Afranthrene, Bartsch & Sáfián, 2024

Bartsch, Daniel & Sáfián, Szabolcs, 2024, A new genus and species of Paranthrenini from Angola (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), Zootaxa 5537 (3), pp. 439-444 : 440

Afranthrene gen. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D1D48E36-A0E0-4B7C-B959-8C56C5F18D4D

Type species: Afranthrene cinerea sp. nov., by present designation.

Etymology. The name refers to Africa and the ancient Greek “ανΘΡενε” (Anthrene) = wasp.

Description. Medium-sized clearwing moths with an alar expanse of 20–23 mm.

Head: proboscis reduced; labial palpus slightly bent upwards, second and third palpomere almost equal in length, first somewhat shorter, ventral scales rather short, roughened, without tuft or beard; frons predominantly smooth, approximately 1.5 times as wide as a compound eye; vertex with short and slightly rough, hair-like scales; antenna about two thirds as long as forewing, clavate; somewhat serrate, ciliate, ciliae distally tapering, lacking at tip.

Thorax: overlaid with short hair-like scales; patagia and tegulae with raised, hair-like scales. Legs rather short, hindleg significantly shorter than abdomen; mostly smooth and shiny; femur and tibia of foreleg laterally with long, dark scale tufts; tibiae of other legs with raised scales dorsally. Wings predominantly opaque; hindwing occasionally with transparent parts; discal spots indistinct or absent, well-developed in transparent parts; venation as typical for the tribe, forewing veins R4/R5 with very long common stalk or completely coincident, CuA1 and CuA2 parallel, hindwing veins M3 and CuA1 arise nearly from the same point.

Abdomen long and slender, caudally somewhat tapering, with raised, long scales laterally; anal tuft bipartite.

Male genitalia. Tegumen short and narrow; gnathos simple, bipartite, without thorns apically; uncus long, very narrow, dorsally covered with long scales, laterally somewhat enlarged at tip, without ventral or lateral setae; tuba analis with straight, long, narrow, well sclerotised subscaphium; valva elongate, narrow, apically rounded, inner surface with numerous specialized setae on dorsal portion, a longitudinal row of such setae from the base to the middle of the valva, ventral margin with a small, narrow patch of thorn-like setae basally, distal half densely covered with long, simple setae; saccus short, triangular; phallus simple, vesica without numerous minute spines.

Diagnosis. According to the structure of the male genitalia, Afranthrene gen. n. belongs to the Adixoa Hampson, [1893] genera group (Bartsch et al. 2023). The genus can defined by the following characters: (1) proboscis reduced; (2) mid and hindlegs short, without distinct scale tufts; (3) stalk of forewing veins R4/R5 extremely long, exceptionally veins completely fused; (4) abdomen long and slender with lateral scales on terminal segments; (5) anal tuft in male bipartite; (6) uncus straight, long and narrow; (7) subscaphium broad, straight; (8) valva long and narrow, apically rounded; (9) phallus exceptionally small and short, approximately two-thirds the length of the valva, without distinct sclerotised structures apically. 3, 4, 6 and 9 may be autapomorphic characters for the genus.

Afranthrene gen. n. is closely related to the African genera Fortikona Bartsch & Sáfián, 2023 , Rubukona Fischer, 2007 and Thyranthrene Hampson, 1919 . From these genera, as well as from all other African members of the Paranthrene Hübner [1819] -genera group, Afranthene gen. n. differs by the short legs, which do not come close to the length of the slender abdomen and by the lack of distinct scale tufts on the mid and hindlegs. Males are also characterized by the long, bipartite anal tuft. Fortikona and Rubukona species are larger and more compact, with hindlegs approximately as long as the abdomen. In males of these genera the colouration is usually dark brown to black with bright yellow body markings and the anal tuft is fan-like, not bipartite (Bartsch et al. 2023, unpublished for Rubukona ). Males of the almost monochrome bluish black Fortikona dalaba Sáfián & Bartsch, 2023 have semi-transparent hindwings. Rubukona males have the abdomen slightly waisted with large, fan-like anal tuft. In their male genitalia, Fortikona and Rubukona differ by the larger tegumen, the broader, the curved uncus and tuba analis, the broader valva, the longer and usually narrower saccus and the relatively longer and thicker phallus. Thyranthrene species are more compact, the antennae shorter and thicker, sometimes serrate, the abdomen with white rings, which are somewhat indistinct in males, the anal tuft simple, shorter and wider and the tibiae of all legs with tufted scales. The male genitalia have the gnathos stronger, with terminal hocks, the uncus in middle portion broader and terminally pointed, the valva triangular, apically pointed or narrowly rounded, the saccus longer and narrower and the phallus longer and broader with sclerotised plates terminally. Almost all Paranthrenini from other continents have a comparatively shorter and broader abdomen with simple, short and broad anal tuft and a well-developed proboscis.