Thraumata, a new genus from South America with a description of a new species from Peru (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Eriopinae)

Authors: Goldstein, Paul; ZILLI, ALBERTO - Natural History Museum - London

Submitted to: ZooKeys
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/14/2019
Publication Date: 8/31/2019
Citation: Goldstein, P.Z., Zilli, A. 2019. Thraumata, a new genus from South America with a description of a new species from Peru (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Eriopinae). ZooKeys. 866:139-160.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.867.28728

Interpretive Summary: Specimens of three South American species, including one new to science, were discovered in both the U.S. National Collection and The Natural History Museum, London. For more than a century, two of these had mistakenly been classified in another genus, recently discovered to consist of species that feed on ferns as caterpillars. We describe a new genus for these two and the third, which we also describe and name for the first time. Although their biology is unknown, we are able to place them in the subfamily of owlet moths that includes the core fern feeders, and begin to reevaluate the taxonomic status of that subfamily. This work is of interest to entomologists, plant-insect ecologists, and tropical biologists.

Technical Abstract: The genus Thraumata Goldstein & Zilli, gen. n., is described to accommodate two South American species previously placed in Phuphena, Thraumata petrovna (Schaus, 1904) NEW COMBINATION and Thraumata subvenata (Schaus, 1914) NEW COMBINATION, and Thraumata peruviensia Goldstein & Zilli, NEW SPECIES is described. Although the larval biology is unknown, these species share several features that suggest their placement in the Eriopinae, including a well-expressed M2 vein on the hindwing. This implies a potential association with ferns (Pteridophyta) as larval host plants.