Abstract
A new species of cicinnine Mimallonidae, Cicinnus chambersisp. nov., is described from the Sky Islands Region of southern Arizona, USA. The new species is closely related to C. mexicana (Druce), type locality Veracruz, Mexico, based on morphology and genetics. The other Cicinnus species known from the United States, the common C. melsheimeri (type locality Pennsylvania, USA) is morphologically and genetically distinct from both C. chambersi and C. mexicana. The new species is compared to C. mexicana and C. melsheimeri, as well as other Mexican Cicinnus. The life history of C. chambersi is unknown, but its description should facilitate future studies on this rarely reported North American mimallonid, a species which may have only recently become established in the United States. Cicinnus chambersi is the fifth known Mimallonidae species from the United States, and the first described from the country in nearly half a century.
Highlights
Mimallonidae are a family of approximately 300 species of moths endemic to the New World, with the vast majority of species found in Central and South America (St Laurent and Kawahara 2019)
This systematic body of work has provided an understanding of the relative relationships of the two valid genera of Mimallonidae found in the United States and Canada, with Lacosoma being the type genus of Lacosominae and Cicinnus the type genus of Cicinninae; which are relatively distantly related within Mimallonidae
Adult Cicinnus a dorsal b ventral C. chambersi ♀ paratype, USA, Arizona, Cochise Co., Copper Canyon, Huachuca Mts, 1828 m (MGCL) C. melsheimeri ♀, USA, Texas, Cameron Co., Brownsville (MGCL) C. undescribed near mexicana ♂, Guatemala, Zacapa, Sierra de las Minas, N Rio Hondo, E San Lorenzo, Cerro Monos env., 2243 m (MGCL) C. mexicana ♂, Guatemala, Baja Verapaz, SE Purulhá, Ranchitos de Quetzal, Parque Ecológico Gucumatz, 1660 m (MGCL)
Summary
Mimallonidae are a family of approximately 300 species of moths endemic to the New World, with the vast majority of species found in Central and South America (St Laurent and Kawahara 2019). Adult Cicinnus a dorsal b ventral C. chambersi ♀ paratype, USA, Arizona, Cochise Co., Copper Canyon, Huachuca Mts, 1828 m (MGCL) C. melsheimeri ♀, USA, Texas, Cameron Co., Brownsville (MGCL) C. undescribed near mexicana ♂, Guatemala, Zacapa, Sierra de las Minas, N Rio Hondo, E San Lorenzo, Cerro Monos env., 2243 m (MGCL) C. mexicana ♂, Guatemala, Baja Verapaz, SE Purulhá, Ranchitos de Quetzal, Parque Ecológico Gucumatz, 1660 m (MGCL).
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