Holotype: ♀, Ecuador, Zamora-Chinchipe, Reserva Biologica San Francisco, Montane Rainforest, Blacklight 2×15W, 30 Jan. 2013, 19.00–21.30 h, 03°58.94'S, 79°04.84'W, 2212 m, coll. Gunnar Brehm & Yoko Matsumura / DNA Barcode run 2013, COI-5P marker, University of Guelph / Arcec 30166 / leg sampled in ethanol G. Brehm, Green vial caps. deposited in FSU.

This species is named after the senior authors’ sister, Alejandra Martinez, who has supported JIM’s work since the beginning of his career.

Lafontaineana alexandrae is the only species in the genus that has a dark hindwing. The female genitalia differ from the rest of the Lafontaineana by the presence of the small projections; small papillae anales-like on the A8 membrane.

Head. Palpus marbled in yellow, white, and black; frons covered by a mixture of yellow and black scales. Thorax. Polygons small, outlined by wide yellow lines; setal tuft pale orange; ventrally brown with some dark gray scales. Wing. Forewing length 22–24 mm; yellow with blurry black lines; basal and medial lines absent, and space between antemedial and subterminal lines brown; crescent-shaped orbicular spot; reniform spot arrow tip-shaped, curving inwards on outer margin with lunate marking near inner margin; hindwing completely covered by gray scales; fringe black with some spots in yellow; pattern lines barely visible. Legs. Black with white joints and yellow tufts. Abdomen. Black with yellow intersternal membrane ventrally; dorsally with huge black line of tufts with some scales in white; anal papilla covered by yellow scales. Female genitalia. Anal papilla remarkably short; sterigma considerably wide; posterior apophysis round, 2× larger than anal papilla; appendix bursae sclerotized, ⅓× shorter than the corpus bursae; A8 membrane with a projection resembling small anal papilla.

Figure 2. 

Relationships between the species Panthea hondurensis and other Panthea species employing a Maximum Likelihood analysis based on the cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI). Nodes with black circles represent high support (UFBoot ≥ 95 and SH-aLRT ≥ 80). Nodes with gray circles represent low support (UFBoot < 95 and SH-aLRT < 80). Black branches represent the outgroups.

The minimum DNA barcode divergence is 4.28% compared to L. marmorifera.

Figures 3–5. 

Lafontaineana marmorifera 3 head, ♂, Cundinamarca, Colombia MGCL 4 holotype ♂, New Grenada (Colombia), NHMUK 5 holotype genitalia ♂, New Grenada (Colombia), NHMUK.

The holotype, the only known specimen, was found in the cloud forest of southern Ecuador (Fig. 35).

Known only from the holotype, which has the tornus of the left forewing broken (Fig. 16), and the right forewing broken at cell R5. The DNA voucher label (Arcec 30166) is different from the voucher published at http://barcodinglife.com (Arcec 31097) probably by a confusion.

Figures 6–20. 

Adult habitus of Lichnoptera, Lafontaineana, and Panthea 6 Lichnoptera gulo, ♂, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 7 L. gulo, ♀, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 8 Lafontaineana marmorifera, ♂, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 9 L. marmorifera, ♀, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 10 L. imama, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Tolima, Colombia 11 L. imama, ♀, MGCL, paratype, Tolima, Colombia 12 L. puma, ♂, CNC, holotype, La Alegria, Ecuador 13 L. puma, ♀, CNC, paratype, La Alegria, Ecuador 14 L. thuta, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Loja, Ecuador 15 L. thuta, ♀, MGCL, paratype, Sucumbios, Ecuador 16 L. alexandrae, ♀, FSU, holotype, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador 17 Panthea guatemala, ♂, CNC, San Lorenzo, Guatemala 18 P. hondurensis, ♂, MGCL, holotype, Francisco Morazán, Honduras 19 P. reducta, CNC, ♂, Pedernales, Dominican Republic 20 P. taina, ♂, La Vega, MGCL, holotype, Dominican Republic.

Holotype: ♂, Columbia, Tolima, Nevado del Tolima, 4°36'02"N, 75°19'51"W, 2600 m, 5–7 Dec. 2013, legit Victor Sinyaev & Mildred Márquez / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049058. [DNA voucher MGCL-NOC-65241] deposited in MGCL. Paratype (1 ♀ MGCL): Colombia, Tolima, Cerro Bravo, La Libia, 5°06'21"N, 75°16'22"W, 15.-18. Dec. 2015, 3000 m, leg Sinyaev & Machado coll. Dr. Ron Brechlin / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049056.

