Flightless Females in the Neotropical Moth Genus Cataspilates Warren (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) †

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Adults are winged and able to fly in most Lepidoptera species. However, adults of some species are unable to fly, since their wings are reduced or absent. In the moth family Geometridae (geometrid moths), wing reduction is restricted to females. The aim of this study is to provide the first record of flightless females for a South American genus of the tribe Boarmiini of the geometrid moth family through the description of a new species from the arid Andes of northern Chile. Analysis of DNA sequences was used to confirm that males and females examined in this study are conspecific. This contribution provides a new opportunity to improve the understanding of the evolution of wing reduction in geometrid moths. ABSTRACT: Although adults are winged and able to fly in most Lepidoptera species, they are apterous or brachypterous and unable to fly in others, such as the flightless females of some geometrid moths. Records of flightless females in the highly diverse and widespread tribe Boarmiini (Geometridae: Ennominae) are mainly restricted to some Nearctic and Palearctic genera. The aim of this study is to provide the first record of flightless females for Cataspilates Warren, 1897, a Boarmiini genus endemic to the Neotropical Region, through the description of Cataspilates marceloi sp. nov. from the arid highlands of the western slopes of the Andes of northern Chile. DNA barcodes confirmed the conspecificity of brachypterous females and winged males reared from larvae collected on the native shrub Adesmia spinosissima (Fabaceae). This contribution represents the first female description for Cataspilates and provides a new opportunity to improve the understanding of the evolution of flightlessness in geometrid moths.