Copaxa

Abstract: Copaxa semioculata is re-described. Recent collecting has demonstrated that a population from western Ecuador was misidentified as C. semioculata semioculata by Lemaire (197.5, 1978), and that this population plus C. semiaCtllata arientalis, of eastern and western Ecuador and central and western Colombia, are actually conspecific and specifically distinct from C. semiocuiata, which occurs only in the eastern Andes of South America from Venezuela to Peru. The male of c. semioculata differs noticeably from C. orientalis, new status by its smaller size, narrower forewings, variable color, dark antennae, differences in the genitalia and especially hours of nuptial Right. Males are diurnal and have rarely been collected at lights. Male and female genitalia are ngured and immature stages are described and illustrated in color. Larvae fed in the laboratory on Persea americana (Lauraceae). Capaxa a'rientalis is hereby elevated to fuJI speeinc rank. Additionally, a new specics closely related to C sernioculata is described from Bolivia and Peru. RESUMEN. Se describe Capaxa sernioclilata de nuevo. Mediante mllestreo realizado recientemente se ha demostrado que una poblaci6n del oeste del Ecuador fue malidentificada como C. serniaculata semiocl1lata par Lemaire (1975, 1978), Y que esta poblaci6n mas C. semioculata o'rientalis , del este y el oeste del Ecuador y el centro y el oeste de Colombia, en realidad son de la misma especie y son distintas a C. serniOClllata , la ellal se encuentra en los Andes orientales de Venezuela al PeriL EI macho de C. semioculata difiere notable mente de C. orientalis, estatus nuevo por su tamano menor, alas delanteras m:is delgadas, color variable, antenas mas oscuras, diferencias en los genitales y en especial las horas de su vuelo nllpcial. Los machos son diurnos y rara vez se han colectado can luces. Se ilustran los genitales del macho y de la hembra y se describen y presentau fotografias en colores de los estadios inmaduros. En ellaboratorio las larvas se alimentaron con Persea arne'ricona (Lauraceae). Se eleva Capaxa o'rientalis a plena rango especifico. Adicionalmente se describe una especie nueva de Bolivia y el Peru, de pr6xima afinidad can C. semiaculata. Additional key words: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, immature stages, lunula, :-Jeotropical, a'rientalis , Persea, Peru, Venezuela. The genus Copaxa (Walker 185.5) comprises more than 36 species of often large and colorful moths, distributed from Mexico to Argentina. These were divided by early authors into three genera, with Copaxa containing the majority of species. Among the high altitude Andean species, some were placed in Sagan a Walker (1855) and others, along with several Mexican species, in Saturniodes Jordan (1911). The Andean species are a poorly-studied group generally restricted to often cold, wet and steep habitats between 20004000 m, from Venezuela to Bolivia. The genus Sagana was proposed for Sagana sapatoza (Westwood 18,53) from Colombia, and was subsequently used to harbor the closely related but slightly larger Sagana semioculata R. Felder & Rogenhofer (1874) from Venezuela. This arrangement 1 Research Associate , Katural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California, USA. 2 Correspondant dl! Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. was retained by Packard (1914) and Bouvier (1936). Curiously, Draudt (1929) separated semioculata from sapatoza and placed semioculata in Saturniodes where it remained for some years . Michener (19,52) unified Saturniodes and Sagana under Copaxa but retained the three names as subgenera. Lemaire (1978) demonstrated problems with Michener's model and discarded the subgenera, synonymizing all in Copaxa. Most of the high altitude Andean Copaxa species are characterized by lunate or modified lunate hyaline dis cal spots on all four wings. Until now, only three eaSily distinguishable species of the Copaxa semioculata complex were recognized: C. sapatoza, C. semioculata and C. herbuloti. C. sapatoza has wide, squared lunate dis cal spots, C. semioculata, a variable moth encompassing several hidden species, has lunate spots. Copaxa herbuloti Lemaire (1971) , described from a Single male from northwestern Peru and obviously disVOLUME ,57, '\\lUMBER 1 tinct in the genitalia, has widely distorted hyaline discal spots on the forewing. C. orientalis Lemaire (1975), a large, dark species, was described from the eastern Andes of Ecuador as a subspecies of C. semioculata. Recent collecting has yielded additional phenotypes of the C. semioculata species group, calling into question the previous identification of the nominotypical taxon of C. semioculata. A taxonomic problem began with Felders' and Rogenhofer's description of Copaxa semioculata from an unspecified number of female specimens from \"Venezuela.