A New and Rare Actinote Hübner (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Acraeini) from Southeastern Brazil

The present paper describes a new species of Actinote (Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae, Acraeini), Actinote keithbrowni Freitas, Francini & Mielke sp. nov ., from southeastern Brazil, based on morphological and molecular data. The new species is very similar in wing pattern to Actinote eberti , within what we term the “light-gray mimicry complex.” The host plants and immature stages of the new species are unknown. Actinote keithbrowni sp. nov . is one of the rarest species of Actinote from Brazil: in total, only eight individuals of this species are known from a narrow region of the Itatiaia massif despite years of collecting effort in that region since the 1940s.