Amblyscirtes matheri Patterson, Pavulaan and Grishin -, 2023

Amblyscirtes matheri Patterson, Pavulaan and Grishin - new species

ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

DESCRIPTION AND PHENOTYPIC COMPARISON OF ADULTS

New species A. matheri differs from hegon , nemoris and gelidus primarily by the distinct tan-brown (“Sorrell Brown”) ground color of the ventral hindwing surfaces. Wing marks differ little between the four species.

Size. Adults of A. matheri are generally of similar size to nominotypical hegon and nemoris , though very slightly larger ( Fig. 16). The length of the male forewings of the examined matheri (n=28) series ranges 11-14 mm, averaging 12.4 mm. Male wingspan of A. matheri [maximum wing spread] is measured at 22-25 mm, averaging 24 mm. Female A. matheri have more rounded wings than males, with forewing length ranging 12-14 mm (n=31), averaging 12.4 mm. Female A. matheri have a wingspan ranging 23-28 mm, averaging 25.7 mm. All adults analyzed in the study had a forewing length of 11-14 mm, averaging 12.4 mm (n=59) with a wingspan of 22-25 mm, averaging 24 mm.

Dorsal ground color. The dorsal ground color of A. matheri males and females is a uniform (“Horses Neck”) brown. Applying the Color GrabTM and ColblindorTM applications, males and females of A. matheri averaged a red/green/blue (RGB) color code of 107, 77, 44, with a hue/saturation/brightness (HSB) color code of 31, 58, 41 ( Fig. 14). The dorsal ground color is a lighter brown than in hegon , nemoris and gelidus .

Dorsal pattern and color of markings. The dorsal wing marking pattern of A. matheri is similar to hegon , nemoris and gelidus . The markings are a light tan ( “Yuma ”) and do not differ appreciably from hegon , nemoris and gelidus . The three apical spots near the FW apex of matheri are at a sharper angle from the leading edge of the forewing than in hegon , nemoris and gelidus , though there is considerable variation and overlap between the four species in this complex ( Fig. 16).

Ventral ground colors. New species A. matheri differs from A. hegon , nemoris and gelidus primarily by the distinct tan-brown (“Sorrell Brown”) ground color of the ventral hindwing surfaces, as opposed to the ventral brown (“Buccaneer”) of hegon , the dark brown (“Pine Cone”) of nemoris , and the brown/gray (“Schooner”) of gelidus . Color analysis revealed an averaged red/green/blue (RGB) color code of 149, 124, 96, with a hue/saturation/brightness (HSB) color code of 31, 35, 58 ( Fig. 14). In matheri the “peppering” of light scales on the ventral side of the wings is absent. This peppering is present in nemoris and gelidus , and variably present in hegon , and causes the perception of the “greenish” color of the ventral hindwings.

The apical area of the ventral forewings of matheri approximated the color of the ventral hindwings closely, averaging red/green/blue (RGB) color code of 144, 116, 86, with a hue/saturation/brightness (HSB) color code of 31, 40, 56 ( Fig. 14). Additional color measurements were made for the ventral postbasal area of the forewings, primarily within cell CuA 2 which is the darkest portion of the ventral side of the wings. In matheri , this area averaged a red/green/blue RGB color code of 76, 50, 28 and a hue/saturation/brightness (HSB) color code of 27, 63, 29 ( Fig. 14) and did not differ appreciably from hegon , nemoris and gelidus .

Ventral pattern and color of markings. Ventrally, the spot pattern of matheri is well-developed and is similar to hegon , nemoris and gelidus , though the ventral pattern of hegon is variable and frequently absent altogether. The markings are a light tan ( “Yuma ”) and do not differ appreciably from hegon , nemoris and gelidus ( Fig. 14).

