Catopta dusii Yakovlev, Saldaitis, Kons & Borth

Yakovlev, Roman V., Saldaitis, Aidas, Kons, Hugo & Borth, Robert, 2013, A brief review of genus Catopta Staudinger, 1899 (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) with description of a new species from China, Zootaxa 3709 (4), pp. 330-340 : 331-336

Catopta dusii Yakovlev, Saldaitis, Kons & Borth sp. nov.

( Figs. 1, 2 , 7–10 , 20–22 )

Type material. Holotype: male ( Fig. 1 ), China, W. Sichuan, road Dawe/Lushan, Xiling Xue Shan Mt., 2800 m, 21. vii. 2011, N30°51.569', E102°46.274', Floriani leg., in the collection of MWM/ ZSSM; (slide No. JB 2082m).

Paratypes: 8 males, same data as the holotype, 1 male, China, Sichuan, XilingXue Shan Mt., 1450 m, 11–12. vii. 2010, N30°40.087', E103°13.251', Chen Gun leg., 1 male, 1 female ( Fig. 2 ), China, N. Sichuan, road Songpan/ Jiuzhaigou, 3000 m, 23. vii. 2011, N33°08.770', E103°43.624', Floriani leg., 3males, China, W. Sichuan, near Moxi, 2800 m, 03. viii. 2011, N29°46.214', E102°03.433', local collector leg., 2 males, China, N. Sichuan, near Lixian, 2100 m, 30.vii. 2011, N31°24.087', E103°09.522', Floriani leg., 1 male, China, N. Sichuan, near Jiuzhaigou, 2100 m, 24.vii. 2011, N33°18.955', E103°55.531', Floriani leg., 1 male, China, N. Sichuan, near Pingwu, 1150 m, 26. vii. 2011, N32°25.217', E104°20.461', Floriani leg., in the collections of AFM, MWM, NRCV and RYB. Slide Nos. JB 2084m; JB2083f

Description. Male forewing length 14–19 mm, wingspan 47–50 mm; female forewing length 18 mm, wingspan 39 mm; thorax and abdomen thickly covered by brown hairs, top of thorax with grey hairs which contrast with darker background; forewing with rounded apex, dark-grey with somewhat lighter pattern in discal and postdiscal areas; pattern of forewing striated, consisting of thick transversal undulated lines mostly concentrated in basal and submarginal wing areas; minor hazy brown spraying near top of discoidal cell; fringe dark-grey, unicolored; hindwing dark-grey, unicolored, with developed сlarification at base of wing and thick (0.5 mm) marginal light-grey border.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 7−10 ): Uncus very broad, with nearly parallel sides, slightly triangularly narrowed to the top; branches of gnathos moderately thick, long, distally joined; tegumen moderately-sized; valva broad, smoothly сonverging to top, with moderately-developed sacculus; costal edge of valvae with semicircular apically directed procession situated on boundary of basal and mesial third of costal edge; top of costal edge with small procession directed perpendicularly to axis of edge; top of valvae rounded; juxta small, shaped as a lengthwise-split conical valley; saccus comparatively broad, stout, apically smoothly сonvergent; phallus nearly straight with slight bifurcation on coecum; aperture of vesica situated on dorso-apical side on a half of phallus length; vesica multipleshaped with long diverticulum and nearly evenly spaced band of needle-shaped cornuti, spreading to diverticulum from basal areas of vesica.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 20 ): Papillae anales conical; length of anterior apophyses nearly equal to length of posterior; aperture of ostium deeply-submerged, cup-shaped; ductus strongly sclerotized, broad; bursa small, bagshaped; ductus seminalis springing from junction of ductus and bursa; bursa without signum.

Bionomics and distribution. The new species is known only from a few mountainous localities. The type locality is XilingXue Shan (Snow mountains) ( Figs 21−22 ), at the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau in the North West part of China's Sichuan Province. Several specimens were attracted to light from middle July to early August at altitudes ranging from 1150 to 3000 m. The new species was collected in virgin mixed forest dominated by various broad-leaved trees such as oaks ( Quercus dentata , Q. glauca ), poplars ( Populus cathayana , P. simonii ), elm ( Ulmus parvifolia ), rhododendrons ( Rhododendron brachycarpum , R. dauricum ), and bamboos ( Phyllostachys ssp., Borinda ssp., Fargesia spp.). The new species is sympatric there with C. danieli and C.griseotincta . Adults are on the wing with many other typical summer moths, including Haderonia albirena (Draudt, 1950) , Xestia morandinii Gyulai, Ronkay & Saldaitis, 2011 , Papersta florianii Gyulai, Ronkay & Saldaitis, 2011, Diarsia pelenai Gyulai, Ronkay & Saldaitis, 2011 (all Noctuidae ).

