Thalpomena coerulescens Uvarov, 1923

Dey, Lara-Sophie, Hochkirch, Axel, Moussi, Abdelhamid, Seidel, Matthias & Husemann, Martin, 2022, Taxonomic review of the genus Thalpomena Saussure, 1884 with new synonyms, Zootaxa 5100 (1), pp. 129-136 : 133

Thalpomena coerulescens Uvarov, 1923 —valid species

Thalpomena coerulescens Uvarov, 1923a: 65 [original combination]

Diagnosis (modified after Dirsh, 1949): Small, slender. Frontal ridge constricted below ocellus, narrowed at apex. Fastigium long, narrow, with weakly curved carinae. Pronotum flat; median carina in profile slightly concave; lateral margin of prozona between sulci gibbose, metazona with lateral margins convex and divergent; posterior angle obtuse, its apex rounded; lower margin of lateral lobe slightly sinuate. Tegmina long, narrow; hind wing short. Hind femur relatively narrow. Hind knee narrow, not broad, upper lobe elongated. Coloration dirty yellowish grey; tegmina with small indistinct, scattered spots or without. Basal disc of wing pellucid blue, rose or pinkish with blue basal ray without or just very faint comma shaped fascia ( Figure 2 C ). Hind femur with inner side black and a pale fascia in front of knee; above with two indistinct dark fasciae. Hind tibia dirty yellow with indistinct dark ring between base and middle.

Type locality: Algeria, Ain Sefra .

Type depository: T. coerulescens : Holotype, female, BMNH; T. deserta (Dirsh placed specimens with and without a hind wing band into the type series of the species. Hence, the species T. deserta cannot be easily synonymized. Specimens with a hind wing band are placed into T. algeriana , while specimens without hind wing band belong to T. coerulescens ): Paratypes, 3 females, 4 males, BMNH.

Distribution: Southern border of Atlas Mountains; expanding from the foothills of the southern High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, Saharan Atlas up to the Aurés Mountains ( Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).

Figures

FIGURE 2: Variation in wing morphology of male and female individuals of the valid members of the genus Thalpomena: A—Thalpomena algeriana; B—Thalpomena azureipennis; C—Thalpomena coerulescens; D—Thalpomena dernensis and E—Thalpomena viridipennis.