Cechetra inconspicua Ivshin & Krutov, 2018

Ivshin, Nikolay, Krutov, Vadim & Romanov, Denis, 2018, Three new taxa of the genus Cechetra Zolotuhin & Ryabov, 2012 (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) from South-East Asia with notes on other species of the genus, Zootaxa 4450 (1), pp. 1-25 : 11-12

Cechetra inconspicua Ivshin & Krutov sp.n.

Holotype ♂, [ Malaysia,] Borneo, Sarawak, Nr Penom , 200m, 17.vi.1990, leg. W.J. Tennent, Cadiou Coll. BMNH (E) 2008-107 [ NHMUK] ( Fig. 19 ).

Paratypes. 1 ♂, [ Malaysia,] Borneo , Sarawak, Penom , 200m, 17.vi.1990, leg W.J. Tennent, Cadiou Coll. BMNH (E) 2008-107 [ NHMUK] ; 1 ♂, [ Malaysia,] Sabah, Mamut , 1500m , 25.v.-4.vi.1980, Leg. T. Hasegawa, [H. Inoue] slide 9520 (♂), Inoue coll. BM 1992-71 [NHMUK]; 1♀, Malaysia, Fraser’s Hill , 4-5.ix.1989, leg. W.J. Tennent, Cadiou Coll. BMNH (E) 2008-107 [ NHMUK] ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, Malaysia, Sabah, Crocker Range, Kota Kinabalu + Tambunan , N 5°51’33.7” E 116°17’24.1”, 1240m, 04-26.iv.2013, At light , leg. A. Giusti, M.V.L. Barclay, B.G. Garner & H. Mendel, BMNH(E) 2013-58 [NHMUK]; 14 ♂, 2♀, Malaysia, N Borneo, Sabah, Trus Madi Mt. , 1185 m, 5°26'35''N, 116°27'04''E, 1-14.vii.2011, leg. A. Klimenko & V. Gromenko ( BOLD sample id BC-Ivsh04731, BC-Ivsh04732, BC-Ivsh04733) , coll. N. Ivshin; 3 ♂, Malaysia, N Borneo, Sabah, Trus Madi Mt. , 1185 m, 5°26'35''N, 116°27'04''E , 18.viii.2012, leg. A. Klimenko, coll. N. Ivshin; 1♂, Malaysia, S Borneo, Sabah, Nabawan dist., 7km N Pensiangan , 530m., 4.III.2014, leg. local collector , coll. V.V. Krutov; 1 ♂, Indonesia, W Sumatra, Sanggul Mt. , 1200 m, vii.2004 , leg. St. Jakl, coll. V.V. Krutov ;; 1♂, Borneo, Daerah Tongot, Maliau Basin area , road Kalabakan-Sapulut , 4°31'00''N, 117°14'36''E , 24.07.2012, H= 66m, leg. Victor Sinyaev & Svetlana Sinyaeva, coll. V.V.s Krutov ; 1♂, Borneo, Daerah Panampang, Road Tambunan-Kinabalu, 5°51'33''N, 116°15'38''E, 12 - 16.08.2012, H= 1000m, leg. Victor Sinyaev & Svetlana Sinyaeva, coll. V.V. Krutov; 1♂, Malaysia, N Borneo, Sabah, Trus Madi Mt. , 1185 m, 5°26'35''N, 116°27'04''E , 18.08.2012, leg. A. Klimenko, coll. V.V. Krutov; 1♀, N. Kalimantan, Tambunan distr., Trus Madi mtn, 1150m, 1-12. IV.2011 , leg. P. Udovichenko, coll. V.V. Krutov; 1♂, Malaysia, Cameron Highlands, Kuala Woh , 5/24/1996, leg. V. Kroutov, coll. V.V. Krutov; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀: Malaisie, Bornéo, Sabah, Mont Trus Madi , 1500m , mai 1995, leg. Denis Bouchard [ CJHL]; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ Bornéo, Sabah, piste au sud de Tambunan , 650 m , 4 VIII 1991, leg. Jean Haxaire & Pierre Wident [ CJHL]; 2 ♂: Bornéo, Sabah, piste au sud de Tambunan , 650 m, 4 , 5 et 13 VIII 1991, leg. Jean Haxaire & Pierre Wident: Bornéo, Sabah, piste au sud de Tambunan, 650 m , 4 VIII 1991, leg. Jean Haxaire & Pierre Wident [ CJHL]; 1 ♂: Malaysia, Fraser’s Hill , 1000m , 15-31 VIII 1992, leg. Patrick Bleuzen [CJHL].

