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

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 Warren, 1897, a Boarmiini genus endemic to the Neotropical Region, through the description of 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 (Fabaceae). This contribution represents the first female description for and provides a new opportunity to improve the understanding of the evolution of flightlessness in geometrid moths.