Revision of the genus Vanenga Schaus, 1928 (Lepidoptera, Mimallonoidea, Mimallonidae) with the description of a new species

By

St Laurent, Ryan
Herbin, Daniel

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

644

Pages

89-104

Subjects

Argentina , Brazil , Paraguay , Uruguay , Vanenga mediorosea sp. n , Vanenga mera

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.644.10705

 

Abstract

Vanenga Schaus, 1928, like many other Mimallonidae genera being revised in recent years, has not been studied since Schaus (1928) in his revision of the family. This currently monotypic genus is entirely restricted to South America, with no known representatives in Central or North America. Prior to this work, Schaus (1928) and subsequent lists of the family (Gaede 1931, Becker 1996) have mentioned the single species V. mera (Dognin, 1924) described from the Brazilian Amazon (Pará state). In Schaus (1928) this species is listed as occurring in both Amazonia and southeastern Brazil. In completing the present article, numerous “type” specimens have been discovered bearing three different manuscript names associated with the populations of southeastern Brazil and adjacent areas. Despite the fact that these names were written on various labels, the absence of any published descriptions results in them being unavailable (ICZN 1999). Therefore, this distinct southern South American species is now officially recognized and formally described, as well as providing a much more thorough distribution for both Vanenga species, including many new records for V. mera.