Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921

Hausmann, Axel, Sciarretta, Andrea & Parisi, Francesco, 2016, The Geometrinae of Ethiopia II: Tribus Hemistolini, genus Prasinocyma (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae), Zootaxa 4065 (1), pp. 1-63 : 28-29

Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921

( Figs 29 , 68 , 97 )

Prasinocyma neglecta Prout (1921) : 138. Locus typicus: Tanzania, East Tanganyika, Urindi District: Upper Rivubu River (Holotype ♂ NHM, examined).

Material. Amhara: 1♂, Debre Sina (locality no. 59; BC ZSM Lep 40507, gen.prp. ZSM G 19460); 1♂, Addis Ababa (no. 41; BC ZSM 83223, gen. prp. 19590).— Oromia: 2♂ 1♀, Bale (no. 80; gen.prp. ZSM G 19638, 19648; BC ZSM Lep 84188, 84189, 84190).

Redescription. Adult ( Fig. 29 ). Wingspan. Male and female 28 – 35 mm. Ground colour leaf green (more bluish in Bale specimens), irrorated with white strigulae. Forewings with a white dot at 1/2 of the inner margin, with blackish brown scales distally in specimens from Bale region. On fore- and hindwings, black discal dot present, terminal dots absent. Hindwing termen slightly angled at M3. Length of male palpi 0.8 – 1.0 times diameter of eye, tip and upperside brownish, underside white. Length of female palpi 1.2 times diameter of eye. Frons green. Antennae bipectinate in male, filiform in female. Antennal branches ochre. Male frenulum well developed. Male hindtibia with four spurs and large projection at tip, pencil absent.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 68 ). Genitalia of the holotype from Tanzania (NHM) well corresponding to those of the Ethiopian populations. Uncus narrow. Socii developed but short, length about 1/4 to 1/3 length of uncus. Subapical lobe of valva conspicuous. Sacculus ending in a long and narrow harpe, pointed at tip. Aedeagus short (1.6 – 1.75 mm) and broad with a large lateral terminal sclerite and a smaller cornutus with a patch of corrugate vesica at the base of the cornutus. Sternum A8 membranous, with paired shallow lobes at the posterior margin, sometimes subtriangular.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 97 ). Sterigma divided into a bipartite, slightly sclerotized lamella postvaginalis and an irregularly shaped, non-sclerotized lamella antevaginalis. Ductus bursae short, membranous, strongly dilated towards antrum. Corpus bursae membranous, elongate. Signum absent.

Differential diagnosis. Related to P. trifilifimbria Prout, 1915 ( Cameroon; Holotype male NHM, dissected, examined) with subsp. uniformata Fletcher, 1958 ( Kenya; Holotype male NHM, dissected, examined). In male genitalia of P. trifilifimbria and its East African subspecies the sacculus is much stronger sclerotized and stronger curved at tip, socii slender, half length of uncus, in the aedeagus the 'cornutus' larger, developed as a second, laterally projecting sclerite, sternum A8 strongly sclerotized, with two large posterior lobes and a narrow notch between. Both holotypes of P. neglecta and P. t. uniformata are very similar in habitus, with a bicolorous (black/ white) spot at the inner margin of forewing, similar to that of P. neglecta from Bale region. In the (West African) holotype of P. trifilifimbria , however, that spot is smaller and without black scales similar to P. neglecta from the Amhara region. The Ethiopian P. gajdacsi Prout, 1930 (see below) is also similar in habitus but differs in conspicuous terminal dots on all wings and in the shape of the hindwing termen which is concave between the veins. P. crenulata Fletcher, 1958 from SW Uganda /NE Zaire belongs to the same group, but differs in the less conspicuous discal dots on all wings (on hindwing apparently absent) and in the sclerotized, flat, irregularly shaped posterior margin of sternum A8. P. triangulata Fletcher, 1958 from SW Uganda /NE Zaire with longer harpe and different shape of aedeagus in male genitalia.

Genetic data. BIN: BOLD:AAY3244. Nearest neighbours: P. trifilifimbria uniformata (6.4 %) and P. s h oa (6.4%). P. trifilifimbria uniformata (BIN: BOLD:AAF8223; barcoded and dissected from Tanzania and Kenya) with a maximum variation of 0.9% (n=3).

Figures

FIGURES 25 – 30. Adults of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar— 1 cm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides, and / or DNA barcoding, and / or nomenclatural status of the illustrated specimen are given. 25. Prasinocyma aquamarina sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 26135; Holotype); 26. Prasinocyma beryllaria sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 81817; Holotype); 27. Prasinocyma lutulenta sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 85809 - 81481; Holotype); 28. Prasinocyma septentrionalis sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 13197; Holotype); 29. Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921 (BC ZSM Lep 83223); 30. Prasinocyma gajdacsi Prout, 1930.

FIGURES 68 – 71. Male genitalia of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar (s) — 1 mm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides are given. 68. Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921 (gen. prp. ZSM G 19648); 69. Prasinocyma gajdacsi Prout, 1930 (gen. prp. ZSM G 19530); 70. Prasinocyma aetheraea (Debauche, 1937) (gen. prp. ZSM G 19639); 71. Prasinocyma fallax sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19457).

FIGURES 92 – 97. Female genitalia of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar (s) — 1 mm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides are given. 92. Prasinocyma fusca sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16218); 93. Prasinocyma germinaria (Guenée, 1858) (ex NHM); 94. Prasinocyma aquamarina sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19455); 95. Prasinocyma lutulenta sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16040); 96. Prasinocyma septentrionalis sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19408); 97. Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921 (gen. prp. ZSM G 16057).