Ocaria cinerea (Lathy)

Faynel, Christophe, Busby, Robert C., Dolibaina, Diego R., Huertas, Blanca & Fåhraeus, Christer, 2025, A review of the Ocaria arpoxais species group (Lycaenidae: Theclinae) with the description of a new species previously confused with O. cinerea (Lathy), Zootaxa 5618 (1), pp. 47-67 : 54

Ocaria cinerea (Lathy)

( Figures 1 , 6–7 , 16 , 22 , 26 , 31 , 35 )

Diagnosis. Ocaria cinerea is characterized by the following: (1) DFW blue covering most of the inner margin in males; (2) VFW white suffusion extending to CuA 1, often to CuA 2; (3) VHW light-blue line in CuA 2 –2A displaced downward; (4) VHW cells M 2 –CuA 1 and CuA 1 –CuA 2 with sparse submarginal white scales between postmedian line and distal margin; and (5) VHW cubital spot either a tiny black mark or absent ( Fig. 16 ).

Type Material. The description of Thecla cinerea Lathy was based on a single male [holotype] ( Fig. 6 ), from Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, deposited at the MNHN with the following labels: Thecla ♀ undulata Hew. St. Cath. // Thecla ♂ cinerea, Lathy spec[imen]. Typicum // MNHN, Paris EL84502 // NHM -B. Huertas Prél. Tissu 23.2.2024 ADN-EL84502 .

Distribution. This species is an endemic lowland Atlantic Forest only found in the eastern areas of the southern Brazilian states, from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul ( Fig. 31 ).

Remarks. Despite its restricted distribution, the name has been misused to a similar and closely allied species endemic to the tropical eastern foothills of the Andes ( d’Abrera 1995, Robbins 2004a, Lamas et al. 2021). Morphological and DNA evidence confirm there are two distinct taxa, with the widespread Andean species described below as O. delphinae sp. nov.

The label transcribed above on the holotype of O. cinerea is very peculiar. It identifies the male holotype as a female of Thecla undulata Hewitson (currently in Brevianta K. Johnson, Kruse & Kroenlein ) and lists the locality “St. Cath.”, likely referring to Santa Catarina state, Brazil. However, the holotype is unequivocally male, exhibits no resemblance to B. undulata , and, according to the original description, was collected in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. In his comprehensive review of the type material of Neotropical Lycaenidae at the MNHN, Johnson (1991) did not mention this label. Instead, he reported a label associated with the type of Thecla cinerea bearing the text “Rio Grande”, which is no longer associated with the holotype. The holotype specimen was photographed with this label in a complementary work on the MNHN type material ( Faynel & Bálint 2004), but the authors didn’t detect the problem. We conclude that the ‘peculiar’ label most likely was mixed with that of another specimen.

Natural history. There is little information on natural behavior. Males from Joinville were collected on a lowelevation summit known as Serrinha, suggesting they were hilltoping, a trait observed in other species of Ocaria .

Material examined. BRAZIL. Rio de Janeiro. 1♀, Petrópolis, Morro da Independência, 900m, 31.viii.1936, P. Gagarin leg., DZ62.460 ( DZUP). Santa Catarina. 1♂, Joinville , 23.xi.1941, DZ62.457 ( DZUP); 1♂, same locality, 3.x.1967, H. Miers leg., AMC379 ( AMC); 1♂, same locality, Serrinha, 200m, 4.v.1978, O. Mielke & H. Miers leg., DZ62.455 ( DZUP); 1♀, same locality, 2.ix.1982, O. Mielke leg. DZ62.458, illustrated on Fig. 7 ( DZUP); 1♂, same locality, 20.iii.2010, O. Mielke & G. Moreira leg., DZ 62.454* ( DZUP); 3♂, same locality, 01.xi.2017 (x2), 17.xii.2017, Rank leg., DZ62.461*, DZ62.462, DZ62.463* ( DZUP); 1♀, São Bento do Sul, 10.v.1975, DZ62.459 ( DZUP); 1♀, same locality, 600m, 24.ii.1971, DZ62.456 ( DZUP); 2♂, same locality, 830m, 1.iii.2005, CF-LYC-1697* & CF-LYC-1710* ( CF); 1♂, same locality, Morro da Igreja , 500–850m, 17.v.2003, A. Moser & I. Rank leg., AMC381 ( AMC); 1♀, same locality, Rio Vermelho , 850m, 3–5.vi.2002, I. Rank leg., AMC380 ( AMC); 1♂, same locality, 2.iii.2017, CF-LYC-1390* ( CF). Rio Grande do Sul. 1♂, HOLOTYPE Thecla cinerea, MNHN EL 84502, ADN-EL84502*, illustrated on Fig. 6 ( MNHN).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ocaria species group, phylogenetic tree generated with IQ-Tree using 51 COI sequences. Each specimen has the following information: process ID, scientific name, sample ID, sex, country and department, elevation. Method of construction of the tree: Maximum-Likelihood.

