Lephana ovalis ( Rothschild, 1917 ) Cock, 2021

Cock, Matthew J. W., 2021, A new species and taxonomic changes relating to the Notodontidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad, West Indies, Zootaxa 5020 (2), pp. 307-327 : 308-310

Lephana ovalis ( Rothschild, 1917) , comb. nov. ( Erebidae , Anobiinae)

( Figs. 1–3 )

BIN: BOLD:AEF1848 (doi: pending).

Rothschild (1917) described Apella [sic] ovalis Rothschild, 1917 as a species of Notodontidae from Venezuela, and it appears in the Notodontidae lists of Schintlmeister (2013) and Becker (2014) as Apela ovalis . It occurs in Trinidad (author’s unpublished records; Fig. 1 ). DNA barcodes from Trinidad and Colombia occur together in BIN BOLD:AEF 1848 in BOLD ( Ratnasingham and Hebert 2007), on either side of the Venezuela type locality, indicating that this BIN can be assumed to represent L. ovalis . Given the strong scale tuft on the forewing dorsum, it is understandable that this species might be mistaken for a species of Apela . However, the forewing venation is quadrifid (vein M 2 nearer to M 3 at its base on the cell than to M 1) as opposed to trifid (vein M 2 nearer M 1 at base or approximately central), indicating this is not a species of Notodontidae ( Miller 1991) . Based on the curation of the NHMUK and the on-line NHMUK LepIndex database ( Beccaloni et al. 2003), it has been treated as belonging in the genus Anoba Walker, 1858 ( Erebidae , Anobinae ). Although this species does not appear in Poole’s (1989) catalogue of Noctuidae (as then defined), the unpublished combination Anoba ovalis does appear on the internet (e.g. ADW 2021, CoL 2021, GBIF 2021).

Following the introduction of the tribe Anobini (type genus Anoba ) by Holloway (2005), Lafontaine and Walsh (2010) raised it to subfamily Anobinae Holloway, 2005 , and pointed out that the New World generic classification based on Anoba Walker, 1858 , Baniana Walker, 1858 , Deinopa Walker, 1856 and Lephana Walker, 1866 is very confused. They stated that ‘In all genera of Anobinae the head and prothoracic collar are dark and contrast with the color of the thorax, and the middle of the male valva has a lightly sclerotized “window,” usually in the same area as the clasper. Males have bipectinate antennae, or the seta on each side of the flagellomeres is enlarged giving the impression that the antenna is narrowly bipectinate.’ They did not mention Apela ovalis as a possible species of Anoba , or Anobinae .

Apela ovalis has the head and prothoracic collar dark, contrasting with the colour of the thorax ( Figs. 1 , 2 ). The male (and female) antennae are not bipectinate, but the seta on each side of the flagellomeres is enlarged which can be said to give the impression that the antenna is narrowly bipectinate ( Fig. 2 A, B, D ). In addition, both sexes have a scale tuft on the forewing dorsum at about one-third ( Fig. 2 E ). Lafontaine and Walsh (2010) considered Lephana to be characterised by a falcate forewing and ‘a triangular patch of scales projecting below the hind margin of the forewing at the antemedial line’. The latter character is perhaps more important, since Poole (1989) includes Lephana muffula ( Guenée, 1852) in Lephana ; it has a scale tuft, but the margin below the forewing apex is only marginally concave ( Fig. 3 ).

Lephana muffula was described from French Guiana (as Herminodes muffula ), but I have not examined the type, a female from French Guiana, and Poole (1989) did not mention its location. Poole (1989) transferred it to Lephana . I identified L. muffula from Trinidad by comparison with the types of its synonyms Heterogramma appensa Felder and Rogenhofer, 1874 (in Felder et al. 1865 –1874) (NHMUK, ♀ TL unknown) and Baniana projiciens Butler, 1879 (NHMUK, ♀ [TL Brazil, Amazonas]) and the NHMUK series of L. muffula , which is comprised of females only. Working with the relatively species-poor Trinidad fauna, I have been able to identify the male of L. muffula based on elimination of alternatives, and confirmed by similarities of pattern dorsally and ventrally, the same slightly concave forewing margin below the apex, and scale tuft ( Fig. 3 ). The male was described as Anoba suffusa Hampson, 1924 , which I identified by comparison with the type (NHMUK, ♂ TL Trinidad) and the NHMUK series comprising males only. Thus, L. muffula is sexually dimorphic and A. suffusa is a synonym of L. muffula . Sequences and associated images from Costa Rica and French Guiana in BOLD ( Ratnasingham and Hebert 2007) as BIN (Barcode Index Number; Ratnasingham and Hebert 2013) BOLD:AAC6008 (dx.doi.org/10.5883/BOLD:AAC6008) confirm this association. Other species of Lephana do not show sexual dimorphism, e.g. L. excisata Kaye, 1925 (type ♀, TL Trinidad, NHMUK), as is the case with Apela ovalis ( Fig. 1 ). Accordingly, and pending a needed revision of the genera of Anobinae , I transfer Appella [sic] ovalis Rothschild, 1917 to Lephana as Lephana ovalis ( Rothschild, 1917) comb. nov.

Trinidad material examined. Curepe , MVL: ♂ x.1972 [R.E. Cruttwell] [ UWIZM CABI.4541]; ♂ 21.iii.1979 (M.J.W. Cock) [ UWIZM CABI.4540]. Morne Bleu, Textel Installation, at light: 2♂ 13.ix.1978 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC, NHMUK]; ♀ 1–20.iii.1982 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. St Benedict’s, Pax Guest House, at light: ♂ 10– 16.vii.1996 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC]. St. Benedicts, Pax Guest House, MVL facing North: ♂ 16.i.2004 (M.J.W. Cock) [ MJWC, DNA 432 ]

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lephana spp. from Trinidad, in dorsal view above and ventral view below: L. ovalis ♂, Morne Bleu, Textel Installation, at light, 29.iii.1979; L. ovalis ♀, Curepe, black light trap, 1–20.iii.1982 (F.D. Bennett); L. muffula ♂ Curepe, MVL trap, 19.viii.1978; L. muffula ♀ Parrylands Oilfield, at MV light, 25.vii.1981.

FIGURE 2. Details of Lephana spp. from Trinidad: A–C, E, L. ovalis ♂, Morne Bleu, Textel Installation, at light, 29.iii.1979; D, L. ovalis ♀, Curepe, black light trap, 1–20.iii.1982 (F.D. Bennett); F–I, L. muffula ♂ Curepe, MVL trap, 19.viii.1978.

FIGURE 3. Forewings of Lephana spp. from Trinidad; data as Fig. 1.