kruegeri (Niepelt, 1927)

(Figs. 10D, E)

“ Castnia krügeri Niep. sp. n. ” Niepelt, 1927, Internationale Entomologische Zeitschrift 21 (28): 239–240, pl. 2.

Type material: 1 male discovered by Herrn Dr. Eugen Krüger between March and May 1927 (Fig. 10D); this specimen is the holotype by monotypy and is in MfN.

Type locality: West-Colombia at 500 metres. Very probably from Yaculá or its surrounding forests, Nariño Department, where Krüger was collecting during the first few months of 1927 (see Discussion below). It cannot be further restricted.

Taxonomic status: A valid subspecies of Vadina hodeei (Oberthür, 1881). Originally described as a species but not mentioned by Miller (1995), it was sunk to a subspecies of V. hodeei by Lamas (1995).

Male genitalia: (Fig. 4H) Uncus with apex bifurcate. Uncus and anterior section of gnathos apophysis are more sclerotised than the tegumen. Gnathos sclerotised, bifid and pointed anteriad, excavate posteriad. Cucullus and valvula rounded. Ventral margin of valva slightly concave. Sacculus quadrate. Phallus curved, its distal section twice the length of coecum, slightly tapered. Subterminal portion of phallus enlarged. Terminal portion of phallus barely contorted and enlarged finishing in a somewhat pointed tip.

Distribution: This is the south-western subspecies of Vadina hodeei. All Colombian specimens were collected on the western slopes of the Western Cordillera, with records from Valle del Cauca and Nariño departments (González & Salazar 2003; González et al. 2013). This cordillera continues south into the Western Cordillera of Ecuador; all the Ecuadorian specimens were collected west of this cordillera in Esmeraldas province (see González et al. 2013) (pl. 15).

Discussion: From 28 th January to 23 rd July 1927 Krüger was stationed in Yaculá, Nariño department, southwest Colombia (Pyrcz 2004), the label on the holotype reads “März-Juni 27”. This area appears to have been one of Krüger’s favourite Lepidoptera hunting grounds in Colombia, characterised by thick, humid piedmont forests typical of the “Pacific-Chocó Biogeographic Region”. It is part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biogeographic hotspot that also includes the western region of Ecuador (Myers et al. 2000).

The habitus of kruegeri is very consistent along the western slopes of the Colombian and Ecuadorian Western Cordillera based on the specimens we have examined, and there appear to be no intermediate phenotypes between this and nominotypical hodeei. The main difference in the male is that the white spot at the anal angle of the hindwing is much larger in kruegeri; in the female the white postmedian bands on all four wings are much narrower in kruegeri and both sexes are smaller than the nominotypical subspecies.

Material examined: 30 males and 5 females were examined for this study.As well as the type, we have examined COLOMBIA: 1♂ Rio Calima, VII-1984 (MGCL); 1♂ Queremal, Valle, 9.IV.1985, J. Salazar leg (MHN-UC); 1♀ Anchicayá, Valle, 500 m., 15.VII.1992, leg. Dahners (MUSENUV); 1♂ Calima valley, Valle del Cauca, 1200m., III- 1990 (MS). ECUADOR: 1♂ Chuchuvi, Esmeraldas, II/2012, 33.985 (RBINS); 1♂ Chuchuvi, Esmeraldas, II/2012; 1♂ idem, II/2012; 1♂ idem, V/2016; 1♂ idem, 4/II/2017 (DC); 2♂♂, 2♀♀ Esmeraldas, (MB); 1♂ Lita, Carchi; 1♀ Durango, Esmeraldas, III/2012 (MS); 2♂♂ Rio Chuchuvi, Lita via San Lorenzo, Esmeraldas, 750mts., Sep 2015 1♂ idem, Nov 2015; 1♂ idem, 800mts., July 2016; 1♂ idem, May 2017; 1♂ idem, January 2018; 1♂ idem, March 2018 (HG); 2♂♂ Durango, Esmeraldas, X/2010 (RV); 2♂♂ Chuchuvi, Esmeraldas, XI/2011; 1♂ idem, III/2012; 1♂ idem, X/2012; 1♂ idem, I/2014; 1♂ idem, X/2014; 1♀ idem, XI/2017 (RW); 1♂ Durango, Esmeraldas, 400– 600m., X/2010; 1♂ Dt. Esmeraldas, 600–1000m., III/2012 (Anon).