Delorhachis ochsei Fiebig, Taberer, Giusti and László, 2023

Taberer, Tabitha R., Fiebig, Ralf, Giusti, Alessandro & László, Gyula M., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the genus Delorhachis Karsch 1896 (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae), Journal of Natural History 57 (1 - 4), pp. 54-129 : 68-71

Delorhachis ochsei Fiebig, Taberer, Giusti and László sp. nov. ( Figures 7 –9, 7 0, 95–

96, 135, 159)

Holotype. Male , ′ West Africa , Ghana, | Western Region , 16 km east | of Elubo , Ankasa National | Park , 500 m northwest of Nkwanta Camp, 60 m | Light attraction | February 25 th, 2006 | leg. Michael OCHSE̍ || ′ Genitalpräparat | coll. R. Fiebig | RF 2021.884̍ ( RCRF, later ZSM).

Paratypes. Ghana. 1 male, Central Region, 30 km north of Cape Coast, Kakum National Park, Canopy Walkway , 198 m, 5.354°N, 1.384°W, 9 May 2005, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. 31.150, BOLD process ID: GWOSV308-11; 1 male, same site and collector, 3 March 2006; 1 male, same site and collector, 30 November 2011; 1 male, Opro River Reserve , 3–8 April 1966, Endrödi-Younga, S. leg., gen. slide no. RF 2021.837 ( RCRF); 5 males, same site and collector ( ZSM); 1 male, Western Region, Ankasa National Park, 2 km north of Exploration Base , 100 m, 5.450°N, 2.067°W, 14 October 2003, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. RF 2021.888; 1 male, same site and collector, 15 October 2003; 1 male, same site and collector, 11 October 2003; 1 male, Western Region, Ankasa National Park, Visitor Centre , 5.217°N, 2.652°W, 60 m, 29 November 2011, Ochse, M. leg.; 1 male, same site and collector, 6.v.2005 ( RCRF); 2 males, 1 female, Wassaw district, 45 miles inland from Sekondi; 1 male, Asuansi , June 1940, Box, H.E. leg.; 2 males, Sekondi; 2 males, Bibianaha , 70 miles NW of Dimkwa, 700 ft, 1911, Spurrell, H.G.F. leg.; 2 males, same site and collector, February 1912; 1 male, same site and collector, 24 October 1911; 1 female, Nsuta, Ashanti, 9 September 1928, Pomeroy, A.W.J. leg., QR code no. NHMUK 014200539 , gen. slide no. NHMUK 010317403 ; 3 males, Ashanti, Juaso , Gibbs, G.H. leg.; 3 males, Kumasi , 9 February 1938; 1 male, same site, 1912, Sanders, J.D.G. leg.; 1 male, Prahsu , 30 December 1939, Box, H.E. leg.; 1 male, Kakum National Park entrance, 220 m, 5.350°N, 1.367°W, 31 May 2011, De Prins, J., De Prins, W. leg., QR code no. NHMUK 014200605 ( NHMUK); 3 males, Western Region, Kakum Forest, Gyawale , 20 November 2011, Aarvik, L., Hansen, L.O. leg., gen. slide no. NHMO 4111 ( NHMO); 1 male, Kubease , Ashanti, October 2011, gen. slide no. 36.321 ( MWW); 2 males, same site ( MWW); 3 males, Yamfo , 15–20 October 1993, Kühne, L. leg. ( RCLK); 2 males, Kumasi , December 2003, Schlenker leg. ( RCMS). Guinea. 8 males, 619 km ESE of Conakry, Nzerekore Region, Prefecture de Lola , Ziela env., 540–600 m, 7.700°N, 8.350°W, October 2017, Local collectors, ANHRT:2020.6, gen. slide no. TT 050, DNA barcode ID/BOLD process ID 193,040/ANLMN7630-21, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00193040, 00193354, 00221634, 00222572, 00223923, 00223958, 00224120, 00236410; 1 male, Massadou campsite, Forêt Classée de Ziama , 541 m, 8.343°N, 9.437°W, 8–13 March 2019, Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Florczyk, K., Koivogui, S. leg., ANHRT:2019.10, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00235782 ( ANHRT); 1 male, Guinée Forestiére, 25 km south of Boula Forêt Classée du Mont Béro , 680 m, 8.182°N, 8.708°W, 15 June 2013, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. 31.130, BOLD process ID: GWOUI370- 21 ( RCRF); 2 males, Massadou, near Macenta , 1600 ft, 13 May 1926, Collenette, C.L. leg.; 1 male, same site and collector, 15 May 1926 ( NHMUK). Ivory Coast. 