A new species of Riodinidae from Colombia

5 Pages·1997·2.1 MB·English

by  Curtis J Callaghan

JournaloftheLepidopterists'Societtj
51(1), 1997,57-61
A NEW SPECIES OF RIODINIDAE FROM COLOMBIA
Curtis Callaghan
J.
Avenida Suba 130-25, Casa6, Bogota, Colombia
AND
Julian Salazar
Museode Historia Natural, Universidadde Caldas, AA.275, Manizales,
Caldas, Colombia
ABSTRACT. A new riodinid species, Calydna volcanicus, from Cerro Aguacatal
and Cerro Clavijoin thewestern departmentofCaldas, Colombia, is describedandillus-
trated. Comments onits habitat and adultbehaviorarepresented, with alistofother Ri-
odinidae found in the same habitat and a range extension for Amphiselenis chama
(Staudinger 1888).
Additionalkeywords: neotropical SouthAmerica, coffeeplantations.
m
Forests at altitudes between 1300 and 2200 in the Colombian An-
des are fertile for the discovery ofnew and interesting riodinid butter-
flies (Callaghan 1983, Salazar & Constantino 1993, Salazar, 1993). An
unusual habitat for riodinids described in this paper consists ofcoffee
plantations, considered to be an example ofextreme habitat alteration.
In these situations, the original forest has been completely destroyed
except for some ofthe taller trees that have been left to shade the cof-
fee. Ifinsecticides have not been used extensively, this altered habitat
can support a diverse fauna.
The purpose of this paper is to describe a new species of Calydna,
and present comments on the coffee zone habitat and some ofthe other
riodinid species found there. The description is based on material col-
lected by Escobar at the localities noted below. Measurements were
J.
done with a caliper, and the genitalia were prepared by soaking in 10%
KOH
solution and examined under a binocular microscope. Terminolgy
for the genitalia follows Klots (1970) and that for veins and cells follows
the Comstock-Needham system (Miller 1969). The citing ofRiodinidae
as a family instead ofa subfamily follows Harvey (1987).
Calydna volcanicus Callaghan & Salazar, new species
(Figs. 1-7)
Description. Eyes brown, not hairy, surrounded bywhite scaling; palpi dimorphic,
those offemale longerthan male; antennalength 6.4 mm, 0.59 length offorewing; shaft
withwhitescalesbetweensegments,clubflat, spoonshaped; forewingcostastraight, apex
pointed, distal margin scalloped at the endofcell Mg-CU^ hindwingwith apex rounded,
margin scallopedbetween CU2 and 2A; anal angle pointed, inner margin straight; fringe
lightbrown.
Male (Figs.l, 2): forewinglengthofholotype 13 mm, rangeofmaterialexamined 11—13
mm (n = 3). Thoraxventrad andappendageswith long,whitehairs; abdomenbrownwith
58 Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
FlGS. 1-7. Calydnavolcanicus,newspecies. 1, maleholotype,dorsalsurface;2, same,
ventralsurface;3, malegenitalia, caudalview;4, same,lateralview; 5, female, dorsalsur-
face; 6, same,ventralsurface; 7, femalegenitalia.
Volume 51, Number 1 59
long, white hairs ventrad on first 5 segments; long, lateral scent hairs on last segment.
Dorsal surface ofwings dark brown with faint black and orange maculations and black
distalmargins. Forewingwithtwo faintblackparallellines atendofcell, asinglespotbe-
CloUw2tahendce2llA.beHtiwnedewniCngUw2iatnhd22fAaianntdpafraailnltedlibslpaecrkselionreasnbgeeysocnaldinegnidnodfisccealllaarnedalboentgwediesn-
persescenthairsindiscalarea. Ventralsurfacelightbrownwithstriateddarkbrown mac-
ulations. Forewing with two large black spots beyond end ofcell; one in cell CUj and
threeincellCU2. Hindwingwithnumerousblackmaculations. Genitalia (Figs. 3,4):with
sociiunlobed;gnathossimple,unmodified;vinculumnarrow, slightlybowedhalfwaydown
eachside, saccus small,pointed;valvaebroadwithtwoprotrusions, dorsadandbasad,the
dorsalprotrusion longerand curvinginward; transtillabroad, rounded caudad; annellus
withalong,pointedprocess curvingcaudad; aedeaguswiththetip formingabroadplate
withteethprojectingcaudad.
Female (Figs. 5, 6): forewinglength 13.0-13.5 mm (n = 2). Bodydarkbrown dorsad,
whiteventrad. Dorsal surface ofwings darkbrown andyellow-orangewithblack macula-
tions. Forewingwith discal areabetween M3and2Aorange-yellow, extendingto Mj past
end ofcell, andwith some scatteredorange-yellowscalingwithin cell; two blackspots in
