Ottia Viidalepp, 2023

Viidalepp, Jaan & Lindt, Aare, 2023, Ottia, a new ennomine genus of moth from Tajikistan (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), Zootaxa 5323 (4), pp. 595-600 : 596-599

Ottia Viidalepp , gen. nov.

Type species: Plagodis ochraceata Viidalepp, 1988: 176– 179 , Fig. 41 (3), pl. VI (11, 12).

Description. Small moths (wingspan 22– 25 mm, Fig. 1 ). Male antennae bipectinated with long (1.0 mm, or ten times longer than the diameter of shaft) pectinations ( Fig. 2 ); female antennae also bipectinated ( Fig. 3 ) with pectinations short (0.2 mm, or three times longer than the diameter of shaft), tapered and scaled. Frons wide, slightly bulged roundish. Eyes of oval shape, small, smaller than frons width in both sexes. Palpi projecting about the length of eye diameter in male, two times longer in female. Haustellum reduced. Spur formula of legs as 0– 2– 4, hindtibia two times longer than tarsus. Wings shorter and broader than in Plagods pulveraria Linnaeus, 1758 , forewing distal margin roundly convex at ends of veins M3-Cu1, hindwing of male slightly elbowed at middle, more roundish in female. Frenulum present. Forewing veins R1and R2 from margin of discal cell and R3-5 on stalk from cell apex, R1 fusing with Sc creates a subcostal accessory cell; two accessory cells between radial veins. Forewing veins M1 and M3 free. Hindwing with discal vein straight. Wings densely scaled.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 4 ): Tegumen shorter than vinculum, dorsally sub-rectangular; uncus from broad base long, linear, curved inwards; socii weak at base of uncus. Gnathos a long loop, tapering to a slender, spinose cochlear medially. Hemitranstillae broad, triangular, touching. Valva basally broad, without any ornamentation, its costa well sclerotized and demarcated ventrally; base of valva getting narrow towards apex of valva, slightly concave in inner side its dorso-basal part, almost parallel sided in distal half. Both parts of furca flat, arising from a pocket near the ventral tip of vinculum, the branches symmetrical, elbowed at middle and curved ventrad at apex, tips provided with clusters of needle-like, black thorns which are directed ventrad. Aedeagus tubular with three thin cornute. The last sternite membranous.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 5 ): Ovipositor lobes rounded, dense setose; antrum wide (1.0 mm) funnel shaped, ostium sclerotized cup shaped, bursa copulatrix membranous, small, with one spermatophore, signum an oblong sclerite. Apophyses anteriores shorter than apophyses posteriors.

Habitat and conservation: Ottia ochraceata have been collected on biodiversity hotspot on south exposed slopes of Hissar mountains in Tajikistan together with some genera which are proposed as tertiary relics and associated with wild fruit trees and other Rosaceae ( Viidalepp, Lindt & Kurina 2022).

Biology: Possibly bivoltine development from April to July on lower altitudes of mountains, the food plant relations unknown.

Distribution: Sampled only from southern slope of the Hissar range in Tajikistan.

Systematical relationships

To identify the relationships between “ Plagodis ” ochraceata and other ennomines we have to trace the spread of diagnostic features of this species across the Ennominae tribes: the occurrence of furca, that of bipectinated antennae in female, the reduction of eyes ( Table 1 ).

The furca as a pair of arms arising from a pouch near the end of vinculum is present in few ennomine tribes, Ourapterygini , Ennomini , Epionini and Hypochrosini . We use tribes as these are delimited in recent monograph by Skou & Sihvonen 2015, and we use example genera from Eurasian fauna in our analysis: Ennomos Treitschke, 1825 , Selenia Hübner, [1823] 1816 (Ennomini); Epione Hübner, [1823] 1816 (Epionini), Plagodis Hübner, 1823 ] 1816 and Hypochrosis Guenée, 1858 (Hypochrosini) . For the latter genus, the morphological characteristics by Hampson (1895) are integrated with genitalic description by Holloway (1994). Data for Artemidora Meyrick are from Viidalepp (1988). For Anonychia Warren which has wing pattern similar to that in “ P.” ochraceata , the description of Anonychia exilis Yazaki (Yazaki 1994: 22, Figs 367–369) and its alliess is used. Anonychia has lithiniine characteristics.

