Siccia araios, Volynkin, 2023

Volynkin, Anton V., 2023, Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Siccia Walker (= Aemene Walker, syn. n.) in the Afrotropics with descriptions of seventy-three new species, three new subspecies, and a check-list of Asiatic taxa of the genus (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Ecologica Montenegrina 64, pp. 1-184 : 29-30

Siccia araios sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:35803976-B3FA-4757-9130-1C60751C86FC

( Figs 49, 50 , 311, 312 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 49 , 311 ): male, “ Ivory Coast, 174m | Taï NP, Taï Research Station ( SRET) | 05˚49'59.8''N, 07˚20'32.0''W, | 5–10.vii.2015 Light Trap | Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., | Ruzzier, E., leg. | ANHRT:2017.14” / “ANHRTUK | 00030286” / “Slide | AV5202 ♂ | A. Volynkin ” ( ANHRT).

Paratypes. IVORY COAST: 1 male, the same data as holotype, gen. prep. No.: AV5201 ( ANHRT) ; 3 males, 174m, Taï NP, Taï Research Station ( SRET) , 05˚50'00''N, 07˚20'32.0''W, 25.iii.– 17.iv.2017, MV light, Aristophanous, A., Aristophanous, M., Geiser, M., Moretto, P. leg., gen. prep. Nos.: AV3358, AV3360, AV5270 ( ANHRT) ; LIBERIA: 1 male, 530m, Lofa County, Foya Proposed Protected Area , 7˚56'36''N, 10˚16'36''W, 10–19.xi.2017, MV Light Trap (125w), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., & Smith, L., leg., gen. prep. No.: AV5046 ( ANHRT) .

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 6.5–7.5 mm in males. Siccia araios is externally largely reminiscent of the sympatric S. kuehnei , from which it differs in the remarkably darker, brownish-grey male hindwing, which is intensely suffused with brownish-grey only in the terminal area in the similar congener. The male genitalia of the new species are similar to those of the allopatric S. mikongo and can be distinguished from it by the somewhat shorter and markedly sparser cornuti in the lateral cluster.

The female is unknown.

Molecular data. The intraspecific divergence of COI-5P sequences calculated from four sampled specimens is in the range of 0.00–0.31%. Siccia araios diverges from S. mikongo by 4.12–4.45%, and from two other morphologically similar species, S. kuehnei and S. evrys by 4.28–5.79% and 6.85–7.37%, respectively.

Distribution. The new species is currently known from Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek ‘αραιός’ meaning ‘sparse’ and refers to the sparse cornuti in the male vesica. The name is a noun in the nominative singular in apposition.

Figures

Figures 45–62. Siccia spp., adults. Depositories of the specimens: 45–52, 54–60 and 62 in ANHRT; 53 and 61 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK).

Figures 309–312. Siccia spp., male genitalia. The specimens dissected are deposited in ANHRT.