Opoptera mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989

Cajé, Suianne, Casagrande, Mirna Martins, Piovesan, Mônica, Lamas, Gerardo & Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik, 2025, Opoptera Aurivillius, 1882 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Brassolini): Taxonomic revision, molecular phylogeny and description of a new species, Zootaxa 5582 (1), pp. 1-76 : 43-44

Opoptera mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 stat. nov.

Fig. 34

Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 . Rev. Soc. Mex. Lep. 13 (1): 26, 27, figs 1, 2 (female d, v); holotype female, 16-VIII-1986, 18 km, north of Solistahuacán , Chiapas, Mexico, 1800 m a.s.l., Bosque Mesófilo de Montaña, Javier de la Maza leg., Collection de la Maza — Wolfe, 2017. News Lepid. Soc. 59 (1): 28, 29 .

Mimoblepia staudingeri mexicana ; Casagrande, 2004. Brassolini , in Lamas (ed.) Checklist: Part 4A, Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea, in Heppner (ed.). Atlas Neotrop. Lep. 5A, p. 203.

Taxonomic history. Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza (1989) was transferred to Mimoblepia by Casagrande (2004). Penz (2009) synonymized Mimoblepia with Opoptera and went back to the original combination Opoptera staudingeri mexicana .

Type material. Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 was described based on a female from Solistahuacán, Chiapas, Mexico. The holotype is deposited in the de la Maza family collection, with the following labels: / Selva Negra Chis. 1800 m. 16-VIII-86 Col. J. de la Maza/ HOLOTIPO ♀ Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. de la Maza E. / ( Fig. 34 ).

Diagnosis. DFW of the female with apex rounded, without orange band in the discal cell. HW without tail prolongation. Differs from Opoptera staudingeri by not having the orange band on DFW and by having a submarginal band between M 3 –CuA 2 on VFW ( Fig. 34 ).

Male genitalia. Not examined.

Female genitalia. Not examined.

Comments. Based on photos of the holotype, forewing length, female (n = 1): 48 mm, and hindwing length: 41 mm.

Opoptera mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 stat. nov. is a poorly sampled species. To date, only the female has been documented, with the specimen deposited in the private collection of the de la Maza family. Since its description, Opoptera mexicana has been treated as a subspecies. However, when examining the specimens of Opoptera staudingeri ( Godman & Salvin, 1894) and photos of female Opoptera mexicana , morphological differences of the adults and larvae do not support this status.

Geographic distribution. Mexico * (Chiapas) (J. Maza & R. G. Maza 1989); Honduras * ( Wolfe 2017) ( Fig. 60 ). Elevation of 1,800 m, according to the single elevation record.

Temporal distribution. Based on the material examined, fly in August.

Specimens examined. Photos of the holotype of Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 .

Figures

FIGURE 34. Opoptera mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989 stat. nov.: Female holotype of Opoptera staudingeri mexicana J. Maza & R. G. Maza, 1989: a. dorsal view, b. ventral view. Scale bar: 1 cm. Photos: J. de la Maza & R. G. de la Maza.

FIGURE 60. Geographical distribution of Opoptera species. The asterisk (*) inside the localities symbols indicates that the distribution data were taken originate from the literature.