Strong sexual dimorphism unraveled by DNA analysis - towards a better understanding of Pseudothyretes classification (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) Author Przybyłowicz, Łukasz Author Tarcz, Sebastian text Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2015 2015-01-16 173 1 22 54 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12198 journal article 10.1111/zoj.12198 0024-4082 5331070 PSEUDOTHYRETES MIRUS PRZYBYŁOWICZ SP. NOV. Material examined Type material Holotype : Male ( DRC ) ‘ Lusambo , 23.7.1949 , Dr. M. Fontaine’ ( RMCA ). Paratypes ( 17 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ ): Cameroon : ♂ ‘ Ebogo , 23/ 29- 11-1992 , Réc. Th. Bouyer’ ( RMCA ) ; ♂ ‘ Nyazanga , 5/ 8– 09-1992 , Th. Bouyer’ ( RMCA ) ; ♂ ‘ Mieri , 21-1-1976 , F. Puylaert’ ( RMCA ) . Gabon : ♂ ‘ Makokou-Colline , Mission biologique, 2-XII-1967 , G. Bernardi’ ( RNHL ) . DRC : 6♂♂ , as holotype , but ‘ 22.6.1949 , 22.7.1949 , 17.9.1949 , 18.9.1949 , 25.9.1949 , 18.12.1949 ’ ( RMCA ) ; ♂ ‘ Stan à Coq. , XI-1921 , L. Verlaine’ ( RMCA ) ; 2♂♂ ‘ Eala , I-1935 , I-1936 , J. Ghesquière’ ( RMCA ) ; 2♂♂ ‘ Sankuru : Katako-Kombe , 30-XII-1951 , 26-I-1952 , Dr. Fontaine’ ( RMCA ) ; 1♀ ‘ Région de Kinshasa , Bombo Lumene , Le 22-8-1996 , coll. Ph. Oremans’ ( PO ) ; ♂ ‘ Prov. Kivu , Pinga 96 km NW Goma , Flusstal 4 km NNO Ort , 1°0′ s . Br. ; 28°43′ ö. L., 19.VIII.1991 , LF 125 W HQL, T. Karisch legit’ (TK) ; ♂ 2♀♀ , ‘ Prov. Equateur , Kalamba 55 km südl. Mbandaka , 3 km östlich Ort , 450 mNN, 0°25 s . Br. ; 18°19′ ö. L., 08.VIII.1991 , LF 125 W HQL, T. Karisch legit’ (TK) ; 1♀ same data, but 09.VIII.1991 (TK) . Diagnosis Pseudothyretes mirus sp. nov. is superficially very similar to the remaining representatives of the genus; however, the abdomen terga lack the dark, narrow, transverse bands, which represents a unique character for this taxon. The best character for decidedly separating P. mirus sp. nov. from the other species resides in the morphology of the male genitalia, especially in the tegumen and uncus complex. In this species the terminal portion of the tegumen forms a pair of prominent swellings, amongst which the delicate, narrow, and elongate uncus is located. Description of male Head: Frons and vertex rusty brown; labial palpus concolorous, consisting of three separate segments, of which the last is markedly elongate ( Fig. 6D ); scapus rusty brown; flagellum bipectinate, dorsal scales tawny except for terminal segments 8–10, on which they are white. Thorax: Vestiture unicolorously rusty brown; legs concolorous, often with orange tinge and yellowish buff tarsi. Abdomen: Dorsal and ventral segments unicolorous, rusty brown; terga without black distal margins. Forewing ( Fig. 2D ): Male forewing length 11.7– 14.9 mm (average 13.5 mm , N = 18); upper side background colour rusty brown, more intensive along costa and around white blotches; pattern usually consisting of six blotches: m 2 large, discoidal, in terminal region of dorsal cell ( DC ) but not reaching its outer margin, m 3 medium sized, elongate, between vein CuA 2 and vein 1A+2A in middle of dorsum, m 4 large, discoidal, am 4 minute, discoidal or elongate (often absent), m 5 minute, discoidal, m 6 large, discoidal; fringe scales rusty brown; ventral background colour and markings similar. Hindwing: Semitransparent, background colour of dorsum and venter rusty brown, paler than forewing; blotch d small, discoidal, less prominent than forewing pattern. Male genitalia ( Fig. 4D ): Tegumen narrowed in middle; uncus/gnathos complex very large; gnathos prominent, forming pair of massive lobes strongly chitinized along margins; uncus filiform, arising from between lobes of gnathos; laterobasal portion of tegumen elongate in pair of ventrally-directed, dull processes; vinculum very narrow, elongate; saccus large, triangular, blunt ended; valva with broad base, sclerotized; distal portion narrowed, in form of sharply ended, slightly sinuous, inwardly directed processes; phallus straight, widening towards apex; vesica well developed, forming pair of prominent pouches everted anteriorly; minute cornuti developed along vesica inflexion from apex of phallus up to vertex of pouches ( Fig. 5C ). Description of female Head: Frons and vertex rusty; labial palpus concolorous, short, rather straight, with last segment short, oval, blunt ended ( Fig. 6J ); scapus and basal segment of flagellum rusty red; flagellum blackish, serrate, dorsal scales tawny, except for