Imama is the common name of the jaguar Panthera onca (Linnaeus) in the Embera language. The name is a noun in apposition.

Lafontaineana imama and L. puma resemble each other; however, L. imama has a more squared forewing shape. Also, the forewing is paler and shorter, the copper color standing out over the black and brown patterns barely visible. In addition, in L. imama the polygons on the thorax are clearly separated, while in L. puma some polygons are fused in the middle of the thorax. In the male genitalia the valva is noticeably wider than in L. puma, but the apex is much shorter; the vesica has a smaller diverticulum and a shorter row of spines. In the female, the corpus bursae and appendix bursae are narrower than in L. puma, and the papillae anales are also wider in L. puma.

Head. Palpus with the last segment pale yellow with some spots in black, female with longer spots; frons divided into black and yellow. Thorax. The black polygons are separated from each other by pale-yellow lines; grayish blue ventrally. Wing. Forewing length, male 19–21 mm; female 23–25 mm; forewing pale yellow with black lines and brownish yellow scales in median field; a pale-yellow band in the fold; black orbicular spot square with a yellow dot on the middle; rectangular reniform spot with the outer margin slightly concave and a black lunate marking inside close to the upper area, while female with presenting only a small dot; hindwing with brown veins; fringe same yellow color with some black spots extending through costal and Sc+R1 cells; tornal lunate marking relatively large; female costal and Sc+R1 cells with large black and pale-yellow spots with the black lines extending and forming discal, medial, and postmedial lines; female tornal lunate marking fused with the postmedial line expanding through 2A and CuA2 cells; black line on the outer margin between 2A and CuA2 vein ends in both sexes. Legs. black with some patches in pale yellow on the joints and yellow tufts on the back area of the legs. Abdomen. Brown covered by white scales except for A8, which is brown in male ventrally; upper side complete orange with a small line of tufts except on A8; female brown with the intersternal membrane white and the last segment yellow ventrally but dorsally similar to male with the A7 and A8 brown, line of tufts with some white scales dorsally. Male genitalia. Very wide cucullar region, square apex with rounded edges, densely clothed by setae; costal margin with remarkably swollen protuberance; saccular region narrow and its process narrower; juxta spoon-like and quite concave on the upper side; aedeagus short and narrow; diverticulum is not very prominent; line of spines short. Female genitalia. Anal papilla small; sterigma sclerotized, thin and elongated; posterior apophysis reduced and almost imperceptible; appendix bursae sclerotized, ⅛ × shorter than the corpus bursae.

Figures 21–24. 

Male genitalia of Lichnoptera and Lafontaineana 21 Lichnoptera gulo, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 22 L. imama, MGCL, holotype, Tolima, Colombia 23 L. puma, CNC, holotype, La Alegria, Ecuador 24 L. thuta, MGCL, holotype, Loja, Ecuador.

Although Lafontaineana imama looks externally most similar to L. puma, the DNA barcode of L. imama is closer to that of L. thuta, differing by only 1.07%. Unfortunately, the DNA of L. puma was not available for comparison.

The two known specimens were found in deciduous forests of west-central Colombia (Fig. 35).

Holotype and paratype are in perfect condition (Figs 10, 11).

Holotype: ♂, New Grenada (Colombia), coll. Mr. Marks, labeled “Diphtera marmorifera” / [Red labeled] deposited in NHMUK. Additional examined specimens (3 ♂, 1 ♀ MGCL): Colombia, Cundinamarca, Guasca, El Chochal de Siecha, 3120 m, 28 Nov. 2019, coll. Jose I. Martinez / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049165. [DNA voucher MGCL-NOC-65368]. Colombia, Cundinamarca dept., Vereda La Concepción, Bosque La Guajira, 4°47'34"N, 75°46'60"W, 9–12 IV 2014, 2910 m, coll. M. Márquez & J. Machado (2 ♂). Colombia, Cundinamarca dept., Vereda La Concepción, Bosque La Guajira, 4°47'34"N, 75°46'60"W, 10–13 I 2015, 2910 m coll. Dr. Ron Brechlin / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049167 (1 ♀).

The name marmorifera is probably derived from the marbled coloration of the forewings of this species.

