Latoia intermissa ( Walker, 1865 )

Taberer, Tabitha R. & László, Gyula M., 2022, A contribution to the knowledge of the slug moths (Zygaenoidea: Limacodidae) of the Maputo Special Reserve, Metamorphosis 33 (1), pp. 6-20 : 10-11

Latoia intermissa ( Walker, 1865) ( Figs 17–20 , 48–49 )

Nyssia intermissa Walker, 1865 , List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. 32: 479. Type locality: South Africa, Port Natal. Syntypes, 2 males. (NHMUK).

Somara albicosta Hampson, 1910 syn. nov. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (8), 6(32): 145. Type locality: South Africa, Natal. Syntypes, 5 males, 2 females (NHMUK).

Type material examined:

Syntype of Nyssia intermissa . Male: blue ring “ Syntype ” label / “Pt Natal 55.96” / “ Nyssia intermissa .” / “ BMNH (E) #1054383” / Limacodidae Brit. Mus. slide No. 1296 / QR code label with unique id. NHMUK 010894344 ( NHMUK).

Lectotype of Somara albicosta (designated herein). Male: red ring “Type” label / “Natal. 1900-26.” / handwritten “Durban bred Oct. 1900. G. F. Leigh” / handwritten “ Somara albicosta type ♂. Hmpsn.” / Limacodidae Brit. Mus. slide No. 1294 / QR code label with unique id. NHMUK 010894389 ( NHMUK).

Paralectotype of Somara albicosta . Female: red ring “ HOLOTYPE ” label / handwritten “99.336”/ handwritten “ Somara albicosta type ♀. Hmpsn.” / “ Type Status Verified A. Giusti VIII.2013 ” / QR code label with unique id. NHMUK 010894383 ( NHMUK)”.

Material examined: Mozambique, MSR. 3 males, West Gate ( Sand Thicket ), 22 m, 26°30′14.2″S, 32°42′59.6″E, 21–30.xi.2016, Aristophanous, M., Cristóvão, J., László, G., Miles, W. leg., ANHRT:2017.22, gen. slide No. TT 017 (male) ; 4 males, same site, 10–17.ii.2018, László, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg. ANHRT:2018.2, gen. slide No. TT 020 (male) ; 1 male, same site and collectors, 24– 25.ii.2018, gen. slide No. TT 016 (male) ; 1 male, same site and collectors, 9–17.ii.2018 ; 1 male, same site and collectors, 21–22.ii.2018. BOLD process ID’s: ANLMN7704-21 , ANLMN7705-21 , ANLMN7706-21 , ANLMN7707-21 . South Africa. 1 male, KwaZulu-Natal, Pongola, Belvedere Game Ranch , 430m, 27°31′S, 31°45′E, 22–26.ii.2018, Kovtunovich, V., Yakovlev , R. Leg. , ANHRT:2018.34, gen. slide No. TT 023 (male). BOLD process ID: ANLMN7610-21 .

Distribution: Our research has found this species to exist in MSR, which is a new record for Mozambique. This species has also been found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Taxonomic note: Species of tropical and subtropical moths with distinctive green body and wing patterns have often been assigned with the genus Parasa Moore, 1859 ( Solovyev 2014), although a clear definition of the genus based on diagnostic features has not yet been formed ( Holloway et al. 1987). There is also a lack of a diagnoses for many similar Limacodidae genera, often causing conflicting reports of the nomenclature of these species. Latoia intermissa has previously been treated as Latoia ( Gozmány & Vári 1973; Kiriakoff 1963), Parasa ( Hering 1940) , and Stroter ( Shaw et al. 2018) . Although Solovyev (2014) refers to this species as Parasa without justifying the combination, he considers the phylogeny of green Limacodids unresolved. The type species of Parasa , P. chloris Herrich-Schäffer, 1854 , is described from North America, and our preliminary studies (Taberer, in prep.) suggest that the Old World green Limacodids are not congeneric with Parasa . Therefore, we follow Janse’s (1964) generic concept of the species, treating it as Latoia intermissa . The identification of the delimiting characters and the species content of these genera require an extensive revision including taxa from the Afrotropical, Holarctic, Neotropical and Indomalayan Regions.

