Murzinowatsonia amelija, Saldaitis & Volynkin & Han & Zahiri, 2021

Saldaitis, Aidas, Volynkin, Anton V., Han, Hui Lin & Zahiri, Reza, 2021, Molecular taxonomy reveals an overlooked cryptic species of the tiger moth genus Murzinowatsonia Dubatolov (Lepidoptera, Arctiinae) from Sichuan, China, Journal of Natural History 55 (27 - 28), pp. 1681-1696 : 1687-1692

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222933.2021.1955992
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E47714-FFB5-F56E-FF61-FA0C01A8F9F2
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Murzinowatsonia amelija
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Murzinowatsonia amelija sp. nov. ( Figures 1 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 2 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 5 View Figure 5-8 , Figures 6 View Figure 5-8 )

http://zoobank.org:act: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:829C8430-2965-4733-9B5E-69FA2E12ADF7

Type material. Holotype ( Figures 1 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 5 View Figure 5-8 ): male, ‘ China, N.W. Sichuan, near Luhuo , H- 3200 m, N31°22 ʹ 35 ’ E100°42 ʹ 01”, 29.vi.2009, Butvila & Saldaitis leg.”, gen. prep. No.: AV6095, DNA sampled specimen id: ZMH-DNA0124 (Coll. WIGJ). GoogleMaps

Paratypes ( Figures 2 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 6 View Figure 5-8 ): three males, the same data as in the holotype, gen . prep. No.: AV6094, DNA extracts voucher codes: ZMH-DNA0125 , ZMH-DNA0126 (Colls AFM & ASV) .

Etymology. The new species is named after Amelija Gavorkaitė (JoniŠkis, Lithuania).

Diagnosis. The new species ( Figures 1 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 2 View Figure 1-4 ) differs externally from M. x-album ( Figures 3 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 4 View Figure 1-4 ) in its pale yellowish creamy head, thorax and wing colouration (it is more whitish in M. x-album), the dorsally pale yellowish creamy antenna (pale brown in M. x-album), the slightly wider fore wing with a somewhat more elongate apex, the black pattern (it is dark brown in M. x-album), and the markedly smaller and more interrupted pattern elements (in M. x-album, all the pattern elements are larger, the medial spots are fused with the costal ones, and the terminal spots are fused into two large triangular ones). Additionally, compared to those of M. x-album, the tegulae of M. amelija are less elongate (laterally covering only the basal 1/6 of the abdomen vs. 1/ 3 in M. x-album) and have longer and wider black lateral stripes. The male genitalia of M. amelija ( Figures 5 View Figure 5-8 , Figures 6 View Figure 5-8 ) are very similar to those of M. x-album ( Figures 7 View Figure 5-8 , Figures 8 View Figure 5-8 ) but the uncus is somewhat wider and more heavily sclerotised.

External morphology of adults ( Figures 1 View Figure 1-4 , Figures 2 View Figure 1-4 ). Fore wing length 17–18 mm in males (19 mm in holotype). Head black laterally and ventrally and with pale yellowish creamy frons suffused with black scales dorsally. Male antenna pale yellowish creamy dorsally and black ventrally, shortly bipectinate with rami gradually shortened in distal third. Palpus short, porrect, black with first segment upperside pale crimson. Proboscis short, reduced. Patagia pale yellowish creamy with black dot medially. Tegula pale yellowish creamy with elongate black spot laterally. Notum black. Femurs crimson dorsally and pale yellowish creamy ventrally; tibiae black dorsally and pale yellowish creamy ventrally; tarsi black. Fore wing triangular with slightly convex anal margin. Fore wing upperside ground colour pale yellowish creamy with slight pink suffusion on costa. Fore wing pattern black, consisting of series of spots of various shape on costal, anal and outer margins, a longitudinal dash subbasally, a semi-trapezoid medial spot and two triangular spots in subterminal area. Cilia pale yellowish creamy with admixture of black scales on veins. Hind wing upperside ground colour pale yellowish creamy, somewhat paler than fore wing, in some species with slight pink suffusion. Hind wing pattern black. Medial spot interrupted into one large discal spot and three additional small and diffuse spots. Subterminal line interrupted into four large spots. Terminal line consisting of two elongate spots in distal half of outer margin. Cilia pale yellowish creamy with admixture of black scales opposite spots of terminal line. Fore and hind wing underside ground colour and markings configuration identical to those of upperside but markings somewhat paler. Basal one-third of abdomen upperside covered with long pale brown hair-like scales dorsally; distal two thirds of abdomen upperside pale crimson with black spots and sparsely covered with pale brown hair-like scales dorsally. Abdomen underside pale yellowish creamy with short black streakes on each segment sublaterally and edged with black scales laterally. Male genitalia ( Figures 5 View Figure 5-8 , Figures 6 View Figure 5-8 ). Vinculum short but robust, U-shaped. Tegumen long, heavily sclerotised, with thick arms. Valva as long as tegumen, with almost parallel dorsal and ventral margins, heavily sclerotised, curved ventrad, with weakly setose apex. Costa thin but heavily sclerotised, its distal process broadly triangular with rounded tip, directed ventrally. Distal ventral process of valva short, triangular with rounded tip, directed distally. Tuba analis membranous. Uncus large, broadly triangular, dorso-ventrally flattened and somewhat convex, weakly setose. Juxta heavily sclerotised, broad basally, with medial constriction and deep apical depression. Aedeagus large, strongly elongate and narrow, its medial section nearly straight; coecum short, rounded, somewhat curved ventrad; distal section of aedeagus dilated and curved dorsad. Vesica elongate and broad, curved dorsally, with two short diverticula medially and subapically, bearing heavily sclerotised dentate basal plate dorsally and two areas of granulation subbasally and apically.

