Isochlora hreblayi Volynkin, Tóth, Titov & Saldaitis, 2023

Volynkin, Anton V., Titov, Sergey V., Matov, Alexey Yu., Tóth, Balázs, Saldaitis, Aidas, Rakhimov, Ruslan D. & Egorov, Petr V., 2023, On the taxonomy of the genus Isochlora Staudinger with descriptions of two new species from Mongolia and Qinghai, China (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Noctuinae), Zootaxa 5374 (3), pp. 409-423 : 411-413

Isochlora hreblayi Volynkin, Tóth, Titov & Saldaitis , sp. n.

( Figs 3 , 22 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 3 , 22 ): male, “arctomys | Alph.? | Kobdo. | 6.VII.09. | A. Meinhard. ” (upper side) | “16812.” (under side) / “E[x] coll. L. | Krulikovsky | coll. L. | Sheljuzhko” / pink label “gen.prep. Hreblay | N: 10686 ³” ( MH / HNHM).

Note on the type locality. The label of the holotype contains the name of A.A. Meinhard (engineer and naturalist at Tomsk University), who never visited Mongolia but processed Lepidoptera materials collected by V. V. Sapozhnikov in a series of expeditions to the upper reaches of the Kobdo River (an old name of Khovd-Gol River) basin in western Mongolia ( Meinhard 1910 a, 1910b; Nekrylov 2011). It is possible to assume that the specimen was collected by V. V. Sapozhnikov, and Meinhard’s name on the label belongs to the tentative identification as [ Isochlora ] “ arctomys Alph. ?”. However, the date on the label is also questionable. The year is handwritten illegibly and may be [19]04 or [19]09, but the first V. V. Sapozhnikov expedition was in 1905 whereas on July 6, 1909 he was in the Kazakhstan part of Altai Mountains, on his way to Mongolia ( Sapozhnikov 1911). According to the diaries published after V. V. Sapozhnikov expeditions ( Sapozhnikov 1911), the only year suitable for the date and geography is 1905. On July 6, 1905 the expedition was working exactly in the highlands of Mongolian Altai near glaciers in the upper stream of Tsagan-Gol River, which is a tributary of the river Khovd-Gol (=Kobdo) ( Fig. 33 ). As the closest species, I. intricans , as well as most other species in the genus Isochlora , inhabits the highest mountain biotopes, the assumed collection locality of I. hreblayi sp. n. matches the genus habitat preferences well. Additionally, in the collection of the Tomsk State University (Tomsk, Russia), there is a specimen of the fritillary Clossiana tritonia matveevi P. Gorbunov & Korshunov ( Nymphalidae ) with a label “ Mongolia, Kobdo, Tsagan-Kol [Tsagan-Gol], 6.VII.1905 ” ( Dubatolov & Kosterin 2010), which also confirms that the expedition collected insects that day.

Diagnosis. The new species ( Fig. 3 ) is externally very similar to I. intricans ( Figs 4–8 ) but differs in the somewhat more distinct forewing markings. Compared to I. intricans , the male genital capsule of I. hreblayi sp. n. ( Fig. 22 ) has a somewhat shorter uncus, a slightly shorter penicular lobe, and a reduced harpe whereas in I. intricans the harpe is present although very short ( Fig. 23 ). Additionally, in I. hreblayi sp. n., the distal setose cluster of the valva is longer, sparser and consists of shorter setae than in I. intricans . The phallus of the new species is shorter than in I. intricans . The vesica of I. hreblayi sp. n. differs from I. intricans in the lack of the proximal row of cornuti, the broader medial section, and the smaller distal cluster of scobination consisting of weaker spinules.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 3 ). Forewing length 15.5 mm in male holotype. Male antenna bipectinate. Head ochreous brown. Thorax pale rust. Forewing ground colour ochreous, markings pale rust. Antemedial area with diffuse elliptical rust spot subbasally and medially. Antemedial line thin and irregularly zigzagged. Medial area rust posteriorly and in cell and pale ochreous along costal margin. Orbicular stigma indistinct. Reniform stigma unicolorous dark brown with diffuse margins. Postmedial line curved outwards between vein A1 and costal margin, dentate on veins. Subterminal line diffuse, irregularly zigzagged, forming elongate trapezoid diffuse dash at costal margin. Terminal line thin, continuous, pale rust. Cilia ochreous with admixture of rust. Hindwing brown with orange rust suffusion along costal margin. Cilia ochreous. Male genitalia ( Fig. 22 ). Uncus medially dilated and distally tapered, weakly setose. Tegumen with semicircular penicular lobe. Vinculum slightly longer than tegumen, V-shaped. Valva lobular with almost parallel margins, slightly upcurved and apically rounded, its distal third with cluster of weak setae. Sacculus short (ca. 1/3 of valva length), elliptical. Clasper thin, distally dilated, harpe reduced. Juxta shieldlike. Anellus weakly sclerotised. Phallus cylindrical, slightly downcurved medially, with rounded coecum. Vesica recurved ventrally, dilated medially and tapered distally, with cluster of minute spinules subapically.

Female unknown.

Distribution. Western Mongolia (Mongolian Altai Mts).

Etymology. The new species is named after the late Dr Márton Hreblay (1963–2000), a renowned lepidopterist, researcher of Eurasiatic Noctuidae , who first illustrated the holotype of the new species as I. intricans ( Hreblay et al. 1998) .

Figures

FIGURE 33. Distribution map of Isochlora spp. in the Tien Shan Massif and Mongolian Altai.

FIGURES 1–8. Isochlora spp.: adults. Depositories of the specimens: 1 and 2 in MfN; 3 in MH/HNHM; 4–6 and 8 in ZISP; 7 in CAV.

FIGURES 20–23. Isochlora spp.: male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 20 and 21 in MfN; 22 in MH/ HNHM; 23 in ZISP.