Male genitalia. The tooth on the inner surface of harpe is shallower and does not protrude as strongly between the valvae ( Figs. 17a, b, 16b), in contrast to larger and more robust tooth in both A. hegon ( Figs. 17f, 16h) and A. nemoris ( Figs. 17c, d, 16d). Valva with somewhat expanded ampulla that overlays the harpe, and a result, broadening somewhat from the base to harpe along its costa, but not along the ventral margin ( Fig. 16a), where harpe is not more expanded at the base as in A. hegon ( Fig. 16g) and A. gelidus ( Fig. 16e). Harpe is usually straighter at the distal margin.

TYPES

Holotype:

USA: Mississippi: Warren Co., Vicksburg, (leg. Ricky Patterson), 3 April 1988 ( Fig. 19), ( ♂). Deposited in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History , Pittsburgh , PA, USA.

Allotype:

Mississippi: Warren Co., Vicksburg, (leg. Ricky Patterson), 3 April 1988 ( ♀).

Paratypes:

Alabama: Jackson Co., Hollytree (leg. Howard Grisham), 3 May 2014 ( 1 ♂), 28 April 2020 ( 1 ♂) .

Louisiana: Catahoula Parish, J. C. ‘Sonny’ Gilbert WMA (leg. Craig Marks), 10 March 2012

( 3 ♂ - none of these are on genomic analysis chart). 1 ♂ NVG-19047F01 (leg. Jeff Slotten), 3 March 2018

Louisiana: Catahoula Parish, J. C. ‘Sonny’ Gilbert WMA (leg. Ricky Patterson), 21 March 2022

( 4 ♂, including NVG-21113F02, 1 ♀), 25 March 2022 ( 5 ♂ 1 ♀), 7 March 2023 ( 8 ♂ 2 ♀).

Mississippi: Claiborne Co., Rocky Springs Campground 34 mi. SW of Clinton (leg. Drew Hildebrandt and Maria Plonczynski), 7 April 1991 ( 1 ♂), 22 April 1989 ( 1 ♂).

Mississippi : Grenada Co., T12 N, R3 E, Section 7 SW (leg. Terry Schiefer), 9 April 1987

( 1♂) (via MEM collection)

Mississippi: Holmes Co., Holmes County State Park (leg. Drew Hildebrandt and Maria

Plonczynski), 9 April 1988 ( 3 ♂)

Mississippi: Leflore Co., CR 518 north of Greenwood (leg. Leroy Koehn), 2-24 April, 1994 ( 4 ♂

3 ♀).

Mississippi: Warren Co., Vicksburg, (leg. Ricky Patterson), 3 April 1988 ( 7 ♂ 9 ♀), 4 April 1988

( 1 ♂ 1 ♀), 9 April 1988 ( 1 ♀), 24 March 1992 ( 6 ♂ 1 ♀), 28 March 1993 ( 4 ♂ 3 ♀), 18

April 1993 ( 1 ♂), 9 May 1993 ( 1 ♂), 25 March 1994 ( 1 ♀), 2 April 1995 ( 1 ♂ 2 ♀), 27

March 1998 ( 5 ♂), 27 March 2000 ( 2 ♂), 17 March 2002 ( 1♀)

Mississippi: Warren Co., Vicksburg, (leg. Ricky Patterson), 27 March 1988 ( 1 ♂), 19/20 April

1993 ( 1 ♂ 1 ♀) (via C. H. Grisham collection)

Mississippi: Winston Co., Tombigbee NF (leg. David Pollock and Terry Schiefer), 22-29 March 1999 ( 1 ♂) (via MEM collection)

Mississippi: Yazoo Co., 3 miles E of Satartia (leg. Ricky Patterson), 2 April 2004 ( 5 ♂ 13 ♀), 9 April 2004 ( 2 ♂ 5 ♀)

South Carolina: Fairfield Co., Ridgeway (leg. Harry Pavulaan), 6 May 2007 ( 1 ♂)

South Carolina: Laurens Co., Garlington School Road (leg. R. G. Simpson), 20 April 2012 ( 1 ♂)

In addition to the known type series, there appear to be recent photographic images of A. matheri (as “ A. hegon ”) on iNaturalist from Catahoula Parish, LA dated March 29, 2020; March 21, 2021; April 3 and 8, 2022.

