Pulcheria cinescens Draudt, 1938

Volynkin, Anton V. & Matov, Alexej Yu., 2015, A review of the genus Pulcheria Alphéraky, 1887 with description of a new species from southeastern Kazakhstan (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), Zootaxa 3974 (2), pp. 196-202 : 201-202

Pulcheria cinescens Draudt, 1938

( Figs 7, 8 , 13, 14 , 17, 20, 23 )

Pulcheria cinescens Draudt, 1938 , in Seitz: Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde. Supplement 7: 172, pl. 20, row L (Type locality: "Syr-Darja (Baigacum)").

Type material examined. Neotype ( Figs 7 , 13 ) (hereby designated in order to stabilize nomenclature): male, printed white label "Syr-Daria, Baigacum, Koshantschikoff [leg.]" / handwritten white label " 11.vi.1911 " (coll. ZISP). Slide 0352 Matov.

Other material examined: 1 male, Syr-Daria, Baigacum, 10.vi.1911, leg. Koshantschikoff; 1 male, 2 females, Syr-Darja, Aj-Darle, 5.vi.1909, 27.vi.1909, 28.vi.1909, leg. Koshantschikoff; 1 female, Kara-Tau, Balamurum, 21.VI.1909, leg. Koshanschikoff (coll. ZISP); 1 female, Syr-Daria, Baigacum, Koshantschikoff / 17/ 30.vi.1913 / Pulcheria n. sp. (Hmpsn. i. l. vii.1914) (coll. ZMHU).

Slides Matov 0343, 0353 (male), Matov 0345, Matov 0346 (females).

Note. According Draudt (1938), the type specimen of P. cinescens is stored in the collection of R. Püngeler (now in NKMB, Berlin): " Type in coll. Püngeler im Berliner Museum". Unfortunately, we could not find the type in NKMB. Obviously the specimen loaned as well as the most part of the collection of M. Draudt, which was located in Darmstadt, Germany, have been destroyed during the Second World War, or it was lost later. Anyway, the designation of the neotype for Pulcheria cinescens is necessary for clarifying the taxonomic status of this taxon because it is close to P. khasymkhani sp. n. and these two taxa can be confused without study of the genital structures.

Diagnosis. Wingspan 30–31 mm in males and 35–36 mm in females. P. cinescens most closely resembles P. kasymkhani sp. n., but differs by the somewhat smaller size, the paler brown ground colour of body and forewing, the paler dark brown ground colour of hindwing, the somewhat shorter forewing, the diffuse forewing pattern and the narrower reniform stigma. The male genitalia differ from those of P. kasymkhani sp. n. by the somewhat longer uncus, the broader penicular lobes, the narrower apical part of juxta, the somewhat broader harpe, the broader and more angular distal part of valva, the much longer corona, and the somewhat larger subbasal diverticulum of the vesica. In addition, male of P. cinescens differs from the other two Pulcheria species by the shape of 1st sternite ( Fig. 20 ) and 8th sternite and tergite ( Fig. 17 ); the abdominal coremata and their pockets are larger than in P. kasymkhani sp. n. ( Fig. 20 ). In the female genitalia, the ductus bursae is shorter and stronger slerotised than that of P. kasymkhani sp. n., the corpus bursae is somewhat longer and narrower; from P. catomelas differ clearly by the weaker sclerotised antrum, the somewhat narrower ductus bursae and the much longer corpus bursae.

Distribution. The species is known from the Syr-Darya river valley, South Kazakhstan.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Pulcheria spp. adults. 1, P. catomelas, lectotype male, Kashgar (ZISP); 2, P. catomelas, male, China, Xinjiang (ZISP); 3, P. catomelas, paralectotype female, Kashgar (ZISP); 4, P. kasymkhani, holotype male, SE Kazakhstan (ZSM); 5, P. kasymkhani, paratype male, SE Kazakhstan (ZSM); 6, P. kasymkhani, paratype female, SE Kazakhstan (ZSM); 7, P. cinescens, neotype male, S Kazakhstan, Syr-Darya river (ZISP); 8, P. cinescens, female, Syr-Darya river (ZISP).

FIGURES 9 – 14. Pulcheria spp. male genitalia. 9, P. catomelas, lectotype, slide 0342 Matov; 10, P. catomelas, China, slide 0351 Matov; 11, P. kasymkhani, holotype, Kazakhstan, slide ZSM 4082 Volynkin; 12, P. kasymkhani, paratype, Kazakhstan, slide AV 1342 Volynkin; 13, P. cinescens, neotype, slide 0352 Matov; 14, P. cinescens, S Kazakhstan, slide 0343 Matov.

FIGURES 15 – 23. Pulcheria spp.: tergite and sternite 8 of males (15 – 17); basal abdominal segments of males (18 – 20), and female genitalia (21 – 23). 15, P. catomelas, lectotype, slide 0342 Matov; 16, P. kasymkhani, paratype, slide AV 1342 Volynkin; 17, P. cinescens, neotype, slide 0352 Matov; 18, P. catomelas, slide 0351 Matov; 19, P. kasymkhani, paratype, slide AV 1342 Volynkin; 20, P. cinescens, neotype, slide 0352 Matov; 21, P. catomelas, paralectotype, slide 0344 Matov; 22, P. kasymkhani, paratype, slide AV 1343 Volynkin; 23, P. cinescens, slide 0346 Matov.