Prototheora katangensis Landry & Davis, 2018

Landry, Bernard & Davis, Donald R., 2018, Two new species of Prototheora Meyrick from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania representing the northernmost records for the genus (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 125 (1), pp. 129-135 : 129-131

Prototheora katangensis Landry & Davis sp. nov

Figs 1-5 , 11 , 13

Material examined

Holotype: ♂, 1- “H[au]t Katanga | Tshinkolobwe | 10.11.30 | J[ean]. Romieux ” (on card stock in black ink with first and last lines printed); 2- “ MHNG | ENTO | 00011170” (printed on white card stock in black ink); 3- “ HOLOTYPE | Prototheora | katangensis | Landry & Davis ” (hand-written on red card stock in black ink) ( MHNG) .

The MHNG number corresponds both to the database number and the genitalia slide number.

Type locality: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haut-Katanga, Shinkolobwe.

Diagnosis: Similar in forewing pattern ( Fig. 1 ) and size to several other species of Prototheora , this species can be separated from its congeners by the presence in the male genitalia ( Figs 3-5 , 11 ) of a distinct uncus and the shape of the tergal processes and valvae, notably.

Description

Male ( Figs 1, 2 ): Head with scales between antennae and on frontoclypeus narrow, uniformly pale tan; posteriorly on vertex scales narrow, slightly longer, mixed light greyish brown with white tip and pale greyish white; on occiput with scales 2-3X as long as vertex scales, slender (some piliform), erect, greyish brown with white tip; without scales between eye margin and margin of antennal socket. Antenna with 26 flagellomeres, about 0.3X length of forewing, with pale brown to darker greyish brown, white-tipped scales dorsally only on scape, pedicel and first four flagellomeres, with fewer scales from pedicel to 3rd flagellomere; rest of flagellomeres’ surface with short setae of same length from basal to apical flagellomeres. Labial palpus with vestiture expanded dorsoventrally, scales greyish brown, paler at base dorsally, usually white tipped. Thorax: Scales of dorsum of variable lengths and widths, those of undercover mostly uniformly white to dirty white, longer piliform scales greyish brown with white tip; basal half of metascutum devoid of scales, with tiny spines directed medially, posterior half with dirty white piliform scales directed posteromedially; ventrally with sparse vestiture of short white, appressed scales and long, light greyish brown, piliform scales. Wingspan 17 mm. Forewing length 8.0 mm; colour mostly dark brown on costal half with scales paler at their base, darker brown at base, pale brown on dorsal half, with white irregular stripe from base to apex below midline, running parallel to dorsum and termen, costa with short, uniformly colored scales of various shades of grey from base to before apical fringe scales; fringe pale greyish brown to white. Hindwing greyish brown, paler at base of dorsum, with concolourous fringe. Foreleg with short, brown, mostly white-tipped scales and longer, more slender, darker and longer greyish brown white-tipped scales slightly erect along dorsal margin of tibia and first three tarsomeres. Midleg as foreleg except with fewer and mostly paler, less-contrastingly patterned longer scales on dorsal margin of tibia and tarsomeres I-III, with some of these longer scales piliform. Hindleg with white to dirty white, mostly uniformly coloured scales, darker on last three tarsomeres, with few piliform on most segments. Abdomen colour not recorded.

Male genitalia ( Figs 3-5 , 11 ). Tegumen with an elongate, slender uncus arising medially from ventro-caudal margin of tegumen; apex of uncus bifurcate; a pair of slender tergal processes arising from dorso-caudal margin of tegumen; a pair of stout processes with slightly broader bifurcate apices arising ventrally from base of tegumen. Gnathos consisting of a slender sclerotized bridge extending between ventral processes of tegumen. Juxta moderately broadly triangular at base and then tapering to a much slender apex. Valvae elongate, slender and curved dorsad near midlength. Vinculum broad, with anterior margin slightly produced near middle; a slender, deeply bifurcate process projects middorsally from caudal margin of vinculum. Phallus membranous.

Female: Unknown.

Distribution: ( Fig. 14 ). Known only from the type locality, which is located approximately 20 km west of Likasi, 20 km south of Kambove, and about 145 km northwest of Lubumbashi at 11°03′S 26°33′E (Wikipedia).

Remarks: The costal 1/3 of the hindwings of the unique specimen available is folded ventrally behind the rest of the hindwings. Jean Romieux (1893-1951), the collector of the holotype of P. katangensis was a mining engineer who worked in the Haut-Katanga province for several years in the 1920s and 1930s. He was also a prominent member of the “Société lépidoptérologique de Genève ”, which became the “Société entomologique de Genève ” in 1946. Mr Romieux’s collection was donated to the MHNG over the course of his life, as he worked there as an assistant occasionally ( Rehfous, 1952). Seventytwo species, for which the holotypes are in the MHNG, have been described based on his beautiful material until now. The stout, elongate process that arises from the ventro-caudal margin of the tegumen in this species, has been referred to as the uncus in this study. A similar structure has not been observed in other Prototheora .

Figures

Figs 1-5. Prototheora katangensis, habitus and genitalia in situ of male holotype. (1) Habitus. (2) Head in lateral view. (3-5) Genitalia. (3) Apical view. (4) Lateral view. (5) Semi-ventral view.

Figs 11-12. Genitalia of Prototheora male holotypes in ventral view (left) and lateral view. (11) P. katangensis. (12) P. tanzaniensis. G: gnathos, J: juxta, T: tegumen, TP: tergal process, U: uncus, V: vinculum.

Fig. 13. Prototheora habitat of male holotype of P. tanzaniensis, with collector of specimen Leif Aarvik, left, and Michael Fibiger†.

Fig. 14. Distribution map of all known Prototheora species in Africa with the coloured dots representing the collecting localities of the species described herein, modified from that of John Grehan (http://johngrehan. net/index.php/hepialidae/prototheoridae) with permission.