Lafontaineana marmorifera is relatively easy to distinguish from other species because of its pale sulfur yellow color, with brown and black patterns on the lightly squared forewing. Forewing with a large squared orbicular spot and semi-rhomboid-shaped reniform spot, which are totally different from other species. Hindwing with black lines at the end of each vein, a white fringe, and a long discal spot. Forewing length male 18–20 mm, female 24–26 mm. Palp pale sulfur-yellow with black patches on the second segment; antenna black; male thorax is pale sulfur-yellow, paler than the forewings on the dorsal surface, with black polygons outlined with white scales, the ventral area is dark gray. Abdomen dark brown with the two wide stripes and very narrow line of tufts. Male genitalia valva considerably wide; apex rounded; an extension present on the costal margin; sacculus wide with the process same size as sacculus; aedeagus 4⅓ × longer than wide; vesica short and broad with medial diverticulum equal in size to the base of the vesica; vesica with dense line of spines.

The DNA barcode of Lafontaineana marmorifera is close to that of L. alexandrae (see L. alexandrae genetic characterization).

The type specimen was labeled as coming from New Grenada, which was a territory that comprised the four countries Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. However, curators at the NHMUK in the early 20^th century added a label that says Colombia (Fig. 35).

Holotype with both antennae broken, the right hindwing is also broken on the CuA2 cell (Fig. 4). However, the other examined specimens are in very good condition.

Holotype: ♂, Ecuador, La Alegria, 2700 m, 14–15 Sep. 1977, coll. Luis E. Peña / LACM ENT 332567 deposited in CNC. Paratype (1 ♀ CNC): Same collecting data as holotype / LACM ENT 332566.

Since the name “Jaguar Moth” makes reference to wild cats in general, the word puma was chosen in reference to the cougar (Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771), which also means powerful in the Quechua language. The specific name is a noun in apposition.

The only species that looks very similar to Lafontaineana puma is L. imama (see diagnosis of L. imama). However, the main external morphological character is the dorsal fusion of polygons in the middle of the thorax; internally the vesica has a remarkably reduced medial diverticulum.

Head. Last segment of the palpus in white with scattered black scales, male darker than female; frons covered by black and yellow scales in male, while grey and yellow in female. Thorax. Whitish yellow; polygon on the middle and those on each side of the posterior area from the mesothorax are fused, while the two lateral polygons remain separated; ventrally clothed by white and black scales Wing. Forewing length male 23–25 mm; female 28–30 mm; forewing same yellow color as the thorax; black linear patterns and the space in median field coppery; orbicular spot with the upper and lower sides flattened and large yellow spot in the middle; reniform spot D-shaped outlined with black rectangle; relatively large lunate marking within the reniform spot; hindwing with pale-orange veins and some small black dots; silvery white fringe on the outer margin, while the posterior margin has some brown scales; three well-developed black spots on costal and Sc+R1 cells, narrower in female; small discal spot; discal, medial, and postmedial lines absent in both sexes; tornal lunate marking very small in male and normally expanded through 2A and CuA2 cells in female. Legs. black with a small yellow line in each joint; yellow tufts, darker in male. Abdomen. The orange lines and the brown line in the middle almost the same size; male with completely brown tufts, female with yellow ends; genitalia covered with orange scales; brownish gray ventrally in male and brown with some brownish gray scales and yellow intersternal membrane in female. Male genitalia. Narrow and pointed cucullus; apex rounded and covered by setae; costal margin slightly swollen; sacculus wide with a lightly narrow process; juxta shield-shaped with the upper edges flattened; aedeagus slightly long; diverticulum relatively prominent; line of spines long and curved along on upper side of vesica. Female genitalia. Anal papilla wide; sterigma with long and wide opening; posterior apophysis length 1¼ × anal papilla; appendix bursae and corpus bursae similar in size.

Unknown.

Both specimens were found in deciduous forests in western Ecuador (Fig. 35).

Attempts to extract DNA from these specimens were unsuccessful.

Holotype: ♂, Ecuador 8 km SE of Loja, Parque Nacional Podocarpus Cajanuma, mont. rainforest, Blacklight 2 × 15W, 2897 m, 26 iii. 2011, 04°06.86'S, 79°10.47'W, coll. Lisa Lehner & Marc Adams / DNA Barcode run 2013, COI-5P marker, University of Guelph / Arcec 32455. deposited in FSU. Paratypes (1 ♂ FSU): Ecuador Zamora-Chinchipe, Cerro Toledo, Elfin forest, Parque Nacional Podocarpus Cajanuma, mont. rainforest, Blacklight 2 × 15W, 2938 m, 6 Feb. 2013, coll. Gunnar Brehm (1 ♂). (1 ♂, 1 ♀ MGCL): Ecuador, Pichincha, Quito/ Chiriboga Km 33, 2650 m, 25 Apr. 1976, coll. N. Venedictoff (1 ♂). Ecuador, Sucumbios, El Playon, 2 km to Minas, 0°37'24"N, 77°39'51"W, 18.-19. II 2013, 3320m, leg. Sinjaev & Romanov / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1049166 (1 ♀).

