Pelagodes cancriformis Viidalepp, Han & Lindt

Viidalepp, Jaan, Lindt, Aare & Han, Hongxiang, 2012, Pelagodes cancriformis, a new emerald moth species from the north of Thailand, Laos and southern China (Lepidoptera, Geometridae: Geometrinae), Zootaxa 3478, pp. 429-433 : 429-433

Pelagodes cancriformis Viidalepp, Han & Lindt , sp. nov.

Figs 1–5 , 9–10 , 12 .

Material examined. Holotype, 3, CHINA: Hainan, Baisha, Yinggeling, Hongxincun, 429 m, 16–17.XI.2008, coll. Li Jing, (Slide no. 1922). Paratypes: 13, THAILAND: Mae Surin, 1200 m, 18o56´03´´N, 98o04´27´´E, 14.V.2005, A. Lindt leg. Gen. prep. 35 (A. Lindt coll).; 13, Mae Surin, 1200 m, 18o56´03´´N, 98o04´27´´E, 14.V.2005, A. Lindt leg. Gen. prep. 7478 (J. Viidalepp) ( EMNH); LAOS: 13, NE. Na Quang, 1100 m, 19o00´08´´N, 102o40´09´´E, 28.X.2011 A. Lindt leg.Gen. prep. 5 (A. Lindt). coll. IZBE; 13, NE. Na Quang, 900 m, 19o00´12´´N, 102o38´42´´E, 29.X.2011 A. Lindt leg. coll. A. L.; 1Ƥ, SW. Bun Tai, 737 m, 21o25´10´´N, 101o56´13´´E, 21.X.2011 A. Lindt leg. Gen. prep. 16, 21 (A. Lindt) coll. A. L.; 13, CHINA: Hainan, Baisha, Yinggeling, Hongxincun, 429 m, 16–17.XI.2008, coll. Li Jing (slide no. 1204); 33, Hainan, Bawangling, Donger Linchang, 1015 m, 8–10.V.2007, coll. Chen Fuqiang; 23, same locality, 19–21.XII.2007, coll. Li Jing (slide no. 1215); 43, Hainan, Wuzhishan, Shuiman, 730–900 m, 8–11.V.2007, coll. Han Hongxiang, Lang Sonyun (slides no. 1240, 1256); 13, Hainan, Yinggeling, 950–1100 m, 27.VIII–12.IX.2005, coll. Liu Chunxiang. The holotype and 11 paratypes are deposited in the collection of IZCAS, Beijing, one male paratype in coll. IZBE in Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, other paratypes in the collections of EMNH, and in the private collection of A. Lindt, Tallinn. Additional material ( P. clarifimbria Prout ). Thailand (Phuket, Ao Luk, EMNH, slide 6755 in IZBE); Malaysia: Cameron Highlands, slide 7835 in IZBE), Borneo (Sabah: Tambunam, slide 6957 in IZBE).

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to Pelagodes clarifimbria , in colour of wings above and underside. P. clarifimbria and the new species share the brown colour of the frons and palpi, the white fillet between the antennae, the green vertex and dorsum of thorax and abdomen, and tiny whitish spots at the hind edges of the tergites. The frons is slightly broader (0.62 mm at lower edge in P. clarifimbria ) than in species of Pelagodes with a green colour of the frons. The last abdominal segment of the male is slanting, and the bilobed last tergite downcurved and covering the tips of the valvae ( Fig. 5 ). The main difference between P. cancriformis and P. clarifimbria lies in sternite A8: although these two species share a pair of crab-claw shaped lateral processes, and two small triangular lateral teeth near the base of the “claws,“ the posterior margin is straight-edged in P. cancriformis , but has a triangular projection with a small medial notch in P. clarifimbria ; the “claws” are finely dentate in P. cancriformis but smooth-edged in P. clarifimbria . Female genitalia are similar in both species, the lateral edges of segment A7 more convex in P. cancriformis .

