Contributions to the study of the Ethiopian Lepidoptera. I. The genus Melittia Hübner, 1819 [“ 1816 ”] (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) with description of a new species Author Gorbunov, Oleg G. text Zootaxa 2015 4033 4 543 554 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.4033.4.5 c0336a83-53ed-454f-84d9-7b2715c42287 1175-5326 237991 939BFEF5-FE60-4B9D-ACAA-8642BDC9B4B8 Melittia abyssiniensis Hampson, 1919 Figs. 1, 2 “ Melittia abyssiniensis n. sp. ”— Hampson, 1919 : 95 . Type locality: “Harrar [sic!] …” [ Ethiopia : Harari kilil, Harar]. Holotype ♀ ( Figs. 1, 2 ) (BMNH). Dalla Torre & Strand, 1925 : 137 ( Melittia ); Gaede, 1929 : 531, pl. 77, row g ( Melittia ); Heppner & Duckworth, 1981 : 26 ( Melittia ); Gorbunov & Arita, 1997 : 302, 303 ( Melittia ); Pühringer & Kallies, 2004 : 15 ( Melittia ). This species was originally described from Harar, Ethiopia , based on a single female specimen ( Hampson, 1919 ) and till now no additional specimens have been collected. The original description by Hampson fairly complete and we do not need to repeat it here. Unfortunetely, males, female genitalia and individual variability remain unknown. Differential diagnosis. By its coloration and completely opaque wings this species belongs to the aureosquamata species-group. From M. aureosquamata (Wallengren, 1863) M. abyssiniensis can be distinguished by minute details in the coloration of the hind leg tuft. It is possible, as was stated before in Gorbunov & Arita (1997) , that the latter species may be a junior synonym of M. aureosquamata . From M. houlberti Le Cerf, 1917 , M. abyssiniensis differs by the coloration of the hind tibia (dark brown to black with bronze sheen, with a narrow orange stripe dorsally from base of tibia to base of mid spurs in the species compared) and hind tarsus (dark brown to black with strong bronze-green sheen in M. houlberti , cp. Fig. 1 with fig. 9 in Gorbunov, Arita, 1997 ). From M. azrael Le Cerf, 1914 , this species clearly differs by the coloration of the vertex (brown to dark brown with bronze sheen, with a few orange and black scales in M. azrael ), thorax (both meso- and metathorax dark brown with bronze sheen in the species compared), hind leg tuft (without orange scales in the species compared) and by the coloration of the wings (dark brown with strong golden-green sheen in M. azrael , cp . Fig. 1 with fig. 9 in Gorbunov, Arita, 1997 ). From all other afro-tropical congeners M. abyssiniensis is clearly separated by the coloration and entirely opaque wings. Bionomics and Habitat. Unknown. Distribution. Known from the type locality only: Ethiopia : Harar.