Alesa rothschildi

Alesa rothschildi (Seitz, 1913)

Figs 8–9, 14–15, 62, 93

Mimocastnia rothschildi Seitz, 1913. Gross-Schmett. Erde 5, p. 652, pl. 127 (male d); 1 male and 1 female, Demerara river, Guiana, and 1 female deposited at the NHMUK; syn.: Aricoris plagiaria; Godman, 1903.—Stichel, 1928. Dtsch. ent. Ztschr. 1928: 236.— Stichel, 1930. Lep. Cat. 40, p. 295.—Brown, 1993. Occas. Paper IUCN Sp. Surv. Comm. 8: 151.— d’Abrera, 1994. Butt. Neotrop. Region 6, Riodinidae, p. 934, 935, figs (male d, female v).— Brévignon & Gallard, 1997. Lambillionea 97 (3)(1): 331, 334, 337.

Mimocastnia egeria Biedermann, 1936. Bull. Soc. ent. France 41 (15): 258, pl. 3, figs 5, 6 (male, d, v); holotype male, 1905, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guyane; E. Boullet collection, Paris Museum [MNHN].

Alesa rothschildi; Callaghan & Lamas, 2004, Riodinidae, p. 148, in Lamas (ed.). Checklist: Part 4A. Hesperioidea— Papilionoidea, in Heppner (ed.) Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera 5A; syn.: egeria.— Hall & Ahrenholz, 2010. Trop. Lep. Res. 20: 21.— Gallard & Fernandez, 2015. Bull. Soc. ent. France 120 (2): 135, 138 (in part), 142, figs 5, 6 (male d, v).— Gallard, 2017. Riodinidae Guyane, p. 56–57 (in part).

Diagnosis. Alesa rothschildi (forewing length of male: 25mm, n=1; female: 26,5mm, n=1) is most similar to its sister species A. juliae sp. nov.. Both sexes of A. rothschildi can be distinguished from those of A. juliae sp. nov. by the angled forewing apex (rounded in A. juliae sp. nov.), and by the basal black spot in Sc+R 1 –Rs on the hindwing underside absent (present in A. juliae sp. nov.). Additionally, males of A. rothschildi have the forewing upper side discal and postdiscal bands developed (vestigial in A. juliae sp. nov.), hindwing upper side postdiscal and submarginal bands developed and partially connected (both bands are reduced and never connected in A. juliae sp. nov.), hindwing underside discal and postdiscal row of black spots barely separated (well separated in A. juliae sp. nov.), valva narrower basally, with lower/outer process about as long as wide (valva broad, with lower/outer process wider than long in A. juliae sp. nov.), and central process of transtilla not projected from base and broad distally (well projected from base and narrowed distally in A. juliae sp. nov.). Females of A. rothschildi have forewing upper side postdiscal band whitish, 1.5x narrower and almost reaching the forewing outer margin (yellowish cream, wide and never reaching the forewing outer margin in A. juliae sp. nov.), and the metallic color of both wings upper side green (greenish blue in A. juliae sp. nov.).

Type material. Mimocastnia rothschildi Seitz, 1913 was described based on one male and one female from Demerara River, Guyana, and one female, without locality, from Godman’s collection, all currently deposited at the NHMUK. Mimocastnia rothschildi Seitz, 1916 was originally described as a “nom. nov.”, for the assumed female specimen of Aricoris plagiaria Grose-Smith, 1902 illustrated by Godman (1903). Both Godman (1903) and Seitz (1913) recognize that the name Aricoris plagiaria unambiguously refers to a species described by Grose-Smith (1902) based on two male specimens, currently included in Setabis Westwood, 1851 (Seraphim 2019). However, Godman (1903) incorrectly recognized his female specimen as corresponding to the, until unknown, female of A. plagiaria. Seitz (1913) correctly recognized this female specimen as pertaining to a different species. Even though Seitz usually applied the abbreviation “sp. nov.” to indicate descriptions of new species, the “new replacement name” proposed by Seitz (1913) (as he implies by the use of the abbreviation “nom. nov.”) clearly denotes a new species description rather than a new replacement name in the current understanding of the ICZN (1999). Accordingly, Seitz (1913) described and illustrated the male specimen of A. rothschildi, further including in the type series a female syntype from the same locality of the male syntype, and the above cited female specimen from Godman’s collection, from Sarayacu, Peru (currently Pastaza, Ecuador). However, Godman’s (1903) female specimen actually belongs to A. juliae sp. nov., described herein.