Latoia albicosta (Hampson, 1910) (referred to as Latoia by Janse, 1964) is very similar to L. intermissa in its shape and ground colour of the wings. Both species are characterised by having a pure white costa and brownish-grey forewings with a large medio-ventral macula at the inner margin adjoining the postmedial line. The hindwings of both species are ochreous yellow with brownish grey suffusion and dark brown veins in the distal half. The only conspicuous morphological difference between them is the colour of the macula and the thorax, which are cinnamon in L. albicosta , hardly differing from the ground colour, and a contrasting bright green in L. intermissa (see Figs 17–20 ). Both species were described from the same locality (Natal, South Africa), and were collected together in the MSR, too. Genetic analysis of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI-5P) barcodes of both putative species from MSR and South Africa revealed 0 — 0.92% pairwise genetic distance between them suggesting that the two species are conspecific.

The male genitalia of three specimens from Mozambique (one “ albicosta ” and two “ intermissa ”) together with an “ albicosta ” from South Africa were dissected and no noticeable differences in genital morphology were found ( Figs 48 – 49 ). In conclusion, it can be stated that L. albicosta is a mere colour form of L. intermissa without any genetic divergence or distinctive genitalia characters which would support the distinctness of the two taxa, thus the former species is here considered a junior synonym of L. intermissa : L. albicosta (Hampson, 1910) syn. nov.

It should be noted that there is often confusion interpreting Hampson’s types from his descriptions. Hampson used the singular word “type” after a list of specimens even when describing a species based on a series of syntypes, thus leading to errors when referencing his species descriptions (see comment in Mulvaney (2021:5)). In the case of Latoia albicosta , rather confusingly, only a single measurement of wingspan which corresponds to a female specimen is stated in the original description, yet a greater proportion of the description is devoted to the males. It can be concluded that in this case, as per Hampson’s other descriptions, his use of the word “type” when describing the new species is likely an abbreviation of “type specimen(s)” and refers to all of the specimens listed prior to it and not just the one immediately before it.

Due to this confusion with Hampson’s descriptions, a single female Latoia albicosta specimen was labelled as a holotype, however, this species was described from a series of seven syntypes: one male from Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, one female from Salisbury [= Harare], Zimbabwe, and four males and one female from Natal , South Africa. The single specimen from Kilimanjaro collected by Bishop Hannington was considered by Hampson in his original description as an aberration (“ Ab. 1.”) with “Thorax and fore wing much brighter rufous”; this specimen was later described as an aberration kilimandscharonis by Strand (1916). From our preliminary analyses of genetics and morphology, the populations further north in Tanzania are likely to be a different taxon. Therefore, in order to stabilise the nomenclature and taxonomy of Latoia albicosta , a male specimen from Natal, South Africa is designated here as the lectotype.

Figures

Figures 14–25. Adults (collected in the MSR and deposited in coll. ANHRT unless otherwise stated). 14 – Scotinochroa inconsequens, male; 15 – ibidem, male; 16 – Ctenolita habenichti, male; 17 – Latoia intermissa, male Syntype (NHMUK); 18 – Latoia intermissa, male; 19 – Latoia albicosta, male Syntype (NHMUK); 20 – Latoia albicosta, male; 21 – Latoia latistriga, male; 22 – ibidem, female; 23 – Latoia vivida, female; 24 – ibidem, male; 25 – ibidem, male.

Figures 48–49. Male genitalia of Limacodidae (a: clasping apparatus; b: phallus). 48 – Latoia intermissa (MSR), genitalia slide No. TT 020 (ANHRT); 49 – Latoia “albicosta” (MSR), genitalia slide No. TT 023 (ANHRT).