Parvuspina tawaghatensis N. Singh, Kirti & Datta, 2019

Singh, Navneet, Kirti, Jagbir Singh & Datta, Harvinder Singh, 2019, Establishment of the new genus Parvuspina for an undescribed Lithosiini species of Asura / Miltochrista generic complex (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4686 (1), pp. 145-150 : 146

Parvuspina tawaghatensis N. Singh, Kirti & Datta , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–2 , 7–9 )

Type material. Holotype. 1 ♂, India, Uttarakhand, Tawaghat , 15.vi.2008, leg. Navneet Singh (Coll. NZCZSI, H 10 /5946) . Paratype: 1 ♂, data same as holotype ; 1 ♂, India, Himachal Pradesh, Joginder Nagar , 29.vi.2009, Navneet Singh leg. (Coll. NZCZSI, H 10 /5947) .

Diagnosis. Externally, P. tawaghatensis is closely similar to the M. calamaria , but it significantly differs due to male genital attributes. The details are discussed under the diagnosis of the genus. The females of M. dasara and M. undulata are also very similar to the adults of P. tawaghatensis , but both the former species are true members of genus Miltochrista Hübner.

Description. Wing length of 11 mm. General body colour straw yellow to pale orange yellow. Antennae ciliated, base of antennae is ornamented with yellow scales. Forewing with basal area of costa black up to 1/5 length; a small subbasal black spot and a black discoidal spot; underside pale fuscous, except outer, inner, and marginal areas. Hindwing paler. Legs slightly darker than rest of the body; mid tibia with single pair of spurs, hind tibia with two pair of spurs. Male genitalia with uncus robust, almost equal to the length of tegumen, having two sub-basal, dorso-lateral spines; tegumen short, broad, attached to vinculum with a small stalk; vinculum slightly longer than tegumen; saccus broad U-shaped; transtilla with lobed apex; valva undivided, without any process, ending to a sharp apex, costal edge in form of s-shaped curve, ventral edge smoothly curved; vesica globular with an apical field of scobination, two cornuti present: one is large, second is smaller.

Etymology. The species is named after its type locality, Tawaghat in Uttarakhand, India.

Remarks.

1. We studied three specimens of P. tawaghatensis and recorded some populational variation. In both paratypes, the vesica bears an additional, very small spine along with two spines present in holotype. The size of the largest spine in vesica is also variable to some extent. In one paratype (H 10/5947), valva having a small indention at middle of ventral edge.

2. P. tawaghatensis was published as Lyclene calamaria (Moore) in Kirti & Singh (2015) .

3. At present, the genus Lyclene is a junior synonym of the genus Miltochrista , therefore, L. dasara , L. calamaria , L. undulata , and L. chromatica are being shifted here to genus Miltochrista as M. dasara , comb. nov., M. calamaria , comb. nov., M. undulata , comb. nov., and M. chromatica , comb. nov. The male genitalia of all the four species were studied by Volynkin & Bucsek 2016, with a concept of Lyclene and Miltochrista as distinct genera. Later on, Kirti & Singh (2016) advocated a broader concept for Miltochrista with Lyclene as its junior synonym. Following the same, four new combinations are proposed here.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6: Adults. 1, P. tawaghatensis, sp. nov., holotype ♂, India, Uttarakhand, Tawaghat (NZCZSI); 2, P. tawaghatensis, sp. nov., paratype ♂, India, Himachal Pradesh, Joginder Nagar (NZCZSI); 3, M. calamaria, holotype ♀, N India, Himachal Pradesh (©NHM); 4, M. dasara, type ♂, Java (©NHM); 5, M. undulata, type ♂, E India, Meghalaya (©NHM); 6, Planovalvata confusa, ♂, India, Arunachal Pradesh, Hunli.

FIGURES 7–9: Male genitalia. 7, P. tawaghatensis, sp. nov., holotype ♂, India, Uttarakhand,Tawaghat; 8, P.tawaghatensis, sp. nov., paratype ♂, India, Himachal Pradesh, Joginder Nagar; 9, holotype & paratype dorsal view.