Further information on Lolibaia Gorbunov & Gurko, 2017 (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae: Synanthedonini) with description of three new species from tropical Africa
Author
Bartsch, Daniel
Author
Sáfián, Szabolcs
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-02-20
4559
2
339
348
journal article
27447
10.11646/zootaxa.4559.2.7
bccd45b6-bfa1-4c38-8ce7-51c16e870016
1175-5326
2627022
F74B7770-A079-4188-96F2-9CEA2BF05486
Lolibaia polythyris
sp. nov.
Figs 5–6
,
9
Holotype
♀
:
South Africa
,
KwaZulu-Natal
, near
Drummond
45 km
west of
Durban
,
1 June 1954
,
L. Vári
leg. (
TMSA
).
Paratype
:
1♀
,
South Africa
,
Eastern Cape
,
East London
,
Beacon Bay
,
21.October 1979
,
N.J. Duke
(Bartsch gen. slide No.
2018–25
) (
TMSA
)
.
Description.
Alar expanse
38 mm
, forewing
17 mm
, antenna
14 mm
and body length
20 mm
.
Head: labial palpus dark brown; frons anthracite grey with pearly gloss, some whitish scales laterally; vertex and pericephalic scales dark brown; antenna dark brown, dorso-distal half black, except for a rather short white stripe subdistally.
Thorax and legs: black with steel-blue gloss; patagia dark reddish-brown; tarsus of hind leg distally and all pairs of spurs ventrally white. Wings black, with distinct pattern of opaque and transparent areas; forewing with anterior and longitudinal transparent area short, approximately one third of total wing length, external transparent area ovate rounded, somewhat pointed towards tornus, consisting of 4–5 sub-cells, discal spot and opaque distal half of discal cell fused together form an extremely broad medial spot, apical area present, somewhat translucent, as broad as external transparent area; hindwing with discal spot and distal margin broad, the latter with basad pointing projection between veins CuA2 and CuP.
Abdomen: black, sternites 1 and 2 laterally white.
Female genitalia: Apophysis posterior about one quarter longer than apophysis anterior, the latter twice as long as segment eight; ductus bursae somewhat enlarged, with numerous knobbly, longitudinal folds; corpus bursae round.
Variation.
The two specimens vary minimally in size, with alar expanses
37 mm
and
38 mm
respectively. The
paratype
has further longitudinal and anterior transparent areas of forewing somewhat longer; external transparent area smaller, not pointing; discal spots of both wings narrower; and basal pointing projection of distal margin of hindwing short and blunt.
Diagnosis.
Lolibaia polythyris
appears very distinctive, but a confusion with other
Lolibaia
species cannot be ruled out keeping in mind the fact that females of the congeneric species remain unknown. The main character easily diagnosing this species from its congeners is the entirely black labial palpus, which is red ventrally in all congeners.
Etymology.
The name of this species is derived from the ancient Greek
polys
= many and
thyris
= window.