Lophocampa sharki Vincent 2020, new species

Lophocampa sharki new species

Figs. 12, 16 & 25

Type material. Holotype: ♂, Dominican Republic, Independencia, Sierra Baoruco National Park, Route de Puerto Escondido à Pedernales Km 40, 1 740 m, 12-V-2004, B. Vincent leg. prep gen BV 464, Barcode ID ARCTA 385-07, Sample ID BEVI0103. Deposited in MNHN.

Additional material. Paratypes. 2♂, Dominican Republic, Pedernales, Piste de Los Arroyos à El Aguacate pK 5,2, 1990 m, 11-VIII-2007, N 18°16,269’ W 71°43,496’, J. Haxaire and O. Paquit leg. In BVC

Description. Head. Antennae bipectinated, broad, brown except bright yellow base. Pedicel brown. Light yellow vertex with a median brown band. Frons light yellow, brown on the area in contact with the vertex. Palpi brown except for the apical end of the second segment light yellow in ventral view, yellow in dorsal view. Last segment light yellow stained with brown on the sides.

Thorax. Yellowish green in dorsal view with long hairs that converge towards the median axis forming an area slightly tinged with brown. Ventrally, the thorax is white, very hairy and slightly colored with yellowish hairs at the insertion of the first pair of legs. Patagias concolor bearing two large black punctuations. Pterygods white highlighted and stained with brown. Legs light yellow legs with numerous brown spots. Dorsal surface bright yellow.

Forewing. (Lenght: 30 mm; Wingspan: 61 mm). Light brown with white bands delimited by a brown bor- der and distributed as follows: an irregular basal band precedes a very sinuous and narrow subasal line. A discontinuous and irregular ante-median band only visible by a costal spot and a stain along the anal edge. A median band consisting of a large patch shaped as a shark tooth, the base of which reaches the reniform patch. It tapers to a very thin line towards the anal border. A strongly broken, narrow, continuous postmedian band precedes a very sharp subterminal line, very narrow, with a yellowish-white coloration covered with brown scales on the costa. This subterminal line is in contact with a terminal line consisting of an alignment of rounded spots. Fringe concolorous with the wing background, except near the terminal line spots which partially fuse with it. Wings below with an ornamentation comparable to the dorsal face.

Abdomen. Dorsally covered in its basal half with a dense brown fluff. Yellow distal half with a median brown punctuation on each tergites. Ventrally whitish with round spots on the axis of the body and sides. They are yellowish white bordered by brown.

Male Genitalia. Uncus fairly narrow and tapering, curved ventrally and covered by many setae. Tegumen quite short with two bulges at the level of insertion with the uncus. Narrow and symmetrical long valvae. The tip is very broad, rounded and has a deep notch in the center. External edge concave. At the base of the internal margin of each of the valvae, presence of a large process, spinose only at the tip, reaching the base of the uncus. Vinculum very narrow with a weak saccus characterized by a strong rectangular notch on its median axis. Juxta bilobed, sclerotized. The tip of the two lobes delimits a central ovoid space. Aedeagus fairly short and thick, rectilinear but curved towards the caecum penis. The latter is very short. Vesica ample with four main lobes covered with spiny papillae. Presence of medium well-sclerotized cornutus.

Female and early stages: Unknown

Etymology. The specific epithet sharki refers to the shape of the shark tooth patch of the median band of the forewings, the most discriminating character of the habitus with the close species L. baorucoensis.

Distribution. Lophocampa sharki n. sp. is only known from the southern slope of the Sierra de Bahoruco, not far from the southern boundary of the Pinus forest which likely constitutes the habitat of this species.