Perinaenia mingchyrica Babics & Ronkay

Babics, János & Ronkay, László, 2011, On the taxonomy of the Exophyla-Isoura-Perinaenia generic-complex (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Catocalinae), Zootaxa 2733, pp. 16-30 : 19-23

Perinaenia mingchyrica Babics & Ronkay sp. n.

(Plate: figs 2–3; gen. fig. 1)

Holotype. Male, Taiwan, Taoyuan County, Ming Chyr Forest Recreation Area, 1160 m, 8–9.VII.1997, leg. S. T. Kovács; slide No. JB212. The specimen is deposited in coll. HNHM (Budapest).

Paratypes. Taiwan. Taitung County: 1 male, Taiwan, Yu-shan Mts, Yakou, 2000 m, 29–30.IV.1997, leg. S. T. Kovács. Hualien County: 1 male, 1 female, Hsipao, 900 m, 20.IV.1997, leg. S. T. Kovács; 1 female, Taroko N. P., Hohuan Pass, 3000 m, 3.IV.1997, leg. Csorba & Ronkay (slide No. JB213). Nantou County: 2 male, 1 female, 15 km N of Puli, 500 m, 15.III.1996, leg. Gy. Fábián & F. Nemes (slide No. JB214); 1 male, 15 km N of Puli, 500 m, 4.III.1996, leg. Gy. Fábián & F. Nemes. Taoyuan County: 1 male, Ming Chyr Forest Recreation Area, 1160 m, 30.X.1996, leg. Gy. Fábián & F. Nemes. The paratypes are deposited in the collections of Gy. Fábián (Budapest), P. Gyulai (Miskolc), S.T. Kovács (Szeged), G. Ronkay (Budapest) and the HNHM.

Diagnosis. Perinaenia mingchyrica differs from the closely related P. accipiter ( Felder & Rogenhofer, 1874) by its paler thorax and abdomen, pale yellow hindwing ground colour with intensive dark brown marginal suffusion, and by the prominently dark irrorated forewings costal margin and the conspicuous pistachio-green scales defining the reniform stigma. The male genitalia of P. mingchyrica differ from those of P. accipiter by their shorter and thicker aedeagus, weaker spiculi field of the medial section of the vesica and the apical part of terminal diverticulum, and the thinner ampulla. The main differences in the female genitalia are the shorter signum-band and the thinner medial section of corpus bursae.

Description. Sexes similar. Wingspan 42–47 mm, length of forewing 21–22 mm. Head and collar velvet brown with fine greyish irroration at edge of collar. Palpi medium-long, velvet-brown, antenna dark brown, filiform. Thorax pale greyish-brown with fine brownish hairs; abdomen paler ochreous grey. Forewing ground colour tobacco-brown with sparse blackish irroration. Costal area (from costa to lower cellvein) characteristically dark blackish-brown from base of wing to reniform stigma and continued in parallel stripes towards subterminal line, being gradually paler from cell to marginal area. Subbasal line disappeared, antemedial line more or less indistinct, dark brown. Medial line obsolete, postmedial line narrow but well visible, sinuous, dark brown. Orbicular stigma dot-like, beige; reniform stigma small, kidney-shaped, filled with pistachio-green scales. Subterminal line broad and sinuous, darker brown, more or less continuous and paler on veins. Terminal line ochreous, followed by PLATE 1. Perinaenia accipiter ( Felder & Rogenhofer, 1874) , male, Japan, Acq. Janson (coll. NHMW); 2. Perinaenia mingchyrica sp. n., male, paratype, Taiwan, Taoyuan County, Ming Chyr Forest Recreation Area, 1160 m, 30.X.1996 (leg. Gy. Fábián & F. Nemes), slide No.: BJ214 (coll. G. Ronkay); 3. Perinaenia mingchyrica sp. n., female, paratype, Taiwan, Hualien County, Taroko N.P., Hohuan Pass, 3000 m, 3. IV. 1997 (leg. Csorba & Ronkay), slide No.: BJ213 (coll. G. Ronkay); 4. Perinaenia atripunctum sp. n., female, holotype, China, Shaanxi, South Taibaishan, Tsinling Mts, Houzhenzi 1400 m, 33˚51’N, 107˚49’E, September 1999 (leg. local collector), slide No.: BJ198 (coll. G. Ronkay); 5. Perinaenia nigrifascia sp. n., female, holotype, Vietnam, Prov. Lao Cai, Fan-si-pan Mts, 14 km NW of Sa Pa, 1800 m, 16–17.III.1999 (leg. L. Peregovits & T. Vásárhelyi), slide No.: 7664 (coll. HNHM); 6. Isoura fuscicollis ( Butler, 1889) , f., Taiwan, Nantou County, 3 km NW of Tsuifeng, 2100 m, 25–26.VI.1997, 121°10’E, 24°06’N (leg. T. Csővári & L. Mikus) (coll. T. Csővári); 7. Isoura clara sp. n., female, holotype, Nepal, Mechi, Taplejung area, Lamite Banjang, 3450 m, 87˚56’E, 27˚29’N, 27. X. 1996 (leg. Gy. M. László & G. Ronkay), slide No.: BJ1061 (coll. G. Ronkay); 8. Isoura clara sp. n., male, paratype, Indonesia, Sulawesi, Puncak Palopo, 900–1300 m, VI. 1998, (leg. local collector), slide No.: BJ1063 (coll. G. Ronkay).

distinct black spots on veins; cilia paler than ground colour. Hindwing pale yellow with fine brown lines on veins; discal spot indistinct, pale brown; marginal suffusion rather wide, dark brown. Cilia conspicuous, yellow, similarly to ground colour. Underside of forewing velvet ochreous-brown with velvet brown costal stripe and wide dark marginal suffusion; termen as ground colour. Discal spot velvet brown. Hindwing ochreous-brown, irrorated by fine dark brown scales, discal spot fairly visible, velvet brown; marginal suffusion as strong as in the forewing. Male genitalia. Uncus long and narrow, regularly curved, apically finely hooked. Tegumen slightly asymmetrical, with triangular penicular lobes; fultura inferior sclerotised, trapezoidal; vinculum well-developed, sclerotised, saccus Ushaped. Valvae symmetrical, saccular part elongated, distal part rather rhomboidal; sacculus well-developed, with parallel margins. Harpe short, flat, bar-shaped; ampulla heavily sclerotised, its basal plate wide but short, erect process long, sabre-shaped with narrower base and broadened distal two-third. Aedeagus long, cylindrical, carina with two fine, medium-long sclerotised bars. Vesica everted forward, then upturned dorsad; composed from two variably shaped basal diverticulum and a very long, tubular terminal diverticulum. Spiculi fields on distal edge of terminal diverticulum and proximal edge of vesica slightly developed. Female genitalia. Ovipositor short, conical; papillae anales short, slightly rounded apically; apophyses posteriores thin, long and straight, apophyses anteriores very short, finely curved. Ostium bursae strongly sclerotised, posterior part humped, medially deeply incised. Ductus bursae heavily sclerotised, tubular; its anterior section membranous. Cervix bursae dorsal positioned; corpus bursae membranous, distal part helicoid; proximal part ovoid; signum helicoid, relatively sparsely covered by spiculi.

Bionomics and distribution. The species appears as endemic to Taiwan. It occurs in the eastern and central mountainous regions of the island; the few known specimens were found in very different types of forest habitats, from the hilly subtropical forests to the upper range of the timberline.

Etymology. The new species is named after its type locality, the Ming-Chyr Forest Recreation area.