Taxonomic revision of the genus Delorhachis Karsch 1896 (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae)
Author
Taberer, Tabitha R.
Author
Fiebig, Ralf
Author
Giusti, Alessandro
Author
László, Gyula M.
text
Journal of Natural History
2023
2023-02-10
57
1 - 4
54
129
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346
journal article
10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346
a1490804-bf49-4635-8aeb-e929da7544b7
1464-5262
7636801
Delorhachis smithi
Taberer, Fiebig, Giusti and László
sp. nov.
(
Figures 46–48
,
87,
12 2–123,
150
)
Holotype
.
Male
, ′
GABON
430 m
|
Mikongo
(
Rougier
),
Monts
|
de Cristal
(
Secondary forest
) | 0°29′47̍N, 11°10′42″E |
28.vii–12.viii.2019
MV Light Trap
|
Albert, J.-L.
,
Aristophanous, M.
, |
Bie Mba, J.
,
Dérozier, V.
, |
Moretto, P.
Leg. |
ANHRT
:2019.17″ || ′ANHRTUK | 00130411̍ || ′
Gen.
slide
No.
| TT 094 | prep. by
T. R. Taberer
̍ (
ANHRT
).
Paratypes
.
Republic of the Congo
.
2 males
,
Odzala National Park
,
400–500 m
,
0.383°N
,
14.833°E
,
29 January–03 March 1997
,
Siniaev, V
.,
Murzin, S
. leg., gen. slide no.
36.326
,
36.327
(
MWW
);
2 male
, same site and collectors (
MWW
)
.
DRC
.
2 males
,
Mai-Ndombe
,
Ekongo
camp,
2.756°S
,
20.315°E
,
March–April 2017
,
Prozorov, A
.,
Prozorov, T
., Kravchenko, V. leg., gen. slide nos.: NI09, NI10 (
RCHS
).
Gabon
.
3 males
,
Mikongo
(
Rougier
),
Monts de Cristal
(
Secondary forest
),
430 m
,
0.484°N
,
11.178°E
,
28 July–12 August 2019
,
Albert, J
.-L., Aristophanous, M., Bie Mba, J. Dérozier, V., Moretto, P. leg.,
ANHRT
:2019.17, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00167735, 00130412, 00131020, gen. slide nos. TT 038, TT 094, DNA barcode ID/ BOLD process ID ANHRTUK00167735/ANLMN7641-21 (
ANHRT
).
Description
Male external morphology.
Fore wing length
11–13 mm
. Head, collar, tegula, and thorax yellow-brown, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one white rounded patch. Thorax yellow-brown dorsally, beige ventrally. Legs beige. Abdomen uniformly beige, first two segments with yellow-brown hair scales. Fore wing short, broad,triangular, with rounded apex; ground colour pale yellowish-brown,veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia white, broad, oval, slightly directed inwards, margined with black on distal edge; costal area sometimes with small, diffused white patch postmedially. Fringe long, slightly paler than ground colour. Hind wing uniformly buff, with weakly defined black veins from medial to distal portion. Underside of oth fore wing and hind wing buff without markings; fringe same as ground colour.
Female.
Unknown.
Male genitalia.
Uncus relatively long, tapered, pointed apically. Tegumen broad. Gnathos very broad, rounded, shield-like, weakly sclerotised. Juxta short, rounded basally, with two short, ventral ribbon-like distal processes; manica with a bunch of slightly curved, long pseudocornuti. Vinculum broad, moderately long, rounded. Valva long, very narrow, distally with a short, pointed dorso-apical process and a long, narrow, thin, pointed ventral process. Phallus short, straight, with sclerotised, apically pointed ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica membranous without cornuti.
Diagnosis
Delorhachis smithi
is reminiscent externally of
D. syntomoctena
, but differs in the following features: the thorax and wings are paler, the tegula patch is lighter, and the head and abdomen are less vivid yellow in
D. smithi
compared with
D. syntomoctena
. The medial fascia of both species is white, although in the new species, it is much broader than in
D. syntomoctena
, and the black veins on the hind wing of
D. smithi
are less sharply defined compared with the related species.
In the male genitalia, the gnathos of
D. smithi
is broadly rounded apically whilst in
D. syntomoctena
the gnathos possesses a short, rounded triangular, apical process. The valva of the new species is markedly narrower, with much longer, thinner, and more pointed distal processes where the dorso-apical process is shorter than the ventral, compared to the broader, triangular valva of
D. syntomoctena
whereby the processes are much thicker, distally rounded, and the dorso-apical process is longer than the barely noticeable ventral one. The pseudocornuti of the manica are slightly more curved in
D. smithi
, and the phallus is shorter and straighter compared with the allied species.
Compared to
D. manuelae
, the new species has a much broader, rounded medial fascia. In the male genitalia, the gnathos of
D. smithi
is rounded without an apical depression (it is medially deeply incised in
D. manuelae
), and the valva is considerably narrower and more elongate, with much longer apical processes. The pseudocornuti of
D. smithi
are also markedly longer and more curved than in the related species.
In comparison to
D. bakossii
,
D. smithi
has a paler ground colour, a slightly larger fore wing fascia and a less striate hind wing. The male genitalia of
D. smithi
has a conspicuously narrower valva, with much longer, narrower, more pointed apical processes than in the allied species. The pseudocornuti are also noticeably longer in
D. smithi
.
Genetic information
This species has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD:AEK3851 (n = 1). As only
one specimen
of
D. smithi
was barcoded, intraspecific variation could not be calculated. The pairwise distance between the new species and
D. syntomoctena
is 6.84–7.01%.
Etymology
This new species is dedicated to Richard Smith, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the African Natural History Research Trust.
Distribution and habitat
(
Figures 177
,
186
)
This species has been found in
Gabon
and the northern region of the
Republic of the Congo
, a continuous area of wet Guinea-Congolian lowland rainforest.