Manerebia ronda amplia Pyrcz & Boyer, n. ssp.

(Figs. 1, 7, 10)

Type locality. Peru, Lambayeque Department, Kañaris

Diagnosis. This subspecies of M. ronda n. sp. is externally most similar to M. undulata milaena (Fig. 10D), from the western slopes of the Andes in the extreme south of Ecuador. Both are characterized by a milk-white and rather wide HWV median band gradually broadening from the costa to the anal margin, no trace of ocelli and rather smaller size compared to most other similar congeners such as M. germaniae Pyrcz & Hall, 2006, or M. inderena (Adams, 1986). M. undulata milaena has a magenta suffusion on both the FWV and HWV, not apparent in M. ronda amplia n. ssp. In addition, the submarginal dark brown line of the HWV of M. ronda amplia n. ssp. is more undulating than in M. undulata milaena, and the two differ markedly in male genitalia as described below. The subspecific status of M. ronda amplia n. ssp. and M. ronda ronda is strongly supported by COI data (Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15), and male genitalia (Fig. 7).

Description. MALE (Fig. 1C): Head: eyes chocolate brown, naked, lustrous; labial palpi two times length of head, covered with black hair-like scales, longer ventrally, and with some sparse yellow scales; antennae slender, 2/5 th length of costa, dorsally brown, ventrally somewhat orange, club formed gradually. Thorax: black, dorsally mostly naked, with just some sparse hair-like scales along sides; femora sparsely covered with dark-brown scales, tibiae and tarsi densely with milky-white scales. Wings: FW length 17.5 mm, n=2. FW apex subacute, outer margin straight. HW oval with smooth outer margin. FWD uniform medium brown. HWD uniform medium brown with white median band slightly translucent from venter. FWV blackish brown gradually turning medium brown towards distal margin, with an undulating dark brown submarginal line. HWV chestnut, pale brown along distal margin, with a nearly straight milky white to pale yellow medium band, gradually broadening from costal to anal margin, and a delicately wavy submarginal dark brown line. Abdomen: dorsally and laterally covered with black, ventrally with grey-brown scales. Genitalia (Fig. 7B): Uncus arched and 1.5 times as long as tegumen shoulder, gnathos halflength of uncus, strongly uplifted with a short apex; pedunculus with a massive base and apex curved downwards; saccus short, bulbous; valva with a massive basal half ended with a massive mid-dorsal process terminated by several short teeth, and a narrow apical half with a dorsal crest made up of several (5–6) prominent teeth; aedeagus sinuate, shorter than valva. FEMALE: Unknown.

Molecular data. BI (Fig. 12), ML (Fig. 13) tree as well as bPTP (Fig. 14) and GMYC (Fig. 15) do not support the separate specific status of M. ronda amplia n. ssp., which is placed alongside M. ronda n. sp. within the M. pauperata n. stat., clade with zero or close to zero genetic distance (Suplementary material 2).

Type material: Holotype ♂: Peru, Lambayeque, Kañaris, Bosque de Kañaris, 06º03’43’’S / 79º15’09’’W, 14.vi. 2018, 2687 m, leg. J. Cerdeña, MUSA; Paratypes (6 ♂) 1 ♂: Lambayeque, Pucara vía Kañaris, 2700–2800 m, 14.vi.2018, T. Pyrcz leg., prep. genit. 1872/ 18.01.2019 K. Florczyk, prep. mol. 20190303 A. Zubek, CEPUJ; 1 ♂: Lambayeque, route de Kañaris, S06°03'47 W79°14'21, 2400–2500 m, 14.vi.2018, P. Boyer leg., PBF; 1 ♂: Cajamarca, 10–15 km SE Hda. Udima, Qda. El Palmo, 2400–2600 m, 15.v.1982, G. Lamas & E. Pérez leg., MUSM; 1 ♂: Lambayeque, Geopampa, geographical coordinates (wrong), 2824–3135 m, 24.vii.2017, J. Grados, MUSM; 2 ♂: Peru, Lambayeque, 3,1km SSE Kañaris, 06 o 04’28’’S / 79 o 15’02’’, 2824 m, 24.vii.2017, G. Espinoza & E. Gambos, MUSM.

Etymology. The subspecies name is a feminine Latin adjective meaning ‘wide’, in reference to the HWV median pale yellow band.

Remarks. This subspecies is known so far only from a handful of specimens collected in the upper Chamaya river valley in an area where several other new species of Pronophilina have been discovered (within the genera Pronophila Doubleday, [1849], Lasiophila C. Felder & R. Felder, 1859, Pedaliodes Butler, 1867). When first collected, it was identified as M. undulata milaena, which is known from southernmost Ecuador, because of its extremely similar appearance, in particular the shape of the HWV median band. However, its male genitalia are very distinct from those of M. undulata milaena, bearing a close resemblance to those of M. pauperata n. stat., with an arched uncus, the basal projection of the valva and multiple crown-like teeth on apex. COI barcode data confirm their close affinity, as M. ronda amplia n. ssp., falls within the M. pauperata n. stat. clade. Externally, however, M. pauperata n. stat., is markedly different, being considerably larger, with prominent ventral ocelli and no yellow median band (Fig. 10E).

So far, M. ronda amplia n. ssp. is known from two localities, in the western Peruvian Andes in the departments of Lambayeque and Cajamarca (Fig. 16), separated by some 100 km.