4 males, Tai National Park, Tai Research Station , 174 m, 5.833°N, 7.342°W, 25 March–17 April 2017, Aristophanous, A., Aristophanous, M., Geiser, M., Moretto, P. leg., ANHRT:2017.25, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00005092, 00008338, 00087805, 00088345; 7 males, same site, 5–10 July 2015, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg. ANHRT:2017.14, DNA barcode ID/ BOLD process ID ANHRTUK108239/ANLMN7629-21, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00030245, 00030479, 00030480, 00030483, 00030485 00108239, 00108838; 1 male, Mt Tonkoui Peak , 1171 m, 7.454°N, 7.637°W, 12–18 July 2015, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg., ANHRT:2017.14, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00031848 ( ANHRT); 1 male, same site and collectors, 21 July 2013, gen. slide no. UE 6316 ( RCMS); 1 female, Mt Nimba camp, 823 m, 7.588°N, 8.418°W, 28 April–8 May 2016, Aristophanous, M., Seiser, M., Moretto, P. leg., ANHRT:2017.17, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00257650; 5 males, Bossématié Forêt Classée , 180 m, 6.511°N, 3.476°W, 25–31 July 2015, Aristophanous, M., Moretto leg., ANHRT: 2017.20, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00259233–00259237 ( ANHRT); 4 males, same site, 1–4 July 2014, Moretto, P. leg. ( RCMS); 1 male, Adiopodoumé , November 1963, Griveaud, P. leg.; 2 males, Bingerville , 3–7 September 1915, Melou, G. leg.; 1 male, Divo , November 1964; Griveaud, P. leg. ( NHMUK); 1 male, Daloa , 21 October 1976, Politzar, H. leg. ( ZSM). Liberia. 9 males, 1 female, Foya Proposed Protected Area , Lofa County, 530 m, 7.943°N, 10.277°W, 10–19 November 2017, Aristophanous, M., Sáfián , Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, gen. slide. no. TT 008, LG 5720, DNA barcode ID/BOLD process ID ANHRTUK00085269/ANLMN7631-21, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00020714, 00084588, 00085269, 00085536, 00201879–00201882, 00236011, 00236012; 1 male, Welezu camp, Wonegizi Nature Reserve , Lofa County, 551 m, 8.083°N, 9.580°W, 19–27 March 2019, Sáfián, Sz., Koivogui, S. leg., ANHRT:2019.7, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00129009; 1 male, Lofa County, Wologizi Mts., Base camp forest, 611 m, 8.121°N, 9.962°W, 20 November–1 December 2017, Aristophanous, M., Sáfián , Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00148462; 1 male, Nimba Mountains, Nimba West, Mount Gangra summit, 974 m, 7.546°N, 8.636°W, 17–25 March 2017, Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. leg., ANHRT:2018.24, unique ID: ANHRTUK 0224301 ( ANHRT); 1 male, Kpaine , 400 ft, 7.167°N, 9.117°W, 1 September 1953, Peters, W. leg. ( NHMUK); 1 male, Nimba County, East Nimba Mountains, 5 km north of Zortapa , 599 m, 7.413°N, 8.591°W, 29 October 2012, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. 31.149, BOLD process ID: GWOUI369-21 ( RCRF); 1 male, Gbarpolu County, Gola National Forest, Kungbor , 401 m, 7.644°N, 10.580°W, 28 May 2017, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. RF 2021.885 ( RCRF). Sierra Leone. 1 male, Njala , 17 August 1932, Hargreaves, E. leg.; 1 male, same site and collector, 29 August 1930; 1 male, same site and collector, 9 May 1932; 1 male, same site, 12 December 1927; 1 male, Sierra Leone , June–July 1931, Walls, E.S. leg. ( NHMUK); 1 male, Kennema, Railway District , 200 ft, May– June 1911, Addison, M. leg. ( OUMNH); 1 male, Tiwai Island, Moe River , 120 m, 7.550°N, 11.353°W, 17–22 June 2016, Goff, R., Miles, W., Takano, H. leg., ANHRT:2017.18, unique ID: ANHRTUK 00257661 ( ANHRT); 1 male, Western area, Sussex S Freetown , 5 km E Sussex, 8.349°N, 13.178°W, 10–11 September 2010, Rudloff leg. ( RCMS).

