Drepatelodes chicomende s Orlandin & Piovesan, 2025

Orlandin, Elton, Piovesan, Mônica & Carneiro, Eduardo, 2025, New species and taxonomic notes on the Apatelodidae (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea), Zootaxa 5642 (1), pp. 1-15 : 3

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5642.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4CB9724B-619D-4E39-9859-03CF5E4BB6DD
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15644261
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/454AF15E-A741-FFDE-C282-FF3EFD9C3900
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Drepatelodes chicomende s Orlandin & Piovesan
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Drepatelodes chicomende s Orlandin & Piovesan sp. nov. ( Figs 1A–B View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 )

Diagnosis. Drepatelodes chicomendes sp. nov. ( Figs 1A–B View FIGURE 1 ) has a habitus similar to Drepatelodes karusakaibu sp. nov. ( Figs 1C–D View FIGURE 1 ) but is slightly larger than the latter and has a less irregular line in the submarginal region of the forewing. Also, the genitalia of D. chicomendes sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 ) resemble those of D. karusakaibu sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 ), Drepatelodes manaos sp. nov. ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ) and Drepatelodes cabore sp. nov. ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ), but it can be distinguished from these by the following combination of characters: valvae not exceeding the posterior portion of the uncus (in D. cabore sp. nov., D. karusakaibu sp. nov., and D. manaos sp. nov., the valvae exceed the posterior portion of the uncus); sacculus with a small triangular projection (in D. cabore sp. nov., D. karusakaibu sp. nov., and D. manaos sp. nov., the sacculus has a more elongated, digitiform projection); aedeagus without a sclerotized projection laterally in the apical half (present in D. cabore sp. nov., D. karusakaibu sp. nov., and D. manaos sp. nov.).

Description. Male. Head: antenna brownish beige, approximately 1/3 the length of the forewing costal margin, bipectinate at the tip; labial palpus, first and second segments covered by large beige and brown scales. Thorax: brownish beige, dorsally with a brown central longitudinal line. Forewing. Length: 20 mm (n=1). Upperside: brownish beige speckled with brown scales, with three transverse parallel brown lines from costal to inner margin; close to the submarginal region, a brown irregular line from Rs 4 to CuA 2; submarginal region more brownish from Rs 4 to M 3. Underside: similar to the upperside, but ground color paler, without speckled brown scales and barely visible brown lines. Hindwing. Upperside: brownish beige, postdiscal region browner. Underside: brownish beige speckled with brown scales. Abdomen: brownish beige, dorsally with a brown central longitudinal line; ventrally with a pearl central longitudinal line, bordered by a pair of brown lines ( Figs 1A–B View FIGURE 1 ). Genitalia. Tegumen shield-like, sclerotized. Saccus elongated, slightly curved dorsally, apex rounded. Uncus more sclerotized and longer than tegumen, in dorsal view almost as wide as the tegumen, distally strongly concave; in the distal 1/3 a thin, strongly sclerotized projection, ventrally inclined 90°, apex with three points, one proximal heart-shaped and two distally Vshaped; gnathos as sclerotized as the uncus, hook-shaped and pointed apically, mesally fused by a membrane; socii absent. Valvae less sclerotized than tegumen, parallel-sided, with rounded apex, not exceeding the posterior portion of the uncus; sacculus with small sclerotized spiniform process at approximately 1/3 of valvae length. Fultura inferior rectangular ( Figs 2A–C View FIGURE 2 ). Aedeagus short and thick. Vesica with a slightly curved, sclerotized, and pointed cornutus ( Fig. 2D View FIGURE 2 ).

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype. BRAZIL. 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Serra do Divisor , Mâncio Lima, Acre, deposited at the DZUP, with the following labels: / BRASIL, ACRE, MANCIO LIMA, PQ. NAC. SERRA DO DIVISOR, SEDE, SERRA, RIO MOA, 7–10, 13-X-2018, 7°26'37"S 73°40'17"W, 450m, O. MIELKE, CASAGRANDE, DOLIBAINA & MEDEIROS LEG./ DZ 43.421 / GEN. PREP. E. ORLANDIN 2021 / BC-DZ/ [red label] HOLOTYPUS Drepatelodes chicomende s Orlandin & Piovesan det. 2025/. Genitalia in vial glass with glycerine with the following label: / DZ 43.421 Drepatelodes chicomende s Orlandin & Piovesan 2025 /. CCDB code CMBUT1476 -20 GoogleMaps .—no paratypes.

Geographic distribution. This species is known only from the type locality, near the Peruvian border.

Etymology. The name is a tribute to Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, popularly known as Chico Mendes, a leader who fought to end the exploitation of rubber tappers, for the right to land for extractive peoples and the preservation of the Amazon Rainforest. Chico Mendes was murdered by landowners who opposed his activism. The name is a combination of Chico and Mendes.

Remarks. Drepatelodes chicomendes sp. nov. has a habitus similar to D. karusakaibu sp. nov.; besides the morphological differences observed in the male genitalia, the molecular distance (4.9%) ( Table 1 View TABLE 1 ) further corroborates the separation between the two species.