Siccia smithi, 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 : 79-80

Siccia smithi sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:55AD02A3-9501-487D-BCC6-33F34B56B670

( Figs 215, 216 , 420 , 516 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 215 , 420 ): male, “ Zambia 493m | Lakeview Lodge , Sinazongwe | 17°16'12.9''S, 27°27'54.3''E | 23–28.ii.2019 LepiLED Light Trap | Derozier, V., Imakando, M., | Miles, W., Mulvaney, L. Leg. | ANHRT:2019.5” / “ANHRTUK | 00105205” (DNA barcode iD) / “Slide | AV5769 ♂ | A. Volynkin ” ( ANHRT).

Paratypes. ZAMBIA: 11 males, 19 females, the same data as holotype, MV, LepiLED and Actinic Light Traps, gen. prep. No.: AV5770 (female) ( ANHRT) .

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 9.0– 10.5 mm in males and 10.0–11.0 mm in females. Siccia smithi is externally very different from the other species in the species-group and is most similar to the sympatric S. lydiae but distinguished from it by the narrower forewing with a straighter costal margin and a somewhat more elongate apex, the intense orange colouration of both wings (it is ochreous-yellow in the congener), and the well-developed, continuous transverse lines of the forewing, which are indistinct and interrupted into spots in S. lydiae . The male genital capsule of S. smithi is readily different from those of S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia by the broader uncus, the smooth anellus (it is bearing a few spinules in S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia ), the narrower and distally tapered valva, the considerably narrower cucullus bearing markedly shorter lobes, the sacculus bearing a row of robust denticles (it is setose in the aforementioned congeners), and the ventral costal lobe bearing spines (it is smooth in S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia ). The phallus of the new species is almost straight whereas it is medially upcurved in S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia . The vesica of S. smithi is markedly narrower than in the similar congeners and bears a single thorn-shaped cornutus whereas both S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia bear sclerotised plates and clusters of graniculi. As the females of S. overlaeti and S. lubumbashia are unknown, the female genitalia of S. smithi were compared with S. kirkspriggsi and S. changwena instead (see the diagnoses of these species).

Molecular data. The species is genetically uniform with 0.00% intraspecific variability based on three sequenced specimens. As the molecular data are currently unavailable for other species in the group, the COI-5P sequences of S. smithi were compared with those of the similar S. malfakassa and the S. bicolorata species-groups, from which the new species diverges by 8.62–9.69% and 9.52–10.24%, respectively.

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from its type locality in southern Zambia.

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Mr Richard Smith, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, ANHRT, who, through organising and undertaking numerous entomological expeditions to Sub-Saharan Africa has enabled the discovery of numerous species new to science. The name is a noun in the genitive case.

Figures

Figures 207–222. Siccia spp., adults. Depositories of the specimens: 207, 209, 210, 212–216, and 220–222 in ANHRT (214: ex AKW); 211 in MfN; 217–219 in RMCA.

Figures 419–422. Siccia spp., male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 419 in MfN; 420 in ANHRT; 421 and 422 in RMCA (421 after Kühne (2007)).

Figures 513–516. Siccia spp., female genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 513 in GMF-B; 514–516 in ANHRT.