Diagnosis. The new species is most similar to three other Chinese species: Catopta griseotincta Daniel, 1940 ( Figs. 5−6 ), Catopta albothoracis Hua, Chou, Fang & Chen, 1990 ( Fig. 19 ) and C. danieli ( Fig. 3−4 ). However, it clearly differs in wing pattern and genital structure.

Morphology: C. albothoracis and C. danieli each have broad areas of light hair on the thorax, vs. brown hair in C. dusii . C. danieli ( Figs. 15–18 ) compared with C. dusii is larger (wingspan 47−50 mm, vs. 31−42 mm), has a uniformly convergent uncus vs. being constricted only in the distal third, valvae with a slightly-developed irregularity in the mesial third vs. a well-developed process, a broad rather than narrow juxta, and an asymmetrical phallus with triangular process on left edge of the vesica aperture vs. C. dusii's symmetrical phallus. C. dusii has dark grey-brownwing color with bluish suffusion, vs. typical light grey colored wings of C. griseotincta . In C. griseotincta ( Figs. 11−14 ) vs. C. dusii the middle third of the dorsal surface of the phallus is covered by small spines vs. smooth ( Figs. 7−10 ), the distal tooth of valveis displaced basally vs. a weakly developed tooth placed on top of the valve, the valve is more slender vs. a broader valve in the basal third, and the saccus is thin and long vs. broad and apically smoothly сonvergent. In the male genitalia of C. albothoracis ( Fig. 19 ) the valvae have nearly smooth costal edges vs. with two processes in C.dusii , and a thin, long saccus vs. abroad, apically smoothly сonvergent saccus.

Etymology. The species is named after Professor Stefano Dusi (Verona, Italy) for his contributions to entomology.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Catopta ssp. adults. 1. C. dusii, male, sp. nov., holotype, China, Sichuan (MWM / ZSSM); 2. C. dusii, female, sp. nov., paratype, China, Sichuan (MWM / ZSSM); 3. C. danieli, male, holotype, China, Sichuan (CMNH); 4. C. danieli, male, Sichuan, China (AFM); 5. C. griseotincta, male, holotype, China, Yunnan (ZFMK); 6. C. griseotincta, male, Sichuan, China (NRCV).

FIGURES 7 – 14. Catopta ssp. male genitalia. 7. C. dusii, sp. nov., holotype, capsule, prep. JB 2082; 8. C. dusii, sp. nov., holotype, aedeagus, prep. JB 2082; 9. C. dusii, paratype, capsule, prep. JB 2084; 10. C. dusii, sp. nov., paratype, aedeagus, prep. JB 2084; 11. C. griseotincta, capsule, prep. JB 2078; 12. C. griseotincta, aedeagus, prep. JB 2078; 13. C. griseotincta, capsule, prep. JB 2079; 14. C. griseotincta, aedeagus, prep. JB 2079.

FIGURES 15 – 20. Catopta ssp. male and female genitalia. 15. C. danieli, male, capsule, prep. JB 2080; 16. C. danieli, male, aedeagus, prep. JB 2080; 17. C. dusii, male, capsule, prep. JB 2081; 18. C. danieli, male, aedeagus, prep. JB 2081; 19. C. albothoracis, male, holotypus, capsule with aedeagus by Hua, Chou, Fang & Chen 1990; 20. C. dusii, female, sp. nov., paratype, prep. JB 2083;

FIGURES 21 – 22. Catopta ssp. map and biotope. 21. Catopta genus distribution map, type locality of C. dusii sp. nov. indicated by red dot; 22. China, W. Sichuan, road Dawe / Lushan, XilingXue Shan Mt., 2800 m, 21. vii. 2011, N 30 ° 51.569 ', E 102 ° 46.274 '. Type locality of Catopta dusii sp. nov.