paler terminal segments 8– 12, on which they are white. Thorax: Vestiture unicolorously rusty; legs with intensive red tinge. Abdomen: Dorsal and ventral segments unicolorous, rusty; terga 2–6 without narrow black distal margins. Forewing ( Fig. 3C ): Length 20.0– 23.5 mm (average 21.5 mm , N = 4); upper side background colour rusty, more intensive along costa; pattern consisting of six or seven blotches with strongly marked margins; m 1 absent, m 2 medium sized, subsquare to circular, in terminal region of DC, m 3 medium sized to small, ovate, between CuA 2 and 1A+2A in middle of dorsum, always with well-separated, minute am 3 in basal part, fm 3 small, dot-like or narrow and elongate along DC margin, m 4 medium sized, usually ovate, rarely subsquare or slightly elongate, am 4 similar to m 4 , but usually slightly larger, m 5 small to medium sized, triangular, m 6 largest of all blotches, usually discoidal, reaching wing margin; fringe scales pale rusty; ventral ground colour concolorous with dorsum except for paler dorsal region, markings similar. Hindwing: Background colour of dorsum and venter rusty or pinkish rust; blotch d rather small, divided into between one and three smaller blotches occupying distal portion of inner area of wing, with largest located between Cu 1 and stalk of M 2 –M 3 . Female genitalia ( Fig. 4J ): Papillae anales rectangular, almost entirely covered with numerous setae; apophyses anteriores short, thick, strongly sclerotized, near apex with small, sharp protrusion; apophyses posteriores narrower, with similar sclerotized teeth before apex; dorsal pheromone glands invisible; ventral pheromone glands occupying almost entire ventral area between apophyses anteriores, forming single wide pouch terminating in several narrow, membranous processes; ostium bursae discoidal; ductus bursae short, asymmetrical, directed slightly to the left, divided into three parts (anterior portion wide, dorsally heavily sclerotized and fused with lamella postvaginalis, sclerotized wall more than twice as long as wide; middle portion indistinct, membranous, without plicae convergent towards narrowed centre; posterior portion membranous, distinct, as long as width of sclerotized part); lamella antevaginalis invisible; lamella postvaginalis sclerotized in form of distinct longitudinal ridge ending between paired, diagonal, elongate invaginations located posterolaterally from ostium bursae; corpus bursae oval, membranous, without any trace of sclerotization or distinct plicae; signum absent; ductus seminalis slender, originating in basal half of corpus bursae. Biology Based upon the specimens available, adults fly from June until September, and again from November until January. The 1-month gap in October may very likely be the result of the scarcity of available material. Of the 18 males , most have been collected in September ( 11 specimens ), January ( four specimens ), and December ( three specimens ). Further details on the biology as well as the host plants remain unknown. Distribution So far this species is known only from Cameroon , Gabon , and DRC ( Fig. 7D ); however, these data may suggest a wider distribution, at least in the basin of the Congo River. Label data indicate that the vertical distribution of the species ranges at least between 450 and 1000 m a.s.l. ( N = 4). Molecular variation From all of the available males the most recently collected come from the last decade of the 20th century. Nevertheless, we selected four of them for DNA examination. Positive results have been obtained from a specimen labelled ‘Ebogo, 23/ 29-11-1992 , Réc. Th. Bouyer’ ( RMCA ). A total of two COI haplotypes were found among the P. mirus sp. nov. specimens studied. The intraspecific haplotype diversity across the specimens studied ( N = 2) was Hd = 1, and nucleotide diversity amounted to π = 0.03521. Detailed information concerning the molecular variation of the COI fragment studied is presented in Table 3 . Remarks Pseudothyretes mirus sp. nov. has been overlooked for a long time because of its superficial similarity to the remaining representatives of the genus. An additional difficulty was the significant variability in wing pattern and coloration of all taxa, making the separation of unrecognized species impossible. Etymology The specific name ‘ mirus ’ means ‘strange, surprising, extraordinary’, and refers to the unusual morphology within the genus, namely the male genitalia and especially the structure of the uncus.