Description. Wing span 29–30 mm in male and female ( Figs. 1 , 4 ), 32 mm in specimens from N. Thailand. Frons and palpi brown, frons slightly broader in female. Male antennae are bipectinate with pectinations adpressed to the shaft, 0.8-1.0 mm long on the tenth antennomere. Vertex, dorsum of thorax and abdomen green, fillet between antennae and tiny spots at hind edges of tergites white. Wings green, postmedial line and spurs of antemedial line white, fringes greenish basally, white distally. The male genital capsule of P. cancriformis ( Figs. 2 , 9 ) is similar to that of P. clarifimbria ( Fig. 6 ). The socii are broad, tapering and three-dimensional, with the medial part concave. The gnathos is well developed, with the lateral arms strongly expanded in a tongue-like shape, and the medial process is small, rod-like and blunt. The tegumen is slender. The valva is short and broad, with the terminal half abruptly narrow (slightly shorter in P. cancriformis , sp.nov.), and with a deep notch mesally; the sacculus is broad, the costa is expanded, slightly concave medially, a spine-like acute process is at the base of the valve costa. The aedeagus is club-like, with two blunt cornuti, each bearing a tiny trangular tooth. The shape of the male sternite A8 is specific as described above ( Figs 3 , 10 for P. cancriformis , sp.nov.), and Figs 7–8 for ( P. clarifimbria ).

Remarks. Pelagodes clarifimbria was described from Sri Lanka ( Ceylon) and distinguished from allies by wing length, brown frons and white fringes. Holloway (1996: 264, figs 307, 314) associated males with the female holotype and expanded the description of the genitalia based on examples from Borneo, referring to distribution in Malaysia, Borneo and Sri Lanka. The occurrence of an allied but well differentiated species in Sulawesi was also mentioned. Prout characterised the species P. clarifimbria by wing span, 42–49 mm (English mode, i.e. 2x the length of a forewing from the centre of thorax to the tip of wing). P. clarifimbria from Borneo, Sabah (Tambunan, 1000 m, n = 8) has the same wing span, 27–31 mm, as moths from Thailand; the male antennae are bipectinate, the length of the external pectinations reaching 0.8–1.0 mm. The length of the 3rd segment of the palpus is 0.25–0.28 mm in the male. The hind tibia is slender, the distance between the spur pairs equalling the length of the longest proximal spur. The wing span of specimens of P. cancriformis from Laos reaches 29–29.5 mm (if recalculated according to English style, males 36 mm and the broader winged female 38 mm) (i.e. on average smaller than the Sri Lankan types of P. clarifimbria ).

Distribution.The new species P. cancriformis is distributed from NW Thailand via Laos to South China (Hainan). The species P. clarifimbria does not occur in Micronesia ( Inoue, 2003) and Taiwan ( Inoue, 2005). Inoue (2006) described an allied species P. ultimarina Inoue from Sulawesi and the Philippines (Luzon) and P. mirandus Inoue from the Philippines (Negros, Mindanao). Lindt has collected P. clarifimbria in Thailand (new country record) and Malaysia.

Etymology. The specific name is named for the crab-like lateral processes on the eighth sternite.

We thank Anthony Galsworthy (Natural History Museum, London) for providing valuable comments on the manuscript, and the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, for permission to use a digital image of the female genitalia of P. clavifimbria . Dayong Xue and Nan Jiang provided the photos of the holotype of P. cancriformis . This work was supported by a grant no.9174 from the Estonian Science Foundation, and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 31172127).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Holotype of Pelagodes cancriformis, sp. nov. 1, adult, from Hainan, China, scale bar = 10 mm; 2, male genital armature and aedeagus; 3, segment 8. Scale, 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 4 – 5. Adults of P. cancriformis, sp. nov., paratypes from Laos. 4, male and female paratypes; 5, last abdominal segment of male, latero-dorsal view.

FIGURES 6 – 10. Male genitalia and segment 8 of Pelagodes clarifimbria Prout and P. cancriformis, sp. nov. 6 – 8, P. clarifimbria Prout. 6, male genitatalia with left valva; 7, sternite A 8, from Borneo, 8, sternite A 8, from Thailand; 9 – 10, male genitalia, aedeagus and segment 8 of P. cancriformis, sp. nov., paratype, from Laos. 9, male genitalia and aedeagus; 10, segment 8.

FIGURES 11 – 12. Female genitalia of Pelagodes clarifimbria and Pelagodes cancriformis sp. nov. 11, P. clarifimbria, from Borneo, BMNH slide no. 10706; 12, P. cancriformis sp. nov., from Laos.