Meganola yvonneae ( Kühne, 2007 ) László & Volynkin, 2019

László, Gyula M. & Volynkin, Anton V., 2019, On the taxonomic position of ‘ Siccia’ yvonneae Kühne, 2007 (Lepidoptera: Nolidae: Nolinae), Zootaxa 4609 (1), pp. 185-190 : 186-190

Meganola yvonneae ( Kühne, 2007) , comb. nov.

( Figs 1–4 , 9, 10 , 15 )

Siccia yvonneae Kühne, 2007 , Esperiana Memoir 3: 375. Type locality: Kenya, Kakamega Forest N. R. Holotype: male, in coll. Kühne (later ZMB).

Type material examined. 1 paratype ♂, Kenya-West, Kakamega Forest N. R., Udo’s campsite, 1600m, 17.ix.2001 (Lichtfang) 3 0. 21,08 N; 34. 51,57 E leg. L. Kühne, J. Holstein, slide No.: L. Kühne 206/2004 ( ZMB) ; 1 paratype ♀, from the same locality, but collected 13.x.2001, slide No.: AV 2893 ( ZMB) .

Additional material examined: Liberia. 1 ♂, Nimba Mts camp, ENNR , Nimba county, 7°31’45’’N, 8°31’37’’W, 1165m, 03–13.XII.2017 Light Trap (250W blended bulb) leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L., ANHRT : 2017.33., ANHRTUK 0 0 0 19928, slide No.: AV 4544 ( ANHRT) ; 1 ♂, Nimba Mts, East Nimba Natu- re Reserve upland forest, Cellcom Road , 7°32’45.9”N, 8°31’21”W, 1000–1100m, 27.III.–04.IV.2017, Light Trap (250W blended bulb & 8W cold cathode UV light bucket trap), leg. Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., ANHRT :2017.36, ANHRTUK 0 0 0 56443 (ANHRT). Nigeria. 1 ♂, Ibadan , 10.VIII.1978, M.A. Tornes leg. NHMUK 0 10889649 (NH- MUK). Uganda. 1 ♂, Western Region, Prov. Fort Portal, Kibale National Park , 0°32.086’N, 30°17.623’E, 1520m, 6-7.VII.2011, H. Sulak leg. ( MWM / ZSM) .

In spite of the external appearance reminding rather to a Siccia species, the taxon “ yvonneae ” belongs to the genus Meganola as is demonstrated by comparison with M. conspicua Dyar, 1898 (figs 5, 11, 16), type species of Meganola , as well as with a well-known, widespread Palaearctic species: M. albula ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) (figs 6, 12, 17). All of these species share the following characters in the male genitalia: well developed, tapering, apically pointed uncus with dense hair tuft medially, elongate, relatively narrow valva with more or less parallel costal and ventral margins, lacking any costal, ventral or apical processi, short and narrow sacculus, in addition simple, thorn-like harpe erected more or less medio-basally on the valval plate ( Figs 9–12 ). The configuration of the female genitalia of M. yvonneae also fits well into the basic ground plan of Meganola , having a relatively broad and short, heavily sclerotized ovipositor with conical papillae anales and relatively short apophyses, in addition, well developed, rounded corpus bursae with a pair of short triangular signa ( Figs 15–17 ) are present. However, the female genitalia of M. yvonneae differs in an important character from the basic configuration of that of Meganola , namely in the conspicuously short ductus bursae, which is normally well developed and, in many cases, strongly sclerotized in other Meganola . The nearly absent ductus bursae is substituted by the elongated posterior section of corpus bursae in M. yvonneae . It is worth noting that this kind of deviation from the general morphological characters is not rare in such a large genus as Meganola – Hacker et al. (2012) list 280 species from the Afrotropics, László et al. (2015) lists 81 species from the Palaearctic and Oriental regions.

