Cardepia rothei Gyulai & Saldaitis, 2014

Gyulai, Peter & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2014, A new species of Cardepia Hampson, 1905 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from China, Zootaxa 3821 (3), pp. 391-397 : 391-397

Cardepia rothei Gyulai & Saldaitis sp. n.

( Figs 1–3 , 14–17 , 30 )

Type material. Holotype: male ( Fig. 1 ), China, Xinjiang, W Taklimakan desert, Yarkan He riv. valley, tugay forest, 1140 m, N 39°21.953 ’’, E 078°11.639 ’’, 9–12. VI. 2013, leg. A. Floriani, coll. P. Gyulai (to be deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum , Budapest, Hungary); (Slide No. PGY 3680m)

Paratypes: 102 males ( Fig. 2 ), 43 females ( Fig. 3 ), with the same data as the holotype ; 11 males, 3 females, China, Xinjiang, SW from Kashi, W Taklimakan desert, Terambasar, 1200 m, N 39°10.564 ’’, E 077°04.039 ’’, 7. VI. 2013, leg. A. Floriani, in the collections of A. Floriani (Milan, Italy), P. Gyulai (Miskolc, Hungary), F. Hofer (Baden, Austria), Nature Research Centre (Vilnius, Lithuania), D. Nilsson ( Kalvehave , Denmark), S. Rothe ( Taucha , Germany), H. Seibald (Vienna, Austria) and World Insect Gallery ( Joniškis , Lithuania). Slide Nos : PGY 3610, 3672, 3677 (males), 3616, 3738 (females) .

Diagnosis and description. Wingspan 23–27 mm. Although Cardepia rothei sp. n. resembles all known Central Asiatic species and subspecies of Cardepia it can be separated externally by its more elongate forewing apex, paler forewing ground color with less brown or gray suffused wings, and fawn or pale ochre body hair. Cardepia rothei is most similar to the light coloured C. helix helix Boursin, 1962 ( Figs 4, 5 ) but is easily distinguished by its even, unserrated, and slightly wavy subterminal line which is not as medially projected toward the margin as in C. helix . On average Cardepia rothei is smaller than C. helix (24-31 mm), and the most geographically widely distributed C. irrisoria (Ershov, 1874) (= albipicta Christoph, 1884 (25-34 mm) ( Figs11, 12 ). C. rothei ( Figs 1–3 ) lacks the broad white antemedial and postmedial transverse line shading of C. kaszabi Sukhareva & Varga, 1973 , and the white-filled orbicular spot and white -variegated forewing cilia of C. irrisoria f. albipicta. The claviform stigma is small but more conspicuous than that of C. irrisoria . The undersides of the wings, whose ground colors are pale fawn or whitish with subtle brown suffusion restricted to the submarginal area or to the forewing postmedial and hindwing medial lines, distinguish the new species from its Central Asian congeners except for light forms of C. helix and C. irrisoria . The underside characters are useful for separating C. rothei from C. helix dubatolovi Hacker, 1998 ( Figs 7, 6 ) and C. dardistana Boursin, 1967 ( Figs 9, 10 ). The latter species appears to be the most closely allied to C. rothei species based on genitalia but differs in having a distinctive and diffuse brown stripe in the ventral submarginal area.

Male genitalia. The genitalia of C. rothei ( Figs 14-17 ) correspond closely to those of its congeners, especially C. dardistana ( Figs 18, 19 , 31 ). The best keys for distinction are in the asymmetric saccular extensions. However, the large, long right saccular extension in C. rothei is distinctively longer than in other species with the exceptions of C. dardistana and C. helix ( Figs 20, 21 ), while the everted vesica indicates slight differences in the size of the diverticuli and position of the cornutus. C. rothei can be separated from C. dardistana by the following: its somewhat more spatulate uncus; ventrally somewhat broader, subtriangular juxta; stronger, longer, terminally less tapering right saccular extension; longer, stronger left saccular extension; larger distal-secunder vesica diverticulum (oppositely projected from the aedeagus); a medially rather basally situated cornutus of the main vesica tube. Compared to C. helix helix and C. helix dubatolovi ( Figs. 22 23 ) the neck of the cucullus is longer and the juxta is broader ventrally and shorter dorsally. The asymmetric saccular extensions are not acutely twisted as in C. helix , however, the right extension is nearly straight and more robust, whereas the left extension is straight, somewhat shorter, less elongate distally but acute terminally. The proximal-secunder diverticulum of the vesica (oppositely projected from the ductus ejaculatorius being slightly recurved to the dorsal part of aedeagus) is shorter than in C. helix . Female genitalia. C. rothei ( Fig. 30 ) has longer apophyses posteriores, a less calycular antrum and a smaller u-shaped medial depression in the ostium bursae than in C. dardistana ( Fig. 31 ). In C. helix ( Fig. 32 ) the antrum is less robust, the small medial depression in the ostium bursae is more vshaped and the appendix bursae longer. C. irrisoria irrisoria ( Fig. 33 ) and C. irrisoria nigrescens have larger and subglobular corpus bursae.