The species ochraceata differs from other members of the Holarctic genus Plagodis in having bipectinated female antennae. Guenée (1858) used such a rare character, and combined this with another rare character, hindwing coloured as dark as forewing, to characterize his family Hypochrosidae . Holloway (1994) reviewed Hypochrosini as a group of genera mostly of Oriental distribution. The associated genera often have well developed chemical communication structures (coremata etc.) which are missing in ochraceata .

The taxon under discussion has a complicated furca in male genitalia. This structure can be bi-branched or onesided, a bi-branched furca may be symmetrical or not ( Table 1 ). The parts of furca of ochraceata are laterally flat, not rod-like, flexed at middle, both tips provided with long, black thorns reaching beyond transtilla ( Fig. 4 ). One can find some similarity between furca structures of Artemidora species and “ Plagodis ” ochraceata .

“ Plagodis ” ochraceata has a broad frons and small eyes. This combination of characteristics appears under day-flying moths as a tribus- or subfamily-level trait ( Psodos Treischke, 1825 ( Ennominae: Gnophini ), Archiearis Hübner, [1823] 1816 ) (Archieariinae) or appears in taxonomically isolated genera as Heliothea Boisduval, 1840 (Geometrinae) , Tshimganitia Wehrli, 1935 (Ennominae) , Lythria Hübner, 1823 , and Casilda Agenjo, 1952 (Rhodometrini) , Oar Prout, 1913 ( Sterrhinae: Scopulini ). These species share with “ Plagodis ” ochraceata the build of head and nothing more, except localized distributions being confined to extreme conditions of environment. “ P.” ochraceata is the only furcate moth in this assemblage. We propose to transfer the species ochraceata Viidalepp, 1988 from the genus Plagodis Hübner to the genus Ottia Viidalepp , (gen. nov., comb. nov.).

Diagnosis. Small ennomine moth resembling Selenia Hübner but differing in wing pattern (in absence of lunar discal marks) and in bipectinatedd female antennae. The new genus Ottia has a complicated, bi-branched, flexed, and provided with long black thorns furca in male genitalia ( Fig. 4 ) while furca parts are rod-like, straight or curved in putative related genera ( Table 1 ). The genus differs from all other furcale genera in its eyes smaller than width of frons ( Fig. 6 ). Ottia , gen. nov. shares, from the morphological viewpoint, some traits with hypochrosine genera (colour of wings ( Fig. 1 ), well devekoped furca). Ottia , gen. nov. shares the structure of female antenna ( Fig. 3 ) and wide antrum in female genitalia ( Fig. 5 ) also with some Ennomini genera.

Ottia ochraceata is from aspect of morphology, most similar with some genera of the tribes Hypochrosini and Ennomini. In molecular phylogenetic analysis ( Rajaei et al. 2022), furcate genera of subfamily Ennominae are grouped into three tribes, Ennomini, Diptychini Janse, 1933 , and Epionini. Results of morphology analyses (e.g., Holloway 1994) and molecular phylogenies are not concordant. We suggest position of the genus Ottia gen. nov. in Hypochrosini with uncertain association.

Etymology: “Ott” is a wild animal in Estonian folklore. It is big, black, and furry. It has the power of seven men while the mind of one. It comes out of the woods from time to time to rest its front paws on the fence to see what people are doing there in the garden. Then the bear goes back home. It is not evil but does take a piglet if it is lost in the woods. Ott is a masculine name. Ottia , a masculine name in nominative.

Figures

FIGURE 6: Head, of Ottia ochraceata, frontal view.

FIGURES 1–5: Ottia ochraceata, comb. n. 1, Moth (Paratype female, wingspan 23 mm); 2, Male antenna sectiont (length of rami 1.0 mm); 3, Female antenna section (length of rami 0.2 mm); 4, male genitalia anf aedeagus, valva length 2.0 mm; 5, female genitalia, antrum width 1.0 mm.