Tambana mekonga, Behounek, G., Han, H. L. & Kononenko, V. S., 2015

Behounek, G., Han, H. L. & Kononenko, V. S., 2015, A revision of the genus Ta mb ana Moore, 1882 with description of eight new species and one subspecies (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae: Pantheinae). Revision of Pantheinae, contribution XIII, Zootaxa 4048 (3), pp. 301-351 : 317-318

Tambana mekonga sp. n.

( Figs 41, 42 , 105 )

Type material. Holotype. CHINA, male, Prov. Yunnan, Mekong river valley, local collector leg., 14.v.2000, slide GB12074 male, BC ZSM Lep 58660, coll. WS, will be deposited in coll. ZSM. Paratypes: 1 male same data, slide GB8676 male, BC ZSM Lep 58661, coll. GB/ ZSM; 1 male, Sichuan, Daxue Shan 40 km W Mianning, 2750 m, 102°00′E, 28°34′N, 7–8.vii.1999, Siniaev V. & A. Plutenko leg., coll. GR.

Note. The specimens labelled as BC ZSM Lep 58660 and BC ZSM Lep 58661 has been used for barcoding. Molecular distance based on the Kimura two-parameter model for COI DNA barcodes between T. mekonga and Tambana sp. is 3,63%; the distance between the nearest T. mekonga and T. xilinga is 3,79%, between T. mekonga and T. helmuti is 7,47% and between T. mekonga and T. fansipana is 6,78%.

Diagnosis. T. mekonga is close to T. xilinga , and T. helmuti . Externally it differs from T. xilinga by less shining forewing colouration and more contrast wing pattern; duller hindwing colouration and broader and diffused greyish-brown terminal band. In the male genitalia it differs by somewhat broader uncus, shorter valva and armature of the vesica. The new species well separated from its allies by the differences in their DNA barcodes.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 41, 42 ). Wingspan 42–43 mm. Head, whitish-grey, thorax blackish-brown mixed with white, tegulae and patagia blackish with white. Forewing ground colour dark blackish-brown with somewhat metallic shining and whitish dusting, more expressed in the costal and medial fields; crosslines black-brown, basal line represented as black dots and diffused white line; antemedial line dentate, black, outlined inwardly with brown and white; orbicular very small, distinct, as whitish spot encircled with black; medial shadow wide, diffused, black; reniform brown in centre, with white basal and distal marks outlined inwardly with black; clear white dash lies outward reniform to antemedial line; subterminal field above reniform with intensive whitish dusting; subterminal line diffused, as a row of black dashes, outlined inwardly with brown; clear white mark of whitish suffusion lies in costal field above; subterminal line as a dentate row of black dashes, outlined inwardly with brown; terminal line separated for row of diffused blackish-brown triangular streaks; cilia greyish-brown, paler opposite veins. Hindwing dull-yellow in basal third, with wide, around two third of wing, diffused greyish-brown terminal band; cilia greyish-brown with whitish scales.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 105 ). Uncus relatively short, beak-like, somewhat broader than in T. xilinga , with small apical hook; tegumen broad, shorter than vinculum, without penicular extensions; vinculum V-shaped; transtilla with broad leave-like lobes; juxta shield-like, broad; valva moderate large, broad basally, shorter than in T. xilinga and more constricted distally compared with T. xilinga , harpe lies in distal third of valva, curved, thin and somewhat longer than in T. xilinga . Aedeagus short, broad; carina broader and more scobinate than in T. xilinga ; vesica broadly-tubular with subapical patch of strong cornuti and row on small to large cornuti, expressed stronger than in T. xilinga .

Female unknown.

Etymology. The species named by its type-locality, valley of Mekong river in Sichuan province of China.

Distribution and bionomy. Southwest China (Provs. Yunnan: Mekong Valley; Prov. Sichuan). The species was collected in May at elevation 2750 m.

Figures

FIGURES 41 – 46. Tambana spp., adults. 41. T. mekonga sp. n., male, holotype, China, Yunnan, slide GB 12074 (GB / ZSM); 42. T. mekonga sp. n., male, paratype, China, Yunnan, slide GB 8676 (GB / ZSM); 43. T. helmuti, male, holotype, Myanmar, slide GB 12020 (GB / ZSM); 44. T. fansipana sp. n., female, holotype, Vietnam, slide GB 7402 (GB / ZSM); 45. T. funebris, male, holotype, Myanmar (NHRM); 46. T. funebris, male, paratype of T. gerri, Vietnam, slide GB 8050 (GB / ZSM); 47. T. funebris, female, China, Sichuan, slide GB 12106 (PGM); 48. T. ronnyi, male, paratype, Vietnam, slide GB 7707 (GB / ZSM).

FIGURES 104 – 106. Tambana spp., male genitalia. 104. T. sp., Myanmar, slide GB 7401 (AB / ZSM); 105. T. mekonga sp. n., holotype, China, slide GB 12074 (WS / ZSM); 106. T. helmuti sp. n., holotype, Myanmar, slide GB 12020 (HS / NHM, Vienna).