\" Lemaire (1978:197) deSignated as lectotype a specimen preserved in The Natural History Museum (BMNH, London) (by way of the Felder and w. Rothschild collections). Examined by KLW and CL, it provides no precise locality data on the label. Sonthonnax's (1901) citation of a male and female with wingspan of 12 cm, from \"Bogota, Venezuela\" is erroneous on two counts, as Bogota is in Colombia and the size is much too large for C. semioculata. When Lemaire described C. semioculata orientalis no male specimens of C. semioculata were known from Venezuela or Colombia. A large series of male and female specimens from western Ecuador, collected at lights and preserved in the BMNH, appeared to CL to match the original description and illustrations and he erroneously assigned the specimens to the nominotypical subspecies in the description of the new subspecies orientalis and in the revision of the genus (Lemaire 1978). The preponderance of small females of C. semioculata attracted to lights in eastern Ecuador aroused our suspicion that the true male of this species might be diurnal, and that Lemaire's \"semioculata\" of western Ecuador were misidentified. Evidence of this began to emerge with the net capture by Amarillo of a small orange male flying slowly and low to the ground in full sunlight at 1630 h in January, 1992 at 2850 m in Iguaque National Wildlife Sanctuary in Boyaca Department, northeast of Bogota, Colombia. A female was later collected at lights. Returning to Iguaque in April 1998, and April 2000, KLW and AAS captured seven additional females. While examining public and private collections in Venezuela and Colombia, KLW found a female specimen of C. semioculata from Tachira, western Venezuela (242,5 m) and two male specimens of the same species from Colombia. Both males were captured flying at noon above 2000 m, one on the Venezuelan-Colombian border and the other near Bogota, by J. F. Le Crom (pers. com.), who regularly sees it flying high above the ridges east of the city. In spite of the vagueness of the type locality \"Venezuela,\" it can be assumed, based on the biogeo.55 graphical data, espeCially elevation, that the lectotype of C. semioculata originates from the Merida Cordillera or from the Province of Tachira in western Venezuela near Colombia. Thus, this lectotype and the two above specimens from Bogota and from the Venezuelan/Colombian border can be considered as conspecific, which resolves the long perplexing problem of the identity of C. semioculata and of the identification of the corresponding male. With the additional specimens, we are confident that the male is diurnal. The name Copaxa semioculata semioculata should no longer be applied to the western Ecuadorian population, in which the male is nocturnal. Both previous subspecies should, pending further research, be referred to Copaxa orientalis (Figs. 7,8), which is hereby elevated to full species status. The usually much larger C. orientalis has not been found in Venezuela, and in Colombia has been collected only in the southern, central and western Andes. Copaxa semioculata (R. Felder & Rogenhofer) Redescription. Male (F igs. J, 2). Head brown, orange beige or black, eyes large. Antennae with hrownish yellow shaft and dark gray rami, quadripectinate. Thorax variable, with indistinct yellow collar. Tihia pink with long beige hairs, tarsi bright pink. Abdomen variable, lighter ventrally. Forewing length 35-,50 mm, falcatc; apex rounded. Background color usually orange brown of varying intensity from light orange beige to dark brown or gray, more or less suffused with dark gray or black scales in the median and especially the distal outer border; tornus lighter, yellOWish; anteand postmedial black or brown lines often blurry and indistinct. Apical spot small, gray with white on apical edge; trace of white second spot caudad to first. Lunate hyaline dis cal spot broad, usually bordered first narrowly black then broader dark yellow and again narrowly black. Forewing ventrally dark or light, similar to dorsal color hut lighter, with dark hand along indistinct postmedial line and on border. Hindwing same color as forewing but most of costal area from base to border pale, often tinged pink on forward basal area; brown antemedial and undulating postmedial lines enclose broad darker area encompassing dis cal lunate spot; spot narrower but bordered as in foreWing; submarginal band an indistinct series of lJ -shaped gray or black dashes bordered faintly white on outer edge. Ventrally similar to forewing. Male genitalia (Fig. 17) similar to C. orientalis (Fig. 21) (these illustrated as C. semioculata semioculata by Lemaire, H)78:197, Figs. 156, 157), with long hooks on each arm of the transtilla, but different in having a triangular, instead of round, juxta and narrower, more pointed apices of the valves. The vesica evaginates dorsally. Female (Fig. 3). Head brown, palpi brown. Antennae dull yellow, bipectinate. Thorax anteriorly dark gray with yellow tuft collar, otherwise beige, tinted rose, yellow, brown or gray. Tibia and tarsi pinkish beige. Abdomen beige, lighter laterally and darker and in some specimens pinker ventrally. Forewing