Synemon victoriae Kallies & Edwards, 2020

Kallies, Axel, Edwards, Edward D. & Williams, Andrew A. E., 2020, New and little-known sun-moth species from Australia (Lepidoptera, Castniidae), Zootaxa 4895 (2), pp. 151-195 : 187-192

Synemon victoriae Kallies & Edwards sp. n.

Goldfields Sun-moth

Figs 82–85 , 90 , 94

Literature: Williams et al. 2016, 119–120, figs 26, 27 (as ‘ Synemon sp. Victoria Rock’)

Material examined. Holotype: Ƌ ‘ Burra Rock 60 km S Coolgardie WA 30 March 1988 A.J. Graham’ ( WAM) . Paratypes: 1Ƌ, Victoria Rock, 43 km SW by S Coolgardie , 31.18S 120.55E, 12.iii.1996, E.D. Edwards, E.S. Nielsen ( Fig. 90a, b , genitalia and leg slides 16579, 18532) ( ANIC) ; 1Ƌ, Burra Rock , 48 km S Coolgardie, 31.23S 121.12E, 17.iii.1996, E.D. Edwards, E.S. Nielsen ( Fig. 90c , genitalia slide 16580) ( ANIC) ; 1♀, Burra Rock , 60 km S Coolgardie, 20.iii.1988, E.D. Edwards, A.J. Graham ( ANIC) ; 5Ƌ, 3♀, Goldfields Woodlands N.P., Boondi Rock , 3110’ 40.9 S 12022’ 56.8E, 21.ii.2012 ( Figs 77, 78 ) (2Ƌ, 2♀), 8.iii.2012 ( Figs 84, 85 ) (ex pupa in leaf base / rhizome of large sedge, 1♀), 19.ii.2015, (3Ƌ), A.A.E Williams ( WAM, ANIC, CAK) ; 4Ƌ, 1♀, Granite Rock 8 km WNW Caves Hill, 3137’ 32.3 S 12108’ 40.8E, 15.ii.2015, A.A.E Williams ( WAM) ; 1Ƌ, Granite Rock 5 km S Burra Rock, 3126’ 21.8 S 12111’ 19.3E, 13.ii.2016, A.A.E Williams ( WAM) ; 1Ƌ, 1♀, Boorabbin Rock , 3112’ 03.1 S 12017’ 14.7E, 19.ii.2015, A.A.E Williams ( WAM) ; 2Ƌ, 2♀, Hyden-Norseman Rd, McDermid Rock , 3201’16.0 S 12044 ’20.8E, 13.ii.2015 (2♀), 3201’18.3 S 12044 ’18.7E, 14.ii.2015 (1 Ƌ), 3201’15.4 S 12044 ’22.3E, 12.ii.2016 (1 Ƌ), A.A.E Wil-liams ( WAM) .

Etymology. The species’ name is derived from the locality where the species was first found, Victoria Rock.

Description. Male ( Figs 82, 83 ). Alar expanse 40–41 mm, forewing length 20–21 mm, body length 20–21 mm. Head, vertex with grey piliform and lamellar scales, frons with pale grey scales, lower part with white scales, labial palpi porrect, not reaching frons, pale brown above white beneath, haustellum well developed, antenna (mostly denuded in available specimens) black annulated with pale grey scales, distal flagellar annuli white beneath, club black above, white proximally beneath, nudum 10 brown on anterior half of club, apiculus, with scales, long narrow. Thorax above grey, of mixed piliform and broad lamellar scales, laterally with orange-red scales just behind head, beneath white, legs yellow brown above, white beneath, epiphysis clothed in short spines, stout, pointed at tip, not reaching end of foretibia. Abdomen brown above, T2 and T3 with numerous long brown scales, laterally grey, beneath white.

Forewing costa slightly arched at base, apex rounded, termen rounded, inner margin almost straight. Upperside uniformly chocolate brown with white markings; a very narrow, broken, orange-red subcostal streak from base to nearly half costa, a sharply defined, narrow white bar from about half costa, straight, angled outwards, through end of cell, extending from R2 to just below CuA2, a narrow white subapical band interrupted by veins, extending from R3 to M3, sometimes straight and sometimes curved outwards. Cilia chocolate brown. Underside black with orange and yellow markings; costa narrowly grey, basal quarter of wing heavily suffused with yellow scales becoming more orange distally, a median band from costa to CuP straight, yellow margined with orange, a broad subapical band yellow, orange around margins, from R2 to M3, a submarginal broad band, yellow-orange crossed by grey veins, from near costa to inner margin merging with subapical and median bands posteriorly and a narrow terminal grey line. Cilia grey.

Hindwing termen evenly rounded, tornus rounded. Upperside black with pale orange and orange-yellow markings. Subbasal area heavily suffused orange, yellow-orange spot at end of cell which extends from Rs to CuA1, median band yellow-orange, spots between M1 and M3 confluent, disjointed with those from M3 to nearly 1A+2A, which are together convex along their proximal margin, a suffusion of orange running from median band along both sides of CuA2 towards base, a submarginal band of orange spots well developed, extending from M1 to between CuA2 and 1A+2A, sometimes merging with median band, increasing in size posteriorly, posterior third of wing basally and all tornal area distally chocolate brown, without tornal spot. Cilia chocolate brown, orange near apex. Underside black with yellow to yellow-orange spots; basal half of wing heavily suffused with yellow scales, a yellow spot at distal end of cell extending from Rs to CuA1, merging with the basal yellow suffusion but defined by patches of orange scales and merging with the anal orange suffusion, a median band of yellow to yellow-orange spots from Rs to 1A+2A, all confluent but strongly disjointed at M3, a submarginal band of large yellow-orange spots from Rs to 1A+2A, narrowly interrupted by veins, becoming larger towards tornus, a narrow terminal line grey, anal and tornal areas extending from CuA1 to inner margin yellow, without tornal spot. Cilia grey, orange near apex.