Etymology: The species is named in honor of Bryant Mather, lifelong lepidopterist devoted to the study of Mississippi Lepidoptera .

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION

Amblyscirtes matheri flies in early spring (mid-March through mid-April) in Mississippi and Louisiana, early April in NE Alabama, and early April in South Carolina. Early/late dates are:

3 March ( Louisiana) to 9 May ( Mississippi).

The butterfly is found in openings in hardwood forest habitats in hilly areas, particularly in the Loess Bluff Hills that border the Mississippi River alluvial plain. The loess deposits found their origin in the Pleistocene ice age glaciers far to the north in Canada and the northern United States. As the glaciers ground the bedrock into a fine flour-like deposit, the deposit was washed down the Mississippi River and deposited onto the adjacent flood plains. The Loess deposits were then blown by winds onto the bluffs on either side of the river. The loess bluffs trend north-south throughout the state of Mississippi along the Mississippi River delta. This region is dominated by deciduous hardwood and pine forest consisting primarily of various species of Oaks ( Quercus sp. ), Loblolly Pine ( Pinus taeda ) and Shortleaf Pine ( Pinus echinada ), which comprise approximately two-fifths of the Loess Bluff Hills in Mississippi. The remainder of the area is under cash crops and pasture or hay farms.

Amblyscirtes matheri seems to be associated with this particular biogeographic region in Mississippi and Louisiana. In northeast Alabama it has been confirmed in wooded, hilly areas that are foothills of the Appalachians, where other more normally mountain species such as Erora laeta have been found. A single South Carolina specimen was collected in the Sandhills region of the eastern part of the state; a habitat in which Loblolly Pines predominate along with an understory of Switch Cane ( Arundinaria tecta ). While presently recorded in seven counties in Mississippi, in Louisiana the skipper has only been found in the J. C. “Sonny” Gilbert Wildlife Management Area (formerly the Sicily Island Hills Wildlife Management Area until renamed in 2015), in northeast Catahoula parish, which is in east central Louisiana. The complete range of A. matheri has yet to be determined, but as stated above it is known to range from Louisiana to South Carolina. In Mississippi and Louisiana, only one specimen has been found outside the Loess Bluffs region in Mississippi / Louisiana. Whether this geographical tie to the Loess Bluffs is an artifact of the collected specimens or due to a specialized habitat is not known. The specimens from northeast Alabama are not in Loess Bluff hills, and this terrain is not found in South Carolina either. A review of various collections, websites, and publications have not found any confirmed specimens or photographs of adequate clarity to be determined as A. matheri outside of these four states. The only specimens from the Mississippi River delta flatlands examined were collected just north of Greenwood, very near the Loess Bluff Hills. It remains to be determined whether A. matheri ranges north through the Loess Bluffs region along the Mississippi River alluvial plain, potentially as far as southern Illinois. It would be expected that gaps in distribution between Louisiana and South Carolina will be filled as this species becomes known to collectors and watchers.

Adults can be found nectaring on flowers, especially white clover, wild garlic (as noted by Craig Marks), fleabane, and occasionally at mud. They are not normally found in the middle of fields or in thickly wooded areas, but along woodland edges and roadsides (especially gravel roads) going through hardwood areas, similar to the habitat of A. hegon and A.nemoris . Craig Marks (2018) describes the hostplants of related ‘ Amblyscirtes hegon ’ (actually nemoris ) in Louisiana as: “various types of grasses, including river oats, fowl manna-grass, and Indian grasses.” These grasses should be investigated as potential hosts of A. matheri as well. One author (Patterson) has obtained eggs from a female but was unable to get the emerged larva to feed on any of the grasses offered.