Research Article |
Corresponding author: Héctor A. Vargas ( lepvargas@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Axel Hausmann
© 2020 Carlos Palacios, Jackie Farfán, José Cerdeña, Ana Lazo-Rivera, Luis E. Parra, Héctor A. Vargas.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Palacios C, Farfán J, Cerdeña J, Lazo-Rivera A, Parra LE, Vargas HA (2020) A new species and a new record of Pero Herrich-Schäffer, 1855 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in the Andes of southern Peru. Nota Lepidopterologica 43: 301-309. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.43.54177
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Two species of the moth genus Pero Herrich-Schäffer, 1855 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae, Odontoperini) are added to the fauna of the Andes of southern Peru in the Arequipa Department. Pero lopezi Vargas & Palacios sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on male adults collected in Pocsi, at 2900 m elevation. Pero atridisca Dognin, 1906, previously known from Angasmarca (La Libertad), is recorded for the first time in Arequipa, significantly expanding its distribution range.
The genus Pero Herrich-Schäffer, 1855 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae, Odontoperini) is represented by 313 described species, 294 in the Neotropics and 19 in the Nearctic region (
The genus Pero is well diversified in the Andes but only one species has been recently reported from Andean environments of southwestern Peru (
The aims of this study are to further update the records of Pero species recently collected in the Department of Arequipa and to describe formally a new species of Pero, based on male specimens collected in the locality of Pocsi, at 2900 m elevation.
The specimens examined in this study were collected in different sites between about 2200 and 4100 m elevation in the Andes of the Arequipa Department, southern Peru, between September, 2017 and September, 2019, using two light traps, one with 250 watt mercury vapor mixed light and other with one LepiLed UV lamp (
Holotype
, male: Peru. Peru, AR[equipa], Pocsi, Carretera Mollebaya-Pocsi, 16°30’56”S, 71°25’52”W, 2900 m, 17–24.iii.2018, Leg. S. Ramos, M. Condori, M. Arivilca, L. Olivera (
Paratypes
, Peru, eight males. One male, same data as holotype, genitalia slide GeoAr01 (
Peru, Arequipa Department, Pocsi, 16°30’S, 71°25’W, 2900 m.
Pero lopezi is recognized by the slightly dentate postmedial line with outwardly rounded teeth on upperside of forewing (Fig.
Male. (Fig.
Head. Mostly greyish brown, some scales slightly darker or lighter subapically. Vertex with narrow, slightly elongated scales. Frons appressedly scaled. Antenna filiform, about 2/3 forewing length, dorsally with whitish brown scales, ventrally shortly ciliated. Labial palp greyish brown; first segment with narrow, elongated scales anteroventrally projected partially concealing the base of second segment; second segment with shorter scales; third segment appressedly scaled.
Thorax. Mostly with narrow, elongated greyish brown scales dorsally, mostly with long, hair-like whitish greyish brown scales laterally. Legs mostly greyish brown with a few lighter and darker scales scattered. Forewing mostly greyish brown with dark brown scales scattered; antemedial line dark brown, mostly sinuate, sharply angled outward near costal margin; discal dot blackish brown, as a short transverse stripe near distal margin of cell; postmedial line broad, dark brown outwardly, lighter inwardly, slightly dentate with outwardly rounded teeth, a larger tooth near posterior margin; five small circular creamy white spots forming a line close to distal margin, each spot with a narrow dark brown stripe proximally. Hindwing mostly whitish brown basally, greyish brown distally, darker scales scattered; discal dot dark brown, circular; postmedial line slightly dentate, dark brown, lighter near anterior margin.
Abdomen. Greyish brown with lighter and darker scales scattered. Segment VIII slightly sclerotized, anterior margin broadly concave, lateral margin broadly convex, distal margin rounded.
Male genitalia
(Fig.
Female. Unknown.
(Fig.
This new species is dedicated to Dr. Evaristo Luciano Lopez Tejeda, Director of Museo de Historia Natural Universidad Nacional de San Agutin de Arequipa (
Unknown.
Although identification of species of the genus Pero is mainly based on morphology of the male genitalia (
Peru. Two males: Peru, AR[equipa], Valle Colca, Vía Cabanaconde – Yaguar, 15°35’22”S, 72°00’06”W, 2200 m, 05.ix.2019, Leg. M. Condori, M. Arivilca, C. Palacios (
Pero atridisca was described from Angasmarca, La Libertad Department, Peru. The discovery of this species in Arequipa expands its range south in the Andes more than 1000 km (Fig.
The discovery of these two species of Pero confirm the importance of the arid environments of the Andes for the representatives of Group 15 of this genus, already highlighted by
Despite the importance of the knowledge of immature stages and natural history to the understanding of ecology and systematics of Lepidoptera, these aspects remain poorly studied for the Neotropical representatives of Pero (
We thank Adriana Chalup, Antoine Lévêque, Axel Hausmann and Gunnar Brehm for kind comments on a previous version of the manuscript, Lafayette Eaton for checking the English. The first author would like to thank the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin de Arequipa for financial support through contract number TP-25-2019-UNSA.