Neoboenasa rawlinsi Laguerre, 2024

Description of Neoboenasa rawlinsi Laguerre sp. n.

ZooBank:https://zoobank.org/ 52AB478F-2B03-4614-B163-FA8FA32B6326

Holotype, ♂, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Independencia, Sierra de Neiba just south of crest, 5 km WNWAngel Feliz , 1780 m, 18°41'N 71°47'W, 13.15- X-1991, J.E. Rawlins, R.L. Davidson, C. Young & S. Thompson leg. Cloud forest.Dissected Gen. ML3870 (light-blue manuscript label). In CMNH. GoogleMaps

Paratypes

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

1 ♀, Independencia, Sierra de Neiba at crest, 5.5 km WNW N Angel Feliz , 1800 m, 18°41' N 71°47' W, 15-X-1991, R.L. Davidson, C. Young, S. Thompson & J.E. Rawlins leg. Cloud forest. In CMNH.

GoogleMaps

Diagnosis. – A large drab species, well characterized in male by the very specialized hindwings.The asymmetrical male genitalia are diagnostic.

Male ( Fig. 8 View Fig ).

FWL = 18 mm and WS = 35 mm. – Head. Antennae thin and ciliate, brown in the first half then yellowish beige, below almost entirely yellowish beige. Palpi black. Vertex, tegulae, patagia and thorax, unmarked dark brown. – Abdomen. Abdomen upperside covered with brownish beige hairs. Abdomen below similar to upperside. Legs brown with lighter tarsi. – Wings. Forewings plain brown with a faint whitish laterally pointed chevron at the end of cell. Hindwings plain beige slightly suffused with brownish scales. Underside plain brownish mottled with beige scales, lighter on hindwings disk.

Genitalia male ( Fig. 9 View Fig )

Genitalia asymmetrical. Uncus long, narrow, covered with hairs and bent downwards in the last third.Valvae reaching almost the tip of uncus. Right valva with basal half large and terminated with an inward tooth, then strongly narrowed to a curved blade with pointed tip and long setae. Starting from base a sclerotized short cylindrical process with a blunt and spiculate extremity. Left valva in two parts. The upper part identical to the right one: base large with an inward tooth and then abruptly narrowed to a curved blade with pointed extremity. Below, the cylindrical process, slightly sinuate, very long, almost reaching the tip of uncus, with a blunt spiculate extremity. Juxta ovate with a deep median notch. Aedeagus cylindrical with a long caecum penis. Vesica short and perpendicular, slightly spiculate and ending with a bunch of 10-12 long and sclerotized spines.

Female ( Fig. 8 View Fig ).

FWL = 19 mm and WS = 37 mm. Similar to male, but larger and with non-upturned hindwings. Forewing background color lighter, the small clear mark at the end of cell more open. Hindwing background color noticeably dusted with dark scales more densely toward termen.

Etymology. – After John Rawlins (1950–2021), former head curator of the Section of Invertebrate Zoology at the CMNH who collected a large part of the typical series, in honor of his very large contribution to our understanding the Dominican Republic Lepidoptera fauna.

Early stages. – Unknown.

Distribution. – Presently known only from the high altitude localities in the Sierra de Neiba in the Dominican Republic. The species is very rare across its range.