yceelllloMw-lobreaynogendspcoetlliannddistcawloairneaceblletCwUee2nbeRloawnddisccelall2ceAl;l.liHmibnadlwairnegawwiitthhflaairngte, iirrrreegguullaarr
darkbrown spots along margin between thes veins. Ventral surface light brown and light
orange, with lighterbrown maculations. Forewing submarginwhitewith brown macula-
tions;discalareawithlightyellowspotasindorsalsurface;threeblackspotsindiscalcell,
one in cell CU1 and three in cell CU2. Hindwing distal halfwhite with numerous dark
brown striated maculations; basal halfsame butwith groundcolorlightbrown. Genitalia
(Fig. 7):withostium bursaeopeningwidewith sclerotizedprocesscephalad; ductus sem-
inalisjoins ostium bursae at same point as ductus bursae; corpus bursaewith twoblunt
siga; located farcephaladin abdomen, concurrentwith segments A2—A4; papillae anales
rounded, setose.
Types. Holotype: male, Cerro Aguacatal, Mpio Riosucio, Caldas, Colombia, 15 April
1993, leg. Salazar. Paratypes: 6 males, 2 females as follows: CerroAguacatal, Mpio Riosu-
cio, Caldas 1300 m, 1 April 1994; Cerro Clavijo, Mpio Riosucio, 20July 1994. The holo-
type is deposited in the Museo de la Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia. The
paratypes are in the collections ofC. Callaghan, LeCrom, and E. Schmidt-Mumm of
J.
Bogota, andthe Universidadde Caldas, Manizales.
Diagnosis. Calydna volcanicus is closelyallied to Calydna heinis Schaus from south-
eastern Brazil, andtherefore is provisionally assigned to the same genus. However, both
these species differfrom Calydna thersander(Stoll), thetype species ofthegenus, inthe
large, sexuallydimorphicpalpiandthe structure ofthegenitalia, suggestingthattheybe-
longtoan undescribedgenus.
Distribution and Habits. The species was discovered by Escobar on two small
J.
mountain ranges, Cerro Aguacatal and Cerro Clavijo, both on the eastern slope ofthe
Cordillera Occidental in the Municipio ofRiosucio, Caldas Department between 1200
and 1600m abovesealevel(Fig. 8).TheclimateisVeryHumidPremontaneForest(IGAC
1977) with a mean annual rainfall of2000—4000 mm and a biotemperature ofbetween
18-24°C. The area has been extensivelycultivated for coffee (Coffea arabica) with the
consequentalterationoftheoriginalvegetation. Theupperslopes ofthe CerroAguacatal
(1300 m) are practicallydevoid ofvegetation and a concrete cross is at the summit. Ca-
lydnavolcanicus fliesbelowthe summitinadeepcanyonwithlowbushesgrowingonthe
slopes. Males perch on lowbushes after 1200 h, restingwithwings spread on the upper
leafsurface. When disturbed, theyfly rapidly, engagingother males in awhirling chase
before returning to their original spot. The lower slopes of the Cerro Aguacatal
(1500-1600 m) and the Cerro Clavijo are occupiedwith coffeeplantations shadedbyna-
tive trees ofthe genera Inga and Albizzia. Here, males perch along trails through the
plantations between 1300-1400 h, always on the upperleafsurfaces withwings spread.
Females frequentthe same areas andvisitflowers.
Etymology. Thenamevolcanicus has nosignificance.
Other riodinid species recorded from the same habitat include: Siseme pallas
60 Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
,_'%*•' \
8
FIG. 8. Map ofColombia. Hatched areas represent zones above 1000 m. Triangle in-
dicates type localityofCalydna volcanicus.
(Latreille), Catocyclotis elpinice (Godman), Amphiselenis chama (Staudinger), Melanis
cratia (Hewitson), Adelotypa densemaculata (Hewitson), Charts nr. zama (Bates), and
Calephelis schausi McAlpine. The discovery ofAmphiselenis chama in north central
Colombiaconstitutes an extension ofits previouslyknown range in the Venezuelan An-
des. Examination ofAmphiselenis from both ColombiaandVenezuelarevealednoconsis-
tentvariationinphenotypebetweenthetwopopulations.
Acknowledgments
WethankLuis Constantinoandan anonymous reviewerfortheirhelpfulcomments.
Volume 51, Number 1 61
Literature Cited
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HARVEY, D. H. 1987. The higherclassification ofthe Riodinidae (Lepidoptera). Unpubl.
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IGAC, 1977. Zonas devidaoformacionesvegetales de Colombia. Vol. xiii, no. 11. 238pp.
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Receivedforpublication 10January 1995; revisedandaccepted 7January 1996.