Eucerioides obliquifascia, new combination

Eucerioides obliquifascia (Rothschild, 1912) new combination

Figs. 38–40.

In his partial revision of the large and diverse genus Eucereon, Cerda (2020b) established or re-established many genera, but also left many species as Eucereon incertae sedis without being in a position to allocate them to any of the genera he recognized. One such genus is Eucerioides Travassos, 1961, which Cerda (2020b) removed from synonymy with Eucereon. Travassos (1961) established the genus for Eucerioides wernickei (Draudt, 1917 in Draudt 1915 –1917, type species) and E. pallada (Druce, 1906); the main distinguishing character being the absence of invaginable odoriferous apparatus on the ventral surface of the abdomen. Cerda (2020b) refined this with characters of the hindwing venation and male genitalia, and included in the genus E. complicatum (Butler, 1877), E. baleris (Dyar, 1910) and E. compositus (Draudt, 1916 in Draudt 1915 –1917). He also found that the DNA barcodes of E. wernickei, E. baleris and E. pallada formed a discrete cluster at least 6.8% different from any other cluster.

Eucereon obliquifascia Rothschild, 1912 was described from Trinidad, and the female type is in NHMUK (Fig. 39). Males from Trinidad (Fig. 38) were identified by comparison of habitus with the type, and a Trinidad male was dissected (Fig. 40). The genitalia have several striking characters, most notably the development of the uncus. The heavily sclerotized uncus is strongly bifurcate; each dorsal half is in turn asymetrically bifurcate, and there is a further robust irregular spike from the ventral part of each half of the uncus. We have found no similar structure elsewhere amongst the species formerly treated in Eucereon, nor indeed elsewhere in Ctenuchina. However, the general shape, the simple, long, robust strap-like valves, the bifurcate uncus, the strong dorso-lateral tufts of spinelike setae, the short, thick aedeagus, and the distal area of the vesica densely covered with moderately long, robust cornuti indicate that this species belongs in Eucerioides (Cerda 2020b, Figs. 196–199). Furthermore, the hindwing venation of Eucereon obliquifascia (Figs. 38, 39) resembles that of Eucerioides baleris (Cerda 2020b, Fig. 64). Accordingly, we transfer Eucereon obliquifascia to the new combination Eucerioides obliquifascia (Rothschild, 1912). No DNA barcodes of E. obliquifascia are available, so this placement should be tested once sequences are available.