Siccia kravchenkoi Volynkin, Müller, Prozorov & Saldaitis, 2022

Volynkin, Anton V., Müller, Günter C., Prozorov, Alexey M. & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2022, Two new peculiar species of the genus Siccia Walker from Mali and Ivory Coast (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), Ecologica Montenegrina 54, pp. 44-52 : 45-47

Siccia kravchenkoi Volynkin, Müller, Prozorov & Saldaitis , sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9C6DD2D8-E950-4941-9738-388B7D606F54

( Figs 1–3 , 9, 10 , 15 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 1 , 9 ): male, “ Mali 396m | 75km SSW of Bamako, | near Ouronina | (mosaic forest savanna) | 12°6'11.2''N 8°24'40.0''W | ix.2009, Müller, G. & al. leg.” / “Slide | AV6775 ♂ | A. Volynkin ” ( WIGJ).

Paratypes: 51 specimens of both sexes with the same data as in the holotype ( ASV, GMF-B, WIGJ) ; 3 males, 2 females, the same data as in the holotype, accession number: ANHRT:2022.7, unique numbers: ANHRTUK 00201142–00201146, gen. prep. Nos.: AV6773, AV6776 (males), AV6774 (female) ( ANHRT) ; 2 males, 1 female, Southern Mali, 80 km SW of Bamako, near Ouronina Forest, 420m, ix.2015, leg. [G.] Müller, K. [recte: V.] Kravchenko, M. Traore & al. ( GMF-B) .

Diagnosis. Siccia kravchenkoi sp. n. ( Figs 1–3 ) and Siccia kabadougou sp. n. ( Fig. 4 ) clearly differ from all other congeners in the blackish-brown forewing ground colour with ochreous-orange suffusion and spots along the costal and outer margins, and the intense dark brownish-grey suffusion on the hindwing. Their dark colouration is vaguely reminiscent of only the Arabian Siccia buettikeri Wiltshire, 1988 ( Figs 7, 8 ) which is, however, significantly larger than the new species and has a markedly different forewing pattern, and male and female copulatory organs ( Figs 13, 14 ). The male genitalia structures of S. kravchenkoi sp. n. and S. kabadougou sp. n. are most similar to those of the sympatric Siccia conformis Hampson, 1914 ( Figs 5, 6 ) which is widespread in various regions of Africa.

In the male genital capsule, S. kravchenkoi sp. n. ( Figs 9, 10 ) differs from S. conformis ( Fig. 12 ) in the distally dilated uncus (it is evenly narrow in the congener), the longer juxta, the markedly longer apical process of the valva, and the shorter distal saccular process. The phallus of the new species is strongly upcurved medially whereas it is only slightly upcurved sub-proximally in S. conformis . The vesica of S. kravchenkoi sp. n. is shorter and markedly narrower than in the congener, lacks a broad cluster of granulation, and bears a long and robust spine-like cornutus distally with one or two smaller spine-like cornuti laterally whereas the vesica of S. conformis bears a row of 2–4 short conical cornuti laterally. The female genitalia of S. kravchenkoi sp. n. ( Fig. 15 ) differ clearly from S. conformis ( Fig. 16 ) in the markedly broader posterior gelatinous section of the corpus bursae bearing two heavily sclerotised dentate plates postero-laterally and laterally, connected by two narrow band-like and strongly dentate plates whereas the congener bears two clusters of weak serrulation anteriorly and postero-laterally at the base of the appendix bursae. The appendix bursae of the new species is short, broadly conical and weakly gelatinous whereas it is elongate, twisted and granulose in S. conformis . Additionally, compared to S. conformis , the apophyses anteriores of the new species are longer, the antrum broader, the anterior section of the ductus bursae longer and broader, and the anterior section of the corpus bursae shorter and narrower, lacking the signa.

The detailed comparison with S. kabadougou sp. n. is provided above in the diagnosis of the latter species.