Female ( Figs 84, 85 ). Similar to male, but somewhat larger with an alar expanse of about 48 mm, with more extensive orange marks in the hindwings, which are infused with yellow; in particular the terminal row of orange spots is much better developed.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 90 ). Uncus broad at base long, pointed, with long setae; gnathos arms much shorter than uncus, downturned, rounded; anal tube lightly sclerotized; tegumen merging gradually with uncus, broad anteriorly, tapering to narrow posteriorly, gently curved in side view; vinculum broad; saccus with bifurcated arms greatly enlarged and extending anteriorly about as far as length of valva; juxta small, curved anteriorly; valva relatively short, tip with an upturned tooth, sacculus not clearly defined, costa with stout setae distally; phallus moderately long and thin, of fairly even diameter, markedly curved with phallobase enlarged and recurved; ductus ejaculatorius longer than phallus, with several coils.

Female genitalia. Not examined.

Variation. There are small differences in size. The subapical white band on the upperside forewing may be almost straight or may be curved.

Diagnosis. S. victoriae sp. n. is similar to S. directa Westwood, 1877 ( Figs 86–89 ) but has larger, more extensive, more yellow and more suffused yellow-orange markings on the hindwing. The base of the forewing is less arched and the median white band on the forewing upperside is at a different angle. This white median band in S. directa almost reaches the inner margin, short of the tornus while the white band in S. victoriae sp. n. ends before CuP and a notional line drawn along its length would cross the termen, not the inner margin, above the tornus. Both species also differ in the male genitalia. The valva of S. victoriae sp. n. is much shorter, has a less pronounced hump at the dorsal edge and the apical tooth is better developed than in S. directa ( Figs 90, 91 ). Furthermore, S. victoriae sp. n. has a shorter uncus, phallus and sacculus than S. directa . Finally, the gnathos arms are shaped differently in both species.

Distribution. This species is confined to the inland Goldfields and Great Western Woodlands of Western Australia. It was initially recorded only from Queen Victoria Rock and Burra Rock near Coolgardie. More recently, populations have been located at several new sites, including Boondi Rock and Boorabbin Rock north of the Great Eastern highway, an unnamed rock 8 km west-north-west of Caves Hill, a large unnamed rock 5 km south of Burra Rock, and McDermid Rock alongside the Hyden–Norseman Road.

Habitat and Biology ( Fig. 94 ). The flight period of this species lasts from mid-February to the end of March, but the emergence times are unpredictable, and may vary considerably from year to year. On 15 February 2015 the species was common on a granite rock 8 km west-north-west of Caves Hill. On the same day the following year, in apparently ideal conditions, the sun-moths were absent. Synemon victoriae sp. n. is found in the vicinity of granite outcrops, which project from the surrounding sandplain and mallee vegetation. Males may be seen flying over the rocks or alongside belts of sedges in search of freshly emerged females. The rainfall run off from the rock enriches a strip of ground around the rock’s base. The larval food plant is a large tall shiny-leafed sedge, Lepidosperma drummondii Benth. , that grows at the base of the rocks, or along natural channels in the rock where soil has accumulated and a seasonal water run-off is available. Mature larvae have been found in tunnels inside the leaf bases, and pupae within vertical tubular shelters at the base of the leaves. The hostplant occurs together with Leptospermum erubescens Schauer (Myrtaceae) (teatree), Acacia lasiocalyx C.R.P.Andrews (Fabaceae) (wattle), Allocasuarina huegeliana (Miq.) L.A.S.Johnson (sheoak) and the large grass, Spartochloa scirpoidea (Steud.) C.E.Hubb. (Poaceae) . These granite domes are usually widely separated and the runoff vegetation is isolated from that of other rock outcrops.

Remarks. This species was referred to as Synemon sp. ‘ Victoria Rock’, the Goldfields Sun-moth, by Williams et al. (2016).

Figures

FIGURES 82–89. Synemon species adults. Upperside (left), underside (right). 82–85. Synemon victoriae sp. n., paratypes, Goldfields, Ƌ (82, 83), ♀ (84, 85) (WAM). 86–89. Synemon directa, Walpole, Ƌ (86, 87), ♀ (88, 89) (ANIC).

FIGURES 90, 91. Synemon species, male genitalia. a. Valva. b. Lateral view, right valva removed. c. Phallus. 90. Synemon victoriae sp. n., paratypes (genitalia slides 16579, 16580) (ANIC). 91. Synemon directa (genitalia slides 11807, 11851) (ANIC).

FIGURES 92–94. Synemon habitat and biology. 92, 93. Synemon cacumina sp. n., male, Porongurup (92, image James Peake), habitat at Lookout Hill, Stirling Range (93). 94. Synemon victoriae sp. n., habitat at Boondi Rock, larval food-plant Lepidosperma drummondii.

FIGURES 77–80. Synemon cacumina sp. n., upperside (left), underside (right). 77, 78. Ƌ, paratype, Israelite Bay (ANIC). 79, 80. ♀, paratype, Ravensthorpe (ANIC).