To establish the identity of this species according to present usage and avoid future uncertainty, the male syntype in NMHUK with the following labels is here designated lectotype of Mimocastnia rothschildi Seitz, 1913: / Type / R Demerara. / rothschildi Type. Seitz Grosschm, vol. 5 / 304 / Rothschild Bequest B.M. 1939–1. / BMNH (E) #1054407 / BMNH (E) 1717343 /, and the following labels will be added: / LECTOTYPUS / Lectotypus Mimocastnia rothschildi Seitz, 1913 W. Santos, Dolibaina, Dias, O. Mielke & Casagrande des. 2021 /. The syntype female is designated paralectotype and will be labeled accordingly.

The holotype male of Mimocastinia egeria Biedermann, 1936 from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana and belonging to E. Boullet collection, generally assumed to be deposited at the MNHN. However, no specimen corresponding to the holotype was ever located at the MNHN collection (Callaghan 1995).A male is here designated neotype of Mimocastinia egeria Biedermann, 1936, to avoid future uncertainty, with the following labels: / NEOTYPUS / Brasil, Pará, Óbidos, 25-IX-1983, H. Miers leg. / Ex. col. H. Miers / Gen. prep. W. Santos / OM 67.441 / Neotypus Mimocastnia egeria Biedermann, 1936 W. Santos, Dolibaina, Dias, O. Mielke & Casagrande des. 2021 / DZUP. Unfortunately, there are no specimens available from the thereabouts of the type locality, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana, for the neotype designation.

Distribution. Alesa rothschildi is a rare species ranging from Guyana (Rio Demerara) and French Guiana (Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni) to Brazil (Pará) (Fig. 93).

Comments. Alesa rothschildi is one of the largest species of the genus, with a large thorax and abdomen that, allied to the thick labial palpi, were used by Seitz (1913) to erect the genus Mimocastinia. However, in his unpublished PhD thesis Harvey (1987) recovered Mimocastinia nested within Alesa. The taxonomic change was only formalized years later, when Hall (2003) indirectly indicated Mimocastnia as a synonym of Alesa and this interpretation was acknowledged by Callaghan & Lamas (2004).

Alesa rothschildi most similar and closely related species is A. juliae sp. nov., described herein. The failure to correctly recognize the female of A. rothschildi led to a number of misidentifications in the literature. Even in the original description, Seitz (1913) failed to illustrate the correct female of A. rothschildi, even though the description was based on male specimen. Characters of the forewing shape, color pattern of both wings and of the male genitalia, support the recognition of A. rothschildi and A. juliae sp. nov. as distinct species. The small number of known specimens of both species suggests that A. rothschildi occurs in the lower Amazon and the Guyanas, while A. juliae sp. nov. occurs further west, in the upper Amazon.

Brévignon & Gallard (1997) mentioned that A. rothschildi is rare in French Guiana, where a female was collected in 1989 in a forested area by a river, soon after deforested. In 1991 a male was captured in a light trap in the Kaw Mountain (Brévignon & Gallard 1997). The species was observed in August of 1991 and in 2011 in a hilltop around 11h, where males were seen flying in a shaded area of a forest gap edge, 10–15 meters from the ground, and perching in branches and trunks of trees (Gallard & Fernandez 2015).

Examined material. FRENCH GUIANA — Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni: 1 male (holotype) and 1 female (examined from images) (NHMUK). BRAZIL — Pará: Óbidos, 25.IX.1983, 1 male, H. Miers leg., ex-col. H. Miers, OM 67.441 (DZUP).