Description. Adults. Male ( Figs 1, 2 ). Forewing length 8.0 mm. Antenna blackish-brown and ciliate. Head ochreous-orange with brown spot dorsally. Thorax brown, tegula and patagia brown, edged with ochreous-orange scales. Forewing elongate, narrowly triangular with almost medially straight costal margin, ground colour blackish-brown with slight orange suffusion along anal margin. Cell with two black spots: one sub-proximally, small and dot-like, the other discal, larger and reniform. Costal margin with five ochreous-orange spots: one in subbasal area, small and diffuse, one in proximal part of medial area, elongate and distinct, one in distal part of medial area, shorter and diffuse, one outwardly from discal spot, distinctly trapezoid, and one subapically, small, triangular and distinct. Terminal area ochreous-orange with blackish spot medially. Forewing cilia ochreous-orange. Hindwing ochreous-yellow with intense dark brownish-grey suffusion along costal margin and weaker suffusion medially. Discal spot semilunar and diffuse. Hindwing cilia ochreous-yellow with admixture of dark brownish-grey scales apically and medially. Abdomen pale ochreous-brown with lateral tufts of hair-like androconial scales. Male genitalia ( Figs 9, 10 ). Uncus elongate, slender, distally dilated and apically tapered with tiny claw-shaped tip. Tegumen with weakly sclerotised and strongly posteriorly dilated arms. Tuba analis tubular medially and distally and strongly dilated basally, scaphium slender but well sclerotised. Vinculum somewhat shorter than tegumen, U-shaped, with small sparse corema medially. Valva elongate, dilated medially and tapered distally, with elongate, narrow, apically pointed and somewhat down curved apical process, and short triangular subapical ventral process. Sacculus narrow with very short, broadly triangular distal process directed dorsally. Juxta short but broad, band-like with deep anterior medial depression. Phallus elongate and tubular, upcurved medially and slightly dilated distally with short, apically rounded and slightly upcurved coecum. Vesica sack-like, shorter than phallus, with posteriorly directed conical lateral diverticulum, one large slightly curved claw-like cornutus dorsally and one or two similar but smaller cornuti medially-laterally. Female ( Fig. 3 ). Forewing length 8.5–9.5 mm. Antenna blackish-brown and ciliate with shorter cilia than in male. Forewing somewhat broader and with more diffuse costal ochreous-orange spots than in male. Hindwing uniform dark brownish-grey with slight orange suffusion along anal margin, discal spot indistinct. Hindwing cilia ochreous-orange with intense admixture of brownish-grey scales. Abdomen brown with admixture of ochreous-orange scales and pale ochreous corethrogyne distally. Female genitalia ( Fig. 15 ). Papilla analis irregularly pentagonal with rounded corners, weakly setose. Apophyses elongate and thin, anterior apophysis somewhat shorter than posterior one. Antrum dorso-ventrally flattened, sclerotised, funnel-shaped with asymmetrical posterior section with right side protruding more postero-laterally, connected to anterior section of ductus bursae by short gelatinous commissure. Anterior section of ductus bursae dorso-ventrally flattened, sclerotised, shorter than antrum, slightly dilated anteriorly with heavily sclerotised left anterior section protruding to posterior section of corpus bursae. Posterior section of corpus bursae gelatinous with trapezoid protrusion on left side and two heavily sclerotised dentate plates postero-laterally (at junction with ductus bursae) and laterally on right side and connected by two narrow band-like and strongly dentate plates. Constricted junction of anterior and posterior sections of corpus bursae scobinated with irregular gelatinous protrusion on right side. Anterior section of corpus bursae globular and weakly gelatinous. Appendix bursae short, broadly conical, membranous, positioned postero-laterally on right side.

Distribution and bionomics. The new species is known from southern Mali. The type locality is located amongst rocky hills with small seasonal water streams at the edge of the flood plain of the River Niger. This area is classified as woody savannah, within the forest/savannah transition belt ( Torello-Raventos et al. 2013) ( Fig. 17 ). The most common trees in the area are Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. ( Sapotaceae ), Anogreissus leocarpus (DC.) Guill. & Perr. ( Combretaceae ), Daniella oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch. & Dalziel ( Caesalpiniaceae ), Isoberlina doka Craib & Stapf ( Fabaceae ), Monotes kerstingii Gilg ( Dipterocarpaceae ), Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A.Juss. ( Meliaceae ), Pterocarpus eribaceus Poir. ( Fabaceae ) and Terminalia macroptera Guill. & Perr. ( Combretaceae ) ( Rian et al. 2009).

Etymology. The new species is dedicated to the memory of the late Prof. Dr Vasiliy D. Kravchenko (Tel- Aviv, Israel), a devoted lepidopterist and friend of the authors.

Figures

Figure 17. Type locality of Siccia kravchenkoi sp. n.: the view of the valley from the upland nearby the collecting site by Ouronina (June of 2021).

Figures 1–8. Siccia spp.: adults. Depositories of the specimens: 1 in WIGJ; 2–4 and 6 in ANHRT; 5 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 7 is after Hacker (2016); 8 in MWM/ZSM.

Figures 9–12. Siccia spp.: male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 9 in WIGJ; 10–12 in ANHRT.

Figures 13–16. Siccia spp.: male (13) and female (14–16) genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 13 is after Hacker (2016); 14 in MWM/ZSM; 15 and 16 in ANHRT.