Rediscovery of two rare ptilodontines in Taiwan: Himeropteryx yui Okano, 1969 stat. nov. and Ptilophora rufula Kobayashi, 1994 (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae)
Author
Wu, Shipher
Author
Owada, Mamoru
Author
Fu, Chien-Ming
text
Zootaxa
2013
3702
2
193
197
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3702.2.8
69c63ae6-d200-4cb7-af63-a841a671af37
1175-5326
218086
F9046CAD-0AEF-4D1D-BD4E-3626295ACDE7
Himeropteryx yui
Okano, 1969
stat. nov.
(Figs 7, 8; 15–18,20)
Himeropteryx miraculosa yui
Okano, 1969
:
Tohoku Konchu Kenkyu
,
Morioka
, 3: 25.
Sugi, 1992
: 163
, incorrect year of publication given (as 1960);
Kobayashi, 2011
: 121
.
Specimens examined.
TAIWAN
.
1 male
and
1 female
, Hualien County, Jinma Tunnel,
2450 m
,
9-XI-2012
, leg. C. M. Fu (coll. C. M. Fu, Taichung);
3 males
, Hualien, Guanyuan,
2400 m
,
10-XI-2012
, leg. S. Wu;
1 male
, Hualien County, Tayuling,
2560 m
,
10-XI-2012
, leg. S. Wu (coll. TFRI).
Diagnosis.
Externally, this species is similar to
H. miraculosa
(Figs 1–6, 11–14, 19) but the brown forewing patches are more constrasting. The length of the antennal rami shorter, roughly 4 times rather than 6 times the shaft diameter in the longest, median region. In genital structures,
H. yui
can be distinguished by a small elliptical juxta rather than a large plate-like one; by a patch of small, scattered dentate cornuti rather than a narrow band or larger ones; by the ostium bursae showing a small medial incision rather than being smoothly transverse; and by the sclerotized region of ductus bursae being narrow and laterally incised near its base, rather than being wide and with parallel margins.
Description.
Since the male
holotype
of
H. miraculosa yui
was originally described
Okano,
1969
in Japanese, we here re-describe the male in English and we describe the female for the first time.
Wingspan
45-46 mm
in male (n= 3);
52 mm
in female (n= 1). Eye large; antenna bipectinate, length of rami
4 X
diameter of shaft in median reion. All segments of thorax as well as femur, tibia and 1st tarsal segment fringed with long, dark ochreous long scales. Forewing ground coloration ochreous yellow, with brown patches located along anal margin at antemedial region, on nearly all parts of median region, in each cell of postmedial region, and with patches situated at cells r5 and m3 of sumarginal region; outer margin scalloped, with brown scales at apex of each vein; a short brown scale-tuft arising from anal margin ½ way from base. Hindwing ground color creamy yellow, without a discal spot; fringe ochreous with brown scales at apex of each vein. Abdomen dark ochreous; 8th sternum sclerotized, with two slightly swollen processes arising from posterior margin; anterior margin bearing a broad triangular mesal process, its apex round.
Male genitalia (
Figs 15–18
)—Uncus large and stout, bearing cattle-like horns, thesepointing downward; tegumen wide, dorsal and ventral margins nearly parallel, vinculum short; saccus U-shaped; juxta elliptical; valve sclerotized, widest near middle, with a triangular, strongly sclerotized projection near base, its apex protruding; phallus narrow, slightly curved; vesica short and mosly membranous, with a sclerotized dentate patch extending from base to apex.
Female genitalia (
Fig. 20
)—Ovipositor lobe membranous with short hair-like setae; both pairs of apophyses long and slender; ventral margin of ostium bursae slight incised, anterior portion sclerotized; basal half of ductus bursae strongly sclerotized, lateral margins indented near base, remainder of ductus bursae membranous; corpus bursae membranous, small and narrow.
Taxonomic notes.
According to Schintlmeister (2008) and
Kobayashi (2011)
, the distribution range of
Himeropteryx miraculosa
includes the Russian Far East,
Japan
,
Korea
,
China
and
Taiwan
. Taiwanese material was originally regarded as subspecies
yui
Okano, 1969
based on more constrasting coloration, a narrower forewing, and a broader central projection of the valve compared with the nominate subspecies from
Japan
. All the newly collected specimens from
Taiwan
exhibit identical wing patterns. We compared newly collected Taiwanese specimens with those from the Russian Far East (the
type
locality of
H. miraculosa
is Amur; the male
holotype
and its genitalia are illustrated in Schintlmeister 1999: fig. 33&39),
China
(Chen 1999; Schintlmeister 2008) and
Japan
(Schintlmeister 2008). Our result shows that the
Himeropteryx
population in
Taiwan
should be regarded as a distinct species, the second member of this genus. Though Schintlmeister (2008) mentioned color differences between
H. miraculosa
specimens from central
China
and other regions, genitalia show no variation across this range.
Distribution and bionomics.
This species, endemic to
Taiwan
, ranges from mid to high-altitudes (
2400 to 2560
m
) in the primary broad-leaf forest of Central
Taiwan
where
Acer morrisonense
Hayata (Aceraceae)
and other deciduous trees are mixed with
Pinus
forests. The
type
locality of
H. yui
is Nenggaoshen (ca.
3000 m
), which represents the cool-temperate coniferous forests where
Tsuga chinensis
var.
formosana
Li & Keng
is dominant.