Total: 39 paratypes.

FWL: holotype: 50 mm

Cechetra inconspicua is the most divergent species in the genus in terms of its COI mtDNA (COI-5P “barcode region”: Fig. 16 , 40, Table 2). In habitus, it is closest to C. lineosa and C. subangustata . Cechetra inconspicua differs from C. lineosa in having entirely white antennae in males and white or dull pinkish ones in females ( Fig. 41 ); in males of C. lineosa , they are brownish, pinkish or greyish basally. In comparison with C. lineosa , in most specimens of C. inconspicua the first diagonal line of the forewing upperside is wider and the distance between the first and second lines is greater than that between the second and the third. The median thoracic pale band of C. inconspicua is divided longitudinally by a thin brown line, whereas in C. lineosa this line is absent, weak or dark green. The colours are less bright than in C. lineosa , C. scotti and C. bryki , making specimens of C. inconspicua look like discoloured C. lineosa or C. subangustata . Except for the colour of antennae, all these characters work well only for fresh or well-preserved specimens. The female is similar to the male but larger.

The male genitalia ( Fig. 39 ) differ from those of C. bryki , C. lineosa and C. scotti in the basal section of the harpe being more massive with a curved and less elongate sclerotized process; the phallus armature has a very small denticulate plate with smaller and more numerous uniform teeth.

One mtDNA haplotype of C. inconspicua is shown in Fig. 40. The translated polypeptide sequence differs from other Cechetra species in one non-synonymic amino acid substitution.

C. inconspicua has been found in Northern Borneo (Sabah, Trusmadi Mt.) and Sumatra at altitudes of about 1000 m where this species appears to be rather common, so most records of C. lineosa from those islands are probably attributable to C. inconspicua . The moth illustrated in Holloway (1987) as C. lineosa is actually C. inconspicua but we were unable to locate that specimen in the NHMUK. In Sumatra, C. inconspicua is sympatric with C. lineosa and C. subangustata ; in peninsular Malaysia and Borneo, it flies with C. lineosa . We have no examples of C. subangustata from Borneo.

The larval hostplants of C. inconspicua are unknown. Genetically, this species is quite distant from C. lineosa , C. scotti and C. bryki , so the hostplants of C. inconspicua may be different from those of these species.

Etymology. The name refers to the long-overlooked existence of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Maximum likelihood tree of the studied Cechetra. Bootstrap support values of> 70% are iNdicated Near the braNches (500 bootstrap replicates).

FIGURE 19. Type specimeNs of Cechetra inconspicua sp. n. from NHMUK: a—♂ holotype dorsal view, b—♂ holotype veNtral view; c—♀ paratype dorsal view, d—♀ paratype veNtral view.

FIGURE 39. Cechetra inconspicua sp. n., paratype (BOLD sample ID BC-Ivsh04777), INdoNesia—N BorNeo: a—sagittal projectioN of male geNitalia (oNe valve is removed); b—phallus armature.

FIGURE 41. ANteNNae colour iN differeNt Cechetra: a—Cechetra inconspicua (BorNeo); b—C. subangustata continentalis (ThailaNd); c—C. subangustata subangustata (Java); d—C. bryki (Nepal); e—C. lineosa (Nepal); f—C. lineosa (Laos); g—C. lineosa (PeNiNsular Malaysia); h—C. lineosa (PeNiNsular Malaysia)—the rare form with almost white aNteNNae, but still piNkish proximally.