FIGURES 2–13. Ocaria arpoxais species group, adults in dorsal (left) and ventral view. 2. Ocaria arpoxais, ♂, Mexico, Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas (CF). 3. Ocaria arpoxais, ♀, Mexico, Veracruz, Catemaco (RCB). 4. Ocaria delphinae sp. nov., holotype ♂, Peru, Ucayali, Atalaya (MUSM). 5. Ocaria delphinae sp. nov., paratype ♀, Peru, Huánuco, Chaupiyunca (CF). 6. Ocaria cinerea, holotype ♂, Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul (MNHN). 7. Ocaria cinerea, ♀, Brazil, Santa Catarina, Joinville (DZUP). 8. Ocaria clepsydra, ♂, Peru, Puno, Sandia (FILS). 9. Ocaria clepsydra, ♀, Ecuador, Pichincha (RCB). 10. Ocaria moseranki comb. nov., ♂, Brazil, São Paulo, Campos do Jordão (CF). 11. Ocaria moseranki comb. nov., ♀, Brazil, Santa Catarina, Joaçaba (DZUP). 12. Ocaria sadiei, ♂, Ecuador, Pastaza, Puyo-Villano Rd (RCB). 13. Ocaria sadiei, ♀, Colombia, Boyacá (JFLC).

FIGURES 14–19. Ocaria arpoxais species group, male wing pattern diagnostic characters. The dorsal view (at left) shows the androconial patch delimited in yellow and the end of the discal cell in red. Yellow arrows and markings indicate key characters to distinguish taxa. 14. Ocaria arpoxais. 15. Ocaria delphinae sp. nov. 16. Ocaria cinerea. 17. Ocaria clepsydra. 18. Ocaria moseranki comb. nov. 19. Ocaria sadiei. Images are not at same scale for comparison purpose.

FIGURES 20–24. Ocaria arpoxais species group, male genitalia. Left lateral view with dorsal brush organs and penis in place (at left), ventral view without brush organs and penis: 20. O. arpoxais. 21. O. clepsydra. 22. O. cinerea. 23. O. moseranki comb. nov. Male Ocaria delphinae sp. nov., from left to right: 24. left lateral view with dorsal brush organs and penis in place, detail of the apical part of the penis in lateral (top) and dorsal view (arrow a: ventral terminal triangular keel, arrow b: horseshoe-shaped rank of thorns), dorsal view with brush organs, left lateral view with brush organs and penis removed, ventral view.

FIGURES 25–27. Ocaria arpoxais species group, female genitalia. Left lateral view (at left) and ventral view: 25. Ocaria moseranki comb. nov. 26. O. cinerea. 27. Ocaria delphinae sp. nov.

FIGURES 28–31. Geographic distribution of the species of Ocaria belonging to the arpoxais group (red dot inside the sign for other sources than collections). 28. O. arpoxais and O. clepsydra. 29. Ocaria delphinae sp. nov. 30. O. sadiei. 31. O. cinerea and O. moseranki comb. nov.

FIGURES 32–36. Ocaria arpoxais species group, adults in situ. 32. ♂ Ocaria delphinae sp. nov., Tarapoto ridge, 1200m, San Martin, Peru, 19 Sept. 2018 (© John Vallender). 33. ♂ Ocaria arpoxais, Lita, Pedro Vicente Maldonado, 800m, Ecuador, Sept. 2021 (© David Geale). 34. ♂ Ocaria clepsydra, Reserva de la Biosfera Sumaco, El Chaco, 1600m, Napo Ecuador, 25 Nov. 2019 (© Karen Nichols). 35. ♀? Ocaria cinerea, Santo Aleixo, Magé, 100m, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 12 June 2023 (© Edvandro de Abreu Ribeiro). 36. ♂ Ocaria sadiei, Nocaima, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 1200m, 6 Jan. 2024 (© Oscar Enciso). Pictures not at same scale.