Visiana grandivinosa Schmidt

Schmidt, Olga, 2013, Review of the species of Visiana Swinhoe from the Papua New Guinea region (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae), Zootaxa 3693 (2), pp. 189-199 : 194-195

Visiana grandivinosa Schmidt sp. nov.

( Figs 4 , 15 , 28, 32 )

Type material. Papua New Guinea. [New Britain]. Holotype female, Mt Sinewit, 1160 m, WWB, 27.vi.- 17.ix.1963 (ANIC).

Description. Labial palpi brown to dark brown, with rings of whitish scales at distal end of medial palpal segment. Legs brown, without distinct rings of lighter scales. Wing expanse 42 mm (n = 1). Forewings above ochreous- to greyish-brown, with median band rather broad, darker brown, edged with a thin, wavy ochreous line, with a broad tooth-like medial projection, with basal band slightly darker than the median band, not quite distinct, with a discal dot, underneath with median band almost indistinct. Hind wings above coloured like the forewings, but slightly paler, darker brown in the basal half, with very thin, wavy, pale ochreous line, with distinct, elongate discal dot, underneath coloured and patterned like forewings, with a thin, brown median line ( Figs 4 , 15 ). Male unknown. Female genitalia ( Figs 28, 32 ). Antrum medium-sized, rather parallel sided, with a broad ring of distinct sclerotisation distally; ductus bursae short, sclerotised, with lateral stripes of heavier sclerotisation, corpus bursae large, compared to the group of closely related species, longer than width, somewhat pear-shaped, slightly wrinkled distally, membranous, with an inconspicuous medial spot of very thin sclerotisation, with a small, elongate dropshaped diverticulum connected proximally to the corpus by a long, thin tube, with ductus seminalis arising from a small medial extension of corpus bursae; signum a rather small, rounded patch of symmetrically arranged, inwardly directed spicules.

Diagnosis. Forewings above mainly ochreous-brown, lighter than in V. r a n e n s i s, with median band broader, with basal band darker and less distinct than in V. v ar i ov i no s a. Antrum slightly heavier sclerotized, ductus bursae slightly longer and corpus bursae is larger and more elongated than in V. v a r i o v i n o s a, signum larger than in V. variovinosa but smaller than in V. horista .

Distribution. Papua New Guinea (New Britain: Sinewit). New Britain is the largest volcanic island in the Bismarck Archipelago with the air-line distance from west to east about 477 km.

Etymology. The species name combines the Latin grandis (large) and vinosa (the name of a known species), and refers to considerable size of the species described and its relationship with V. v i n o s a.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Visiana spp., wings above: 1. V. variovinosa, male, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Kumusi River; 2. V. morobensis, male, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Morobe district; 3. V. r a n e n s i s, male, Moluccas, Buru, Rana; 4. V. grandivinosa, female, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, New Britain, Mt Sinewit; 5. V. v i n o s a, male, Papua New Guinea, Upper Mambaré River; 6. V. ho r i st a, female, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Bougainville Island; 7. V. hyperctenista, male, Bismarck Archipelago, Vulcan Island; 8. V. hyperctenista, female, Bismarck Archipelago, Vulcan Island.

FIGURES 9 – 15. Visiana spp., wings underneath: 9. V. v i n o s a, male, Papua New Guinea, Upper Mambaré River; 10. V. morobensis, male, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Morobe district; 11. V. ranensis, male, Moluccas, Buru, Rana; 12. V. variovinosa, male, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Kumusi River; 13. V. hyperctenista, male, Bismarck Archipelago, Vulcan Island; 14. V. horista, female, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, Bougainville Island; 15. V. grandivinosa, female, sp. nov., Papua New Guinea, New Britain, Mt Sinewit.

FIGURES 26 – 33. Visiana spp., female genitalia: (26 – 29) general view, (30 – 33) signum: 26, 30. V. hyperctenista; 27, 31. V. horista; 28, 32. V. grandivinosa; 29, 33. V. variovinosa.