Description

External morphology. Male. Fore wing length 11–12 mm. Head, collar, tegula, and thorax vermillion, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one green circular patch. Dorsal side of thorax with two green parallel longitudinal streaks; ventral side pale beige without markings. Legs vermillion laterally, beige medially. Abdomen uniformly pale beige, first two abdominal segments with vermillion hair scales. Fore wing short, broad, triangular, with rounded apex; ground colour vermillion, veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia Veronese green, elongate, narrow, slightly oblique, margined with black on distal edge. Fringe long, slightly darker than ground colour. Hind wing uniformly pale ochreous with slightly darker, long fringe. Underside of wing. Both wings pale vermillion without markings; fringe same as ground colour.

Female. Fore wing length 14.5–15.5 mm. Body and wing colour as in male but much paler. Antenna filiform. Fore wing. Broad, with outer margin more evenly arcuate than in males. Green medio-ventral fascia is markedly longer and somewhat narrower than in males, almost parallel with outer fore wing margin; costal area with very small, narrow green dash postmedially. Hind wing uniform pale beige; fringe somewhat darker. Underside of wing paler than upper side, both fore- and hind wing uniformly pale vermillion without markings.

Male genitalia. Uncus relatively long, tapered, apically truncate. Tegumen narrow, elongate. Gnathos well developed, elongate quadrangular, with broadly rounded apex. Juxta rounded basally with two, long, lateral ribbon-like distal processes; manica with single, moderately long, straight, robust pseudocornutus. Vinculum long and broad, rounded V-shaped. Valva relatively narrow at base, constricted medially, dilated and trilobate distally, with large rounded dorso-apical lobe, and short, narrow, pointed medial and ventral processes. Phallus long, very thin in the distal half, strongly curved, with sclerotised, apically pointed ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica membranous without cornuti.

Female genitalia. Ovipositor short and narrow, papilla analis narrow-ovoid, sparsely setose. Apophysis posterioris long, thick, gradually tapering into pointed apex. Eighth tergite short, weakly sclerotised with two small lateral processes directed caudad; apophysis anterioris very short, rounded triangular. Post-vaginal plate narrow, ribbon-like, moderately sclerotised, slightly arched with concave distal and convex proximal margins, and finely setose surface. Ostium bursae narrow with heavily sclerotised antero-lateral margin. Ductus bursae short and narrow, strongly sclerotised; cervix bursae membranous, slightly dilated, globular. Corpus bursae membranous, distal section tubular, long, inflated, proximal section ovoid with small signum bursae consisting of two anteriorly fused semicircular, finely scobinate plates.

Diagnosis

This species is highly reminiscent of both D. viridiplaga and D. charopa , as all species have a relatively long and narrow green fore wing fascia. However, the three species are clearly distinct in the genital morphology. Compared with D. viridiplaga , D. ochsei has a wider valva, and the distal dorso-apical lobe is larger and more rounded whilst the medial distal process is markedly shorter and broader. In the female genitalia, the eighth tergite of D. ochsei is shorter than in D. viridiplaga , without a distal protrusion but with two small lateral processes; the ductus bursae is narrower, and the signum bursae is medially fused whilst it consists of two completely separated plates in the related species.