The name thuta means moth in the Quechua language. The specific name is a noun in apposition.

Lafontaineana thuta can be differentiated externally from the other species of genus Lafontaineana by the minute yellow dot on the orbicular spot. Internally, L. thuta possesses a prominent diverticulum on vesica similar to L. marmorifera and L. puma, but the line of spines is narrower than L. marmorifera and shorter than L. puma.

Head. Black palpus with some scattered yellow scales on last segment; frons yellow with few black scales. Thorax. Sulfur-yellow with a horizontal line on the metathorax with the end near to the abdomen black; polygons small and separated by sulfur-yellow lines; abdominal side gray; dark orange setal tufts. Wing. Forewing length male 19–21 mm; female 25–27 mm; sulfur-yellow with black and dark brown patterns; forewing same yellow as thorax; median field dark brown; orbicular spot with a minute yellow dot; reniform spot bean-like with a large dot close to inner margin; hindwing white with orange veins; fringe sulfur-yellow, paler than the forewing; costal margin with black fringe and some yellow scales; posterior margin with white scales; costal and Sc+R1 cells with large black and white patches; small discal spot and tornal lunate marking. Legs. Black with large sulfur-yellow and white patches. Abdomen. Brown dorsally with a huge black line of tufts from A2 extending and expanding through the subsequent tergites making the orange lines narrower; white scales at the ends of the tufts; yellowish white with brown scales on the intersternal membrane ventrally. Male genitalia. Tegumen short; wide cucullus with a square-shaped apex, clothed by setae; costal margin lightly expanded; sacculus wide and process with a small projection on posterior margin; juxta broadly spoon-shaped with slightly concavity on upper area; aedeagus with huge diverticulum; wide line of spines, long spines. Female genitalia. Anal papilla short and squared; sterigma semi-sclerotized, large and widely opened; posterior apophysis 3 × longer than anal papilla; appendix bursae ⅙ × longer than the corpus bursae.

DNA barcoding of Lafontaineana thuta showed it to be closer to L. imama (see L. imama genetic characterization).

This species has been found only in high elevations of deciduous forests of Ecuador (Fig. 35).

Both holotype and paratype are in perfect condition (Figs 14, 15). As in L. alexandrae, the voucher number (Arcec 32455) is different from that published at http://barcodinglife.com confusion (Arcec 30239).

Holotype: ♂, Honduras: Fco. Morazán, Reserva Biológia Monte Uyuca, 1.600 m, 14.034858°, -87.075035°, 16 vii. 2015, coll. D. Matthews & J. Y. Miller / Honduras Biodiversity Survey MGCL Accession, #2015-56 / Barcode MGCL 270947, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity, UF. [DNA voucher LEP-75397] deposited in MGCL. Paratypes (1 ♂ MGCL): Same collecting data as holotype.

This species is named after the only country in which it is known to occur.

Panthea hondurensis is morphologically similar to P. guatemala. Externally, P. hondurensis is slightly smaller and darker with the lunate markings on the reniform spots longer than those of P. guatemala. In the male genitalia, P. hondurensis has wider valves without protuberances at the apex and shorter subuncal lobes. The aedeagus is noticeably shorter.

Figures 25–28. 

Male genitalia of Lafontaineana and Panthea 25 Panthea guatemala, CNC, Oaxaca, Mexico 26 P. hondurensis, MGCL, holotype, Francisco Morazán, Honduras 27 P. taina, MGCL, holotype, La Vega, Dominican Republic 28 P. reducta, ♂, CNC, Pedernales, Dominican Republic.

