Distribution and Identification of Loxophlebia egregia: A New Record from Panama

Loxophlebia egregia is a species that was first described by Schaus, 1911 (https://archive.org/details/annalsmagazineof871911lond/page/174/mode/1up?view=theater) with the type locality of Guapiles in Costa Rica. Later, Hampson, 1914 provided a new description (https://archive.org/details/catalogueoflepid01brit/page/134/mode/1up?view=theater) and a drawing of the species (https://archive.org/details/catalogueoflepid12brit/page/n37/mode/2up?view=theater).

The species is characterized by its orange coloration on the thorax and abdomen; a black stripe on the thorax and the first three dorsal segments of the abdomen, forming a triangle on the second abdominal segment; the last one or two abdominal segments being black (it is unclear to me); and the margins of the fore wings black.

To better study the genus Loxophlebia, I searched the Inaturalist website for records of adult moths of the subtribe Euchromiina in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. The objective was to identify specimens of the species Loxophlebia egregia to gain a better understanding of its geographical distribution. Other websites consulted for images of the species Loxophlebia egregia included BOLDSystems and leps.fieldguide.ai.

In this search, an observation was found on Inaturalist corresponding to the species Loxophlebia egregia (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162079678) in Panama. On BOLDSystems, three individuals are identified as Loxophlebia egregia from Costa Rica, referenced to Bernardo Espinoza (https://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=1159955). On the site leps.fieldguide.ai, three photos are identified as Loxophlebia egregia credited to Ferhat Gungogdu from Ecuador (https://leps.fieldguide.ai/figure/5f6bfff2fe9c0e77ac7933c4/detail?profile=figures&category=59baf455929d3d10ea8f3230; https://leps.fieldguide.ai/figure/5f45b943fe9c0e42ea59a75a/detail?profile=figures&category=59baf455929d3d10ea8f3230; https://leps.fieldguide.ai/figure/5f416566fe9c0e42ea59a989/detail?profile=figures&category=59baf455929d3d10ea8f3230).

In my opinion, the three individuals on the BOLDSystems site are misidentified because they do not have a black stripe on the thorax and the first abdominal segment, and the edges of the forewing should be entirely black but instead have three orange stripes, one on the costal margin, another on the outer margin, and another on the inner margin.

The individuals on leps.fieldguide.ai are also misidentified as Loxophlebia egregia because they have a pair of white marks on the first abdominal segment similar to those seen in Loxophlebia broteas and Loxophlebia picta, and also the costal and outer margins have an orange stripe, which, as mentioned earlier, is entirely black in the species L. egregia. Additionally, more terminal abdominal segments are black in these individuals (about four), whereas in L. egregia only the last one or two segments are black.

Therefore, I believe that only the record on the Inaturalist website is truly an individual of the species L. egregia and that, besides this, I am only aware of the original description record. Apart from Costa Rica, this species is now also known to occur in Panama.

Publicado el mayo 18, 2024 02:53 TARDE por regisrafael