The male genitalia of D. ochsei are most similar to those of D. charopa , but differs in the following features. The gnathos of D. ochsei is slightly longer, distinctly narrower, and more rounded apically compared to the plate-like, quadrangular gnathos of D. charopa . In terms of the distal valval processes, the dorso-apical lobe is larger and more rounded in the new species but flatter and reduced in D. charopa . Additionally, the phallus of D. ochsei is slightly longer and slimmer than that of the allied species. Comparing the female genitalia, D. ochsei has a shorter eighth tergite with nearly straight distal margin, whilst it is trapezoidal in D. charopa , the ductus bursae is markedly longer and narrower in the new species, and the signum bursae is more elongate and medially fused.

Genetic information

This species has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD:ABA6891/AEJ0449 (n = 6). Delorhachis ochsei has an intraspecific genetic variability of 1.09–2.20%. Its nearest neighbour is D. charopa , with a genetic divergence of 2.51–3.49%, compared to the third member of the species group D. viridiplaga from which the pairwise distance is 3.81–4.48%.

Etymology

This species has been named in honour of Dr Michael Ochse (Weisenheim am Berg, Germany), renowned lepidopterist and collector of the holotype of this new species .

Distribution and habitat ( Figures 167–168 , 183 )

Delorhachis ochsei is found in Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, regions characterised by both wetter and drier Guinea-Congolian rainforest. This new species and D. viridiplaga may be an example of allopatric speciation either side of the Volta River System in Ghana, a region known to act as a barrier for speciation (e.g. Sands et al. 2017). Delorhachis ochsei occurs only west of Lake Volta whilst D. viridiplaga has only been found east of this region.

Figures

Figure 183. Distribution map of the D. viridiplaga species group (TL = type locality).

Figures 1–15. Adults. Figures 1–3: Delorhachis viridiplaga. 1: ST, Togo, Misahöhe, J (gen. slide no. SAV-08-31) (MfN); 2: Nigeria, Port Harcourt, ♀ (gen. slide no. NHMUK 010317401) (NHMUK); 3: Cameroon, Bascho, J (gen. slide no. RF 299.2019) (MfN); Figures 4–6. D. charopa stat. rev. 4: ST, [DRC], Mawamba-Makala, J (gen. slide no. Lim-1324) (NHMUK); 5: [DRC], Kalambe, ♀ (gen. slide no. NHMUK 010317410) (NHMUK); 6: Cameroon, Mbalmayo Menguémé, J (gen. slide no. 36.636) (RCRF); Figures 7–9. D. ochsei sp. nov. 7: HT, Ghana, Ankasa NP, J (gen. slide no. RF 2021.884) (RCRF, later ZSM); 8: PT, Ghana, Ashanti, ♀ (gen. slide no. NHMUK 010317403) (NHMUK); 9: PT, Ghana, Kakum NP, J (gen. slide no. 31.150) (RCRF); Figures 10–12. D. chlorodaedala. 10: Zambia, Hillwood, J (gen. slide no. TT 044) (ANHRT); 11: HT, Angola, Benguela, ♀ (gen. slide no. Lim-1327) (NHMUK); 12: Zambia, Kapishya Hot Springs, J (gen. slide no. TT 009 (ANHRT). Figures 13–15: D. kitale. 13: HT, Kenya, Kitale, J (gen. slide no. Lim-1326) (NHMUK); 14: Kenya, Kitale, J (gen. slide no. NHMUK 10317405) (NHMUK); 15: Sudan, Kadugli, J (gen. slide no. RF 2021.838) (RCRF). Scale bar: 1 cm.

Figures 165–170. Habitat photos. Figures 165, 166: Cameroon, Central Region, forest on the bank of River Nyong near Ebogo Lodge, habitat of Delorhachis charopa (© Michael Ochse). Figure 167: Ghana, Western Region, Ankasa NP near Nkwanta camp, type locality of D. ochsei (© Michael Ochse). Figure 168: Ghana, Central Region, Kakum NP near Nkwanta camp, a collecting site of D. ochsei (© Michael Ochse). Figure 169: Zambia, near Kapishya Hot Springs, habitat of D. chlorodaedala and D. zambica (© Will Miles). Figure 170: Angola, Cuanza Sul Province, c. 80 km E Quibala, where D. chlorodaedala was collected (© Stefan Naumann).