Perinaenia atripunctum 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 : 24-26

Perinaenia atripunctum Babics & Ronkay sp. n.

(Plate: fig. 4; gen. fig. 4)

Holotype: male, China, Shaanxi, South Taibaishan, Tsinling Mts, Houzhenzi, 1400 m, 33˚51’N, 107˚49’E, September 1999, leg. local collector, slide No. JB198. The specimen is deposited in coll. G. Ronkay (Budapest).

Paratype: China, Shaanxi: 1 male, Tsinling Mts, Foping Nature Reserve, 1600 m, 107˚57’E, 33˚51’N, 20.IV– 11.V.1999, leg. V. Siniaev & A. Plutenko, slide No. JB197. China, Sichuan: 1 female, Qionglai Shan, 1400 m, 31˚13’N 102˚23’E, 01–31.V.2006, leg. V. Siniaev & Team; 1 male, 1 female, Qing-Cheng Shan, 1500–1800 m; 31˚12'N 102˚47' E, 1–30.IV.2006, leg. V. Siniaev & Team. The paratypes are deposited in the collections of P. Gyulai (Miskolc) and G. Ronkay (Budapest).

Diagnosis. Perinaenia atripunctum differs conspicuously from the related P. accipiter by its remarkably paler, yellowish-ochreous forewing ground colour and the characteristically large and rounded reniform stigma. The male genitalia of P. atripunctum differ from those of P. a c c i p i t e r by their finer, thinner ampulla, and the very characteristic long and thin process of the editum which is a unique autapomorphy of the species.

Description. Male. Wingspan 43–45 mm, length of forewing 20–22 mm. Head and thorax pale drab, palpi short, somewhat darker than other parts of head; antenna filiform, ochreous-brown. Forewing ground colour pale drab, with characteristic whitish striolation consisting of short, transverse whitish streaks and with rather strong blackish irroration on and along costal margin in basal area. Subbasal, antemedial and medial lines missing, postmedial line diffuse but clearly visible, finely sinuous and partly interrupted, dark grey-brown. Orbicular stigma small but well-discernible, porcelain white; reniform stigma relatively large and characteristically rounded, black with a few scattered white scales. Subterminal line absent, terminal line fine, pale ochreous, followed by tiny black dots on veins; cilia slightly darker than ground colour. Hindwing pale yellowish-ochre, transverse line absent; discal spot poorly visible or fully deleted. Marginal area rather narrow, contrastingly suffused by blackish brown, cilia pale yellowish-ochre. Underside of forewing velvet brown with pale ochreous-grey suffusion, termen pale drab. Hindwing yellowish-ochre, costal area sparsely irrorated with brown scales; discal spot weak or absent, marginal area dark brown with ochreous veins. Male genitalia. Uncus long and narrow, curved along, apically finely pointed. Tegumen symmetrical, wide but relatively short, with small, sharktooth-shaped penicular lobes; fultura inferior sclerotised, more or less triangular; vinculum well-developed, sclerotised, relatively short, saccus distinct. Valvae almost symmetrical, distal part more or less quadrangular; costal hump relatively flat. Sacculus well-developed, with characteristic long, but thin, finely curved process which appears as homologous with the editum of the related genera. Harpe short, flattened and sclerotised, bar-like; basal plate of ampulla elongated-trapezoidal, sclerotised, erect process of ampulla heavily sclerotised, long, sabre-shaped, anterior two-thirds more or less equally wide, apex pointed. Aedeagus long, cylindrical, carinal plate elongated, membranous, eversible carinal bars relatively short. Vesica tubular, everted forward, recurved dorsally; distal part composed from three diverticula, two of them short, third one long, tubular, its apical part armed by a long cornuti field consisting of fine teeth. Median area of vesica with an irregularly shaped spinulose field built up by short spiculi. The female is unknown.

Bionomics and distribution. The species is known from two male specimens collected in the same mountain system in the Taibaishan area in Shaanxi, Central China. This area is a Nature Reserve, covered by hilly and mesomontane deciduous and mixed forests. The further three specimens were collected in the same habitat.

Etymology. The new species is named after its characteristic black reniform stigma, in Latin “ atri ” - dark, “ punctum ” - spot.

Isoura fuscicollis ( Butler, 1889) (Plate: fig. 6; gen. fig. 6)

Triphaena fuscicollis Butler, 1889 , Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the British Museum. Volume 7: 56, plate 127, fig. 4.

The genus comprises at least two closely related although externally easily distinguishable species, which are treated subsequently as a common taxon. Study of recently collected material clearly shows that the fasciate hindwinged and the clear hind-winged specimens represent distinct species. The more detailed description of the cryptic species is given under the diagnosis of I. clara .