing humeral vein developed.
WING SHAPE. Forewing subtriangular, apex rounded, costal margin convex, outer margin slightly convex (almost straight), inner margin straight, but rounded towards thorax near base; hindwing slightly elongate, rounded, costal margin almost straight, angled towards thorax near base, outer margin slightly undulating, inner margin slightly concave near tornus, anal lobe convex, slightly round.
DORSAL FOREWING. Ground color light brownish, distally slightly paler; black androconial scales, not prominent, present in middle of DFW, from base to submedian area; trace of submarginal band almost invisible.
DORSAL HINDWING. Ground color similar to forewing, black androconial scales present in discal and adjacent area, not as prominent as DFW; trace of submarginal band almost invisible (clearly visible in one specimen).
VENTRAL FOREWING. Ground color light chestnut brown; submedian line invisible; dark brown narrow median line extends from near costa to Cu 2 -2A, in outward diagonal direction, concolorous slightly sinuate submarginal line extending from apex towards tornus, but terminates around 2A; concolorous marginal line, narrower than submarginal line, extending from apex towards tornus, but terminates around 2A; fringe dark brownish.
VENTRAL HINDWING. Ground color similar to forewing; regular dark-brown submedian line almost straight, extending from costal to inner margin; median line almost parallel to submedian line, concolorous, similar in width, passing origin of M 3, curved inwards after passing origin of M 3 and posterior end bent inwards in 2A-A; submarginal line extending from apex towards tornus, anterior end occasionally fused with submedian line near costa, undulating, posterior end slightly broadening and occasionally fused to submedian line in 2A-3A; marginal line, concolorous, slightly undulating along outer margin, thinner than submarginal line; submarginal ocelli from M 1 to 2A (tiny ocellus in Rs-M 1 in three specimens), rounded, pupil appear as scattered silverish scales placed distally, black central spot ringed with orangish ring then with thin dark brownish indistinct ring, ocellus in Cu 2 -2A smallest; bright silvery purple ground color visible between submedian line and submarginal line when seen under light; fringe dark brownish.
GENITALIA (Fig. 4B). Tegumen rounded in lateral view, elongated posterior projection of tegumen developed, apparently slightly shorter than uncus, tapering posteriorly and hooked at terminal point; combination of ventral arms of tegumen and dorsal arms of saccus sinuous, broadening towards saccus; appendices angulares present, but somewhat reduced; saccus anterior half slightly curved upwards, similar to uncus in length; uncus long and narrow, sparsely with hair-like setae, curved in lateral view, rounded at terminal point, posterior end of ventral margin appearing as small projection; either side of base of uncus with hair-like setae; brachia similar to uncus in length, slightly narrower, curved in lateral view, tapering posteriorly and crossing over each other near terminal point; fultura inferior present; valva subtriangular in lateral view, apical process subtriangular, dorsal and ventral margin almost equally convexed, scarcely covered by hairy-like setae; costa developed and triangular, dorsal margin slightly sinuous; phallobase slightly shorter than half of phallus in length, slightly curved; ductus ejaculatorius coming out higher than anterior end of coecum; aedeagus straight with manica covering approximately one-fifth, winglet present, distal opening located ventrally where vesica is visible.
Female
Unknown or unrecognized.
Variation
The VFW submedian line traverses in an outward diagonal direction below M 3 in one examined specimen, whereas it appears rather straight in the other three examined specimens; the size of ocellus in VHW Rs-M 1 is variable, ranging from being almost absent to being clearly visible; the curvature of the VHW submedian line below M 3 is apparently variable.
Distribution (Fig. 14)
This species is known to date from the Cordillera de la Costa, a mountain range extending along the north Venezuelan coast.
Remarks
Zischkaia arctoa sp. nov. is similar to Z. amalda, and one might argue their conspecificity due to their morphological resemblance. However, these two taxa are treated as different species here mainly due to their geographical isolation and the presence of allopatrically occurring Z. abanico sp. nov. between the range of the two species. Zischkaia arctoa sp. nov. occurs in the Cordillera de la Costa, which is isolated from the adjacent Cordillera de la Mérida (the northeastern extension of the tropical Andes) by the flat and scrubby lowlands of the Depression of Unare; Z. amalda is known from the eastern slopes of tropical Andes in Bolivia and Peru, which is over 2500 km (straight line distance) from the known range of Z. arctoa sp. nov., and with no records in the intervening Andes despite intensive sampling in at least some regions. Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain DNA data for either of these two taxa to help further clarify the taxonomy, and obviously such data would be very valuable.
description: Published as part of Nakahara, Shinichi, Zacca, Thamara, Dias, Fernando M. S., Dolibaina, Diego R., Xiao, Lei, Espeland, Marianne, Casagrande, Mirna M., Mielke, Olaf H. H., Lamas, Gerardo, Huertas, Blanca, Kleckner, Kaylin & Willmott, Keith R., 2019, Revision of the poorly known Neotropical butterfly genus Zischkaia Forster, 1964 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae), with descriptions of nine new species, pp. 1-67 in European Journal of Taxonomy 551 on pages 22-24, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2019.551, http://zenodo.org/record/3476676