In order to fully justify the new combination of M. yvonneae , type species of Siccia , S. caffra Walker, 1854 is also figured ( Figs 8 , 14 ). The distinctive characters of the male genitalia in comparing Siccia and Meganola are as follows: Siccia (fig. 14) has a robust, apically broadly rounded, finger-like uncus (the uncus is shorter, tapering, apically pointed in Meganola ), short, medially conspicuously broadened valva having a well-developed costal lobe and apical process (the valva of Meganola is rather elongate, relatively narrow, without apical processi), and a welldeveloped acute saccular process, which is also absent in Meganola . In the female genitalia Siccia (fig. 18) has a weakly sclerotized quadrangular ovipositor (which is heavily sclerotized and conical in Meganola ), very broad, strongly sclerotized ostium bursae (which is narrower and variably sclerotized in Meganola ) in addition, there is a very short ductus bursae and strongly sclerotized corpus bursae with extensive scobination or granulation, lacking a typical signum bursae ( Meganola has generally long ductus bursae, membranous corpus bursae, usually with a pair of signum bursae of various shape, lacking a granulated plate).

Transferring “ yvonneae ” to Meganola in the tribe Nolini is also suggested by the configuration of the labial palps: all known Siccia species have very short and thin labial palps scarcely covered with very short scales, while that of M. yvonneae has medium long and thick labial palps densely covered by long hair scales being characteristic of Nolini .

It is worth mentioning that the peculiar external habitus reminding to that of Siccia species is not unknown in Nolini . Some Asiatic Manoba Walker, 1864 (e.g. Manoba shrimptoni Holloway, 2003 , M. lithosiformis László, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2014 ( Figs 7 , 13 ), M. solovyevi László, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2014 ) and the species of Maculonola László, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2015 (with two known species M. apiensis ( Holloway, 2003) and M. dolokmerangirensis László, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2015 ) display forewing pattern consisting of blackish dots reminding to the general habitus of Siccia species. Meganola yvonneae is the first example in Nolini in the Afrotropics bearing this kind of habitus. To justify whether this peculiar external appearance is a case of mimicry or just a convergence of a particular wing pattern, obtaining further knowledge on the biology (e.g. foodplant, resting habits etc.) of the taxa involved is required.

Distribution. Meganola yvonneae was described from Kakamega forest, West Kenya. Further specimens were found in the collections of ANHRT, NHMUK and MWM/ZSM from Liberia, Nigeria and Uganda respectively. As there were no significant morphological differences detected between the East and the West African specimens, it seems that M. yvonneae has a rather wide distribution throughout equatorial Africa. Interestingly, the West African and East African populations do not display any morphological differences although the Dahomey Gap in the middle of the distribution of the species acts as a zoogeographical barrier in many taxa ( Booth 1958).

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Nolini and Lithosiini spp.: adults. 1, Meganola yvonneae, paratype ♂, W Kenya (ZMB); 2, M. yvonneae, paratype ♀, W Kenya (ZMB); 3, M. yvonneae, ♂, Liberia (ANHRT); 4, M. yvonneae, ♂, Nigeria (©NHMUK); 5, Meganola conspicua, ♂, USA, Arizona (©NHMUK); 6, Meganola albula, ♀, Germany, Nordrhein-Westfalen (MWM/ZSM); 7, Manoba lithosiformis, holotype ♂, Philippines, Mindanao (MWM/ZSM); 8, Siccia caffra, ♂, South Africa (©NHMUK).

FIGURES 9–14. Nolini and Lithosiini spp.: male genitalia. 9, Meganola yvonneae, paratype, W Kenya, slide Kühne 206/2004 (ZMB); 10, M. yvonneae, Liberia, slide AV4544 (ANHRT); 11, Meganola conspicua, USA, Texas, slide LGN1310 (©NH- MUK); 12, Meganola albula, Slovakia, slide LGN943 (MWM/ZSM); 13, Manoba lithosiformis, holotype, Philippines, slide LGN534 (MWM/ZSM); 14, Siccia caffra, South Africa, slide NHMUK010314586 Volynkin (©NHMUK).

FIGURES 15–18. Nolini and Lithosiini spp.: female genitalia. 15, Meganola yvonneae, paratype, W Kenya, slide AV2893 (ZMB); 16, Meganola conspicua, USA, Nevada, slide LGN1312 (©NHMUK); 17, Meganola albula, Germany, slide LGN80 (MWM/ZSM); 18, Siccia caffra, South Africa, slide BMNH(E) Arct-5032 (©NHMUK).