Female unknown.

Distribution and bionomics. Four males were collected at ultraviolet light during a single night at the end of June in the remote part of West China Sichuan Province near Luhuo. The new species was found at an altitude of 3200 m in a dry, narrow and stony river valley sparsely covered with mixed bushes ( Figures 9 View Figure 9 , Figures 10 View Figure 10 ).

Molecular data. DNA barcode data from specimens of M. amelija are relatively divergent from those of M. x-album (1.55–2.0%). The COI gene-tree generated by the NJ-analysis and ML confirming the close association between the new species (ZMH-DNA0124, ZMH-DNA0125, and ZMH-DNA0126) and a group of four M. x-album from China ( Figure 11 View Figure 11 ). Comparison of DNA sequence data of the new species with its potential sister species (M. x-album) revealed six polymorphic sites (single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNP) in their barcode sequences and three SNPs in their nuclear gene regions (EF1a, MDH, and Wingless) that all base substitutions were silent and occur in the third codon positions ( Table 2). The new Murzinowatsonia species was found to be strongly supported clade (SH-Like = 95/ aBayes = 1/UFBoot2 = 98) and sister to M. x-album (SH-Like = 91/aBayes = 0.99/ UFBoot2 = 98) with strong support (SH-Like = 99/aBayes = 1/UFBoot2 = 100) in ML multilocus analysis ( Figure 12 View Figure 12 ). Spilarctia lutea being sister to these two Murzinowatsonia species with strong support too ( Figure 12 View Figure 12 ). BPP results revealed that 98.22% of the sampled species tree had the same topology ((( M. amelija , M. x-album), S. lutea ), H. cunea ). BPP species delimitation result recovered one ‘species delimitation scenario’ with four species as the number of delimited species. The results regarding the phylogenetic relationships among the delimited species are consistent with the results of the species phylogeny ( Figure 12 View Figure 12 ). Finally, the BEAST multilocus species tree ( Figure 13 View Figure 13 (a, b)) is mainly congruent to the COI genetree and ML multilocus tree. Our estimated divergence time in the Bayesian dating analyses showed that divergence of M. amelija and M. x-album from the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) started during the Early Pleistocene (~1.45 Mya), with 95% highest posterior densities (HPD) of 0.89–2.18 Myr ( Figure 13 View Figure 13 (a)). During the Early Pleistocene (0.781 –2.588 Mya), permafrost advanced southwards in northern China and possibly occurred in alpine regions in western China ( Jin et al. 2020). The relatively low divergences among mtDNA and nDNA haplotypes of two Murzinowatsonia species may suggest that these species originated recently during the Mid-Pleistocene (i.e. 0.126 –0.781 Mya) ( Figure 13 View Figure 13 (a, b)). During the Mid- Pleistocene, permafrost occurred extensively on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and in mountainous regions of northern, western, central, and northeastern China ( Jin et al. 2020). The process of speciation appeared to be promoted by the isolation of MRCA subpopulations of M. amelija and M. x-album which could occur through geographic isolation (allotropic speciation) and Pleistocene climate fluctuations. Cladogenesis of MRCA of the Murzinowatsonia / Spilarctia clade into two distinct lineages began around 4.06 Mya (95% HPD: 6.11–9.07 Mya) ( Figure 13 View Figure 13 (a)). These results highlighted the importance of geographical isolation and climate changes during glacial periods in promoting speciation and creating unusual patterns of haplotype diversity.