Isochlora kozlovi Volynkin, Titov, Matov & Saldaitis, 2023

Volynkin, Anton V., Titov, Sergey V., Matov, Alexey Yu., Tóth, Balázs, Saldaitis, Aidas, Rakhimov, Ruslan D. & Egorov, Petr V., 2023, On the taxonomy of the genus Isochlora Staudinger with descriptions of two new species from Mongolia and Qinghai, China (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Noctuinae), Zootaxa 5374 (3), pp. 409-423 : 415-417

Isochlora kozlovi Volynkin, Titov, Matov & Saldaitis , sp. n.

( Figs 13, 14, 18 , 26 , 31 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 13 , 26 ): male, “ 10-VII-1900 ” / “ China, E Kunlun Mts , | Bayan Har Range, | S of Chzhabu-vrun Pass, | upper reaches of By-chu River, | 10.vii.1900, | P.K. Kozlov leg.” / ‘Slide | AV7370³ | A. Volynkin ” ( ZISP).

Paratypes. CHINA: 1 female, [Qinghai Province, E Kunlun Mts , Bayan Har Range, N of Chzhabu-vrun Pass] vall. of Dzhagyn-gol [River], E Tibet, 14300 ’, Kozlov [leg.]. 1–6 VII [19]00 (in Russian), gen. prep. No.: AV7372 (prepared by Volynkin) ( ZISP) ; 1 female, Prov. Qinghai, 3800m, Anemaqing Mts , 10 km SE of Xue Shan, N of Dong Qing Gou, 10–11.VIII.1999, P. Gyulai & A. Garai leg., gen. prep. No.: GYP 1866 ( PGM) .

Note on the type locality. The male specimen of the new species deposited in ZISP and designated as the holotype originally had a handwritten label containing only the date “ 10-VII-1900 ”, which is four days later the range of the dates on the label of the paratype female (1–6 VII [19]00”) collected by P.K. Kozlov in the valley of Dzhagyn-Gol River, Tibet. Unfortunately, in his book devoted to his three year journey to Mongolia and Tibet in 1899–1901, P.K. Kozlov (1913) has not mentioned the exact dates describing the part of the journey between July 1–6, when they were traveling up the river Dzhagyn-Gol, and July 16, when the expedition set up camp in Khoshun. The only locality mentioned was Chzhabu-vrun Pass, after crossing which the expedition began its descent into the basin of the river Yangtze (called ‘Blue River’ by P.K. Kozlov). In P.K. Kozlov’s diaries housed in the Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society (St. Petersburg, Russia), the range of the dates ‘July 10–12’ was also described generally and without exact localities being mentioned, the author only wrote that the expedition was descending into the Blue River basin. However, in the ZISP collection there are other specimens of Lepidoptera collected by P.K. Kozlov on July 11, for example, the holotype of the tiger moth Palerontobia kozlovi Dubatolov, 2008 , with the locality data “riv. By chu (Namtso), basin of Blue [River], 14000 ’ ” ( Dubatolov 2008). Thus, summarising all of the above, it is possible to conclude that the holotype male of I. kozlovi sp. n. was collected in the upper reaches of By-chu River south of the Chzhabu-vrun Pass ( Fig. 34 ). A printed label with the relevant data was pinned by the authors of the present paper under the holotype.

Diagnosis. Isochlora kozlovi sp. n. ( Figs 13, 14 ) can be distinguished from the similar I. flora ( Figs 15–17 ) by its smaller size and the forewing upperside having a well-developed irregular reddish discal spot. The underside of both wings of the new species ( Fig. 18 ) has more intense pink suffusion than in I. flora ( Fig. 19 ), and the hindwing lacks the broad whitish area stretching along the costal margin and occupying nearly a half of the hindwing in the congener. The male genital capsules of the two species display no remarkable differences. Compared to I. flora ( Fig. 27 ), the phallus of I. kozlovi sp. n. ( Fig. 26 ) is shorter and has a shorter coecum. The vesica of I. kozlovi sp. n. is considerably shorter and narrower than in I. flora , and has a shorter medial diverticulum. In the female genitalia, the new species ( Fig. 31 ) differs from I. flora ( Fig. 32 ) in the longer sclerotised area of the posterior section of the corpus bursae, and the anterior section bearing three larger signa whereas I. flora has four signa.

Description. Adults ( Figs 13, 14, 18 ). Forewing length 9.0 mm in male holotype and 9.5 mm in female paratype. Antenna brown, shortly bipectinate in male and filiform in female. Head and thorax grass green. Ground colour of forewing upperside, grass green with pink suffusion on costal margin. Cell with irregular reddish spot distally. Cilia green with admixture of pink. Legs pale ochreous with admixture of pink. Hindwing underside pale brown with intense pink suffusion along costal and outer margins, and elliptical cluster of whitish hair-like scales along anal margin proximally. Hindwing upperside greyish-brown with pink suffusion terminally, cilia pale brown with admixture of pink. Hindwing underside pale brown with pink suffusion becoming more intense distally, and diffuse with pale ochreous spot at costal margin postmedially. Abdomen grey with admixture of pale green, and with pink scales on male genitalia. In female ovipositor strongly elongate, telescopic. Male genitalia ( Fig. 26 ). Uncus bar-like, weakly setose, almost straight, slightly dilated postmedially, distally tapered with triangular and downcurved tip. Tegumen with broadly triangular and apically rounded penicular lobe. Vinculum somewhat longer than tegumen, with V-shaped and apically rounded tip. Valva elongate, gradually tapering distally, with somewhat upcurved distal half bearing dense cluster of setae apically. Sacculus short (slightly shorter than 1/3 of valva length), broad proximally (ca. 2/3 of valva width) and distally tapered. Clasper thin, without harpe. Juxta bowl-shaped with deep medial depression. Anellus setose. Phallus cylindrical, slightly downcurved medially, with rounded coecum and granulose plate distally. Vesica recurved ventrally, medially dilated and distally tapered, weakly granulose medially and distally, and with short and conical medial diverticulum bearing thin spike-like cornutus apically. Female genitalia ( Fig. 31 ). Ovipositor elongate and conical. Papilla analis elongate rectangular with rounded corners, with reduced setae. Apophyses strongly elongate, rod-like and distally flattened, apophysis posterioris somewhat longer than apophysis anterioris. Ductus bursae tubular and membranous. Corpus bursae medially constricted with narrower, rugose and weakly sclerotised posterior section and teardrop-shaped anterior section bearing three weakly sclerotised elliptical signa.

Distribution. Western China (Qinghai Province) ( Fig. 34 ).

Etymology. The new species is named after Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1863–1935), a famous traveller and explorer of Mongolia and Tibet, follower of Nikolai Przhevalsky, and collector of the holotype and one paratype.

Figures

FIGURE 34. Distribution map of Isochlora spp. in Qinghai, China.

FIGURES 13–19. Isochlora spp.: adults. The specimens are deposited in ZISP.

FIGURES 24–27. Isochlora spp.: male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 24, 26 and 27 in ZISP; 25 in MfN.

FIGURES 28–32. Isochlora spp.: female genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 28, 29, 31 and 32 in ZISP; 30 in MfN.