Biology and distribution. Long series of both sexes were collected at ultraviolet light between 7 and 12 June 2013 in west China's Xinjiang Province. It is likely endemic there in a remote area at the southwestern edge of the Taklimakan desert. Most specimens were collected in the Yarkan He river ( Fig. 13 ) floodplain in leafy forest (tugay) dominated by Turanga Poplar, Oleaster ( Populus , Elaeagnus ) and Salix species but some were also collected near sand dunes sparsely covered with Oleaster ( Elaeagnus ), Camel Thorn ( Alhagi ) and various Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop) bushes. Other desert Noctuidae species collected with C. rothei included Catocala contemnenda Staudinger , Catocala remissa Staudinger , Drasteria antiqua (Staudinger) among others.

Etymology. The new species is named after a prominent German lepidopterist, Mr. Stefen Rothe (Taucha, Germany).

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Cardepia ssp. adults. 1. C. rothei sp. n., male, holotype, China, Xinjiang (coll. P. Gyulai); 2. C. rothei sp. n., male, paratype, China, Xinjiang (coll. P. Gyulai); 3. C. rothei sp. n., female, paratype, China, Xinjiang (coll. P. Gyulai); 4. C. helix helix, male, Turkmenistan, Mari (coll. P. Gyulai); 5. C. helix helix, female, Turkmenistan, Mari (coll. P. Gyulai); 6. C. helix dubatolovi, male, Tadjikistan, Tigrovaya Balka (coll. P. Gyulai); 7. C. helix dubatolovi, female, Tadjikistan, Tigrovaya Balka (coll. P. Gyulai); 8. C. irrisoria nigrescens male, holotype, Mongolia, Bayankhongor Aimak (coll. P. Gyulai).

FIGURES 14–21. Cardepia ssp. male genitalia. 14. C. rothei sp. n., holotype, capsule, prep. PGy3680; 15. C. rothei sp. n., holotype, aedeagus, prep. PGy3680; 16. C. rothei sp. n., paratype, capsule, prep. PGy3677; 17. C. rothei sp. n., paratype, aedeagus, prep. PGy3677; 18. C. dardistana, capsule, prep. PGy3701; 19. C. dardistana aedeagus, prep. PGy3701; 20. C. helix helix, capsule, prep. PGy3757; 21. C. helix helix aedeagus, prep. PGy3757.

FIGURES 30–33. Cardepia ssp. female genitalia. 30. C. rothei sp. n., paratype, prep. PGy3738; 31. C. dardistana, prep. PGy3702; 32. C. helix helix, prep. PGy3697; 33. C. irrisoria irrisoria, prep. PGy3756.

FIGURES 9–13. Cardepia ssp. adults. 9. C. dardistana, male, Pakistan, Teru (coll. P. Gyulai); 10. C. dardistana, female, Pakistan, Gupis (coll. P. Gyulai); 11. C. irrisoria irrisoria, male, Uzbekistan, Bukhara (coll. P. Gyulai); 12. C. irrisoria irrisoria, female, Kazakhstan, Batkul lake (coll. P. Gyulai); 13. Desert river floodplain leafy forest (tugay) – the biotope of C. rothei sp. n., China, Xinjiang, Yarkan He riv. valley.

FIGURES 22–29. Cardepia ssp. male genitalia. 22. C. helix dubatolovi, capsule, prep. PGy2108; 23. C. helix dubatolovi aedeagus, prep. PGy2108; 24. C. irrisoria irrisoria, capsule, Uzbekistan, prep. PGy3760; 25. C. irrisoria irrisoria, aedeagus, Uzbekistan, prep. PGy3760; 26. C. irrisoria irrisoria, capsule, China, Xinjiang, prep. PGy3696; 27. C. irrisoria irrisoria aedeagus, China, Xinjiang, prep. PGy3696; 28. C. irrisoria nigrescens, holotype, capsule, prep. HH10565; 29. C. irrisoria nigrescens, holotype, aedeagus, prep. HH10565.