Only known from two male specimens. Head. Male antenna brown and bipectinate; palpus black and dark brown; frons marbled with brown, white, and gray scales. Thorax. Marbled with brown and gray scales forming polygons outlined by black scales. Wing. Forewing length in male 21–23 mm; forewing with the basal, antemedial, and medial lines all in black, while the postmedial line is brown highlighted with gray scales; orbicular spot not present; reniform spot formed by long lunate marking; hindwing whitish brown with dark brown veins; wide well-developed pale-brown discal line, while the medial line is inconspicuous; fringe alternating with black and whitish brown scales; legs black with some dark brown and gray spots. Abdomen. Darker brown than thorax; dorsal and ventral sides black, tergite ends brown; last abdominal segment with long brownish gray scales. Male genitalia. Tegumen narrow; simple valva with narrow cucullar region and flattened apex; saccular region 1½× wider than the cucullar region; saccular process ending in a Y-shaped clasper; juxta shield-shaped with the upper side concave; uncus tip flattened; subuncal lobes short; aedeagus short, 3× longer than width; vesica with a small basal diverticulum and a long sclerotized cornutus, second cornutus similar in size located laterally on the central region of the vesica.

Figures 29–34. 

Female genitalia of Lichnoptera and Lafontaineana 29 Lichnoptera gulo, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 30 Lafontaineana alexandrae, FSU, holotype, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador 31 L. imama, MGCL, paratype, Tolima, Colombia 32 L. marmorifera, MGCL, Cundinamarca, Colombia 33 L. puma, CNC, paratype, La Alegria, Ecuador 34 L. thuta, MGCL, paratype, Sucumbios, Ecuador.

DNA barcodes of Panthea guatemala and P. hondurensis differ by 1%, comparable to differences between other closely related species of the genus (Schmidt and Anweiler 2020) (Fig. 2).

The only two known specimens were found in the cloud forest of south-central Honduras (Fig. 36).

The holotype (Fig. 18) and paratype are in perfect condition.

Holotype: ♂, Dominican Republic, Prov. La Vega 5 km W. of Manabao, 19–23-IV-2000, Blacklight, 3050 ft elev., coll. R. E. Woodruff & T. J. Henry / Finca Eladio Fernandez “Paso la Perra”, along Rio Yaque del Norte 3050 ft elev. / UF, FLMNH, MGCL 1034189. [DNA voucher LEP-75402] deposited in MGCL. Paratypes (1 ♂ MGCL): Same collecting data as holotype.

The word taina comes from the Taínos, a group of indigenous people of the Caribbean islands.

Panthea taina is most similar to P. reducta (Fig. 21), but they can be easily separated: Panthea taina is larger with darker wing markings, the transverse lines of the forewings are well developed, whereas in P. reducta they are inconspicuous. In P. taina the medial line is separated from the reniform spot, whereas in P. reducta the medial line is fused with the reniform spot, forming a square. The orbicular spot is present as a small line in P. taina, but is absent in P. reducta. The hindwing of P. taina has well-developed lines, which are absent in P. reducta. In the male genitalia, P. taina has longer valves and a pointed apex, while in P. reducta the valves are short and the apex rounded. The tegumen is wider in P. reducta and its subuncal lobes reduced, compared to the large and prominent lobes in P. reducta.

Only known from two male specimens. Head. Male antenna is bipectinate and dark orange in color; dark brown palpus; dark grayish brown frons. Thorax. Marbled with brown and gray scales, with some patches of black scales. Wing. Forewing length of male 22–24 mm; forewing with all lines well-developed; orbicular spot formed by a small black line; reniform spot with a narrow lunate marking; hindwing paler color than forewing with black veins; discal spot V-shaped; medial and postmedial lines well developed; fringe black with white scales at the end of each vein. Legs. foreleg black with some dark gray spots, while the midleg and hindleg are marbled in gray, brown, and black. Abdomen. Marbled with brown and black scales, end of each tergite with gray scales; last abdominal segment with whitish gray hair-like scales. Male genitalia. Tegumen narrow; simple valva with cucullar and saccular regions similar in size; apex pointed; saccular process ending in a long clasper with a rounded tip; juxta heart-shaped; uncus long with rounded tip; subuncal lobes wide and rounded; aedeagus short, 2× longer than width; vesica wide, bean-like, with a large sclerotized cornutus.

Figure 35. 

Distribution of examined specimens of Lafontaineana.

Unknown.

This species is endemic to the Dominican Republic and it was found in high elevations of the Cordillera Central (Fig. 36). Panthea taina and P. reducta may be endemic to two different mountain chains, P. reducta occurring in the Sierra de Bahoruco, 130 km far from the Cordillera Central.

Figure 36. 

Distribution of examined specimens of Panthea.

The holotype (Fig. 20) as well as the paratype are in perfect condition.