Prasinocyma batesi distans, Hausmann, Axel, Sciarretta, Andrea & Parisi, Francesco, 2016

Hausmann, Axel, Sciarretta, Andrea & Parisi, Francesco, 2016, The Geometrinae of Ethiopia II: Tribus Hemistolini, genus Prasinocyma (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae), Zootaxa 4065 (1), pp. 1-63 : 25

Prasinocyma batesi distans subsp. n.

Holotype. 1♂, Äthiopien, Addis Ababa 22.X.1980, Dr. Angenstein Mgdb. DDR, coll. MNHU ( BC ZSM Lep 83224 (failure), 85806; gen.prp. ZSM G 19591).

Description. Adult ( Fig. 24 ). Wingspan. Male 28 mm. Ground colour leaf green, slightly irrorated with white strigulae. Forewing costa red. Forewing without spot at the inner termen. On forewing, one black discal dot present, hindwing with double cell spot, one black the other dark green. On fore- and hindwings, terminal dots conspicuous. Hindwing termen angled at M3. Length of male palpi 1.3 times diameter of eye, tip and upperside reddish, underside white. Frons deep green. Antennae bipectinate in male. Antennal flagellum red, branches pale ochre. Male frenulum present. Male hindtibia with weak pencil and four spurs.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 65 ). Uncus stout. Saccus round. Valva with a large ventral subapical lobe like in jefferyi , but narrower. Sacculus with a basal hooked process, and a long and narrow distal process rectangularly bent towards the costa. Length of aedeagus 1.8 mm, with short basal stalk and with two lateral sclerites distally. Sternum A8 trapezoidal, with shallow, crown-shaped sclerotization, the small processes at close position to each other.

Differential diagnosis. Fringe dots of P. b. distans conspicuous on fore- and hindwings, in that detail reminiscent of P. gajdacsi , whilst being less conspicuous in the nominotypical subspecies of P. b at e s i. Wing termen even, as in the nominotypical subspecies, but concave between veins in P. gajdacsi . Hindwing with double cell spot like in the male type specimen of P. ba t e s i, whilst the female type of P. gajdacsi shows one single sharp and black cell spot only. In genitalia close to nominate subspecies of P. batesi from Cameroon, but projections of sternum A8 shorter. Differential features from P. magica sp. n. see preceding species.

Genetic data. So far, sequenced to a short fragment of 164bp only, no BIN assigned yet. Nearest neighbours in Ethiopia: P. magica sp. n. (3.8%) and P. germinaria (5.1%).

Etymology. The name refers to the remote occurrence from the so far known distribution area of P. b at e s i, latin distans = far away.

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 24. Adults of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar— 1 cm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides, and / or DNA barcoding, and / or nomenclatural status of the illustrated specimen are given. 19. Prasinocyma corrugata Fletcher, 1958 (gen. prp. ZSM G 19653); 20. Prasinocyma fusca sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 81820; Holotype); 21. Prasinocyma leveneorum sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 85808 - 84634; Holotype); 22. Prasinocyma germinaria (Guenée, 1858) (BC ZSM Lep 83222); 23. Prasinocyma magica sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16065; Paratype); 24. Prasinocyma batesi distans subsp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 85806 - 83224).

FIGURES 64 – 67. Male genitalia of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar (s) — 1 mm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides are given. 64. Prasinocyma magica sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16003); 65. Prasinocyma batesi distans subsp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19591); 66. Prasinocyma beryllaria sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19463); 67. Prasinocyma septentrionalis sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16247).