New bugs - Belize

[jshuey]

I've been catching up on back log at home, and finally plowed into the drawer with these two species. The top one is a new species of Saturnus that is very close to Saturnus reticulata obscurus. I have found the new bug only in the grasslands on top of Baldy Beacon, while S. reticulata obscurus is pretty common in rainforest habitats nearby.

The bottom one is either a new species or a "way out of range" Quasimellana siblinga. Q. siblinga is known only from high altitude grasslands in west-central Mexico at the moment. This too came from Baldy Beacon.

John

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[rayrard]

Nice skippers. They remind me of the North American Euphyes/Poanes swamp skippers

[jshuey]

Oct 19, 2015 8:04:47 GMT -8 rayrard said:

Nice skippers. They remind me of the North American Euphyes/Poanes swamp skippers

Indeed - where they fly there is a fairly common Euphyes kicking around - E. peneia.

With two exceptions, (Atalopedes campestris and Polites vibex, any time you see a "North American" looking skipper - it is probably a great bug. For some reason, skippers like that are few and far between - and when you spot them, they are generally not something you catch every day.

j

[cabintom]

Congrats on these finds! I've just been looking through Torben Larsen's, sadly, unfinished work on African skippers, and have a new found appreciation for these insects.