Catocala becheri Borth, Kons & Saldaitis, 2017

Volynkin, Anton V., Borth, Robert J., Didenko, Sergei & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2017, Description of the female of Catocala becheri (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Zootaxa 4347 (3) : -

Catocala becheri Borth, Kons & Saldaitis, 2017 ( Figs. 1–3 , 7 )

Catocala becheri Borth, Kons & Saldaitis, 2017 , Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 58(1): 48, Figs. 1A–D, 2A, 2B,

3, 4, 5A, 5B, 6A, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B , 9A, 8B, 10A 10B. Type locality: Vietnam, Da Nang, Ba Na Mt., 850 m.

Material examined: in addition to the 6 male specimens in the type series (see Borth et al. 2017), we examined the following specimens: 1 ♀ ( Fig. 1 ), [ Vietnam] Lam Dong, V.2016, collector unknown, slide AV2912 ♀ Volynkin (coll. Sergei Didenko, Moscow, Russia ) ; 2 ♀ ( Fig. 2 ), Vietnam, Kon Tum, Ngok Linh mts, 1700 m, V.2016, leg. J. Babics , slide JB2448 ♀ (coll. Helmut Seibald, Vienna, Austria ) ; 1 ♀ ( Fig. 3 ), Vietnam, Bach Ma Mtn., III.2017, Thanh Lunog Le and 1 ♂ , Vietnam, Axan Mtn. , V.2017, Thanh Lunog Le (coll. Robert Borth, Mequon, USA) .

Diagnosis of female. Females of C. becheri show no consistent differences in wing pattern and coloration from males. A detailed comparison of wing pattern of species belonging to C. intacta and the much smaller C. hoferi with that of C. becheri is presented in Borth et al. (2017) ( Figs. 1, 2 ). Female genitalia of C. becheri ( Fig. 7 ) have a basally broader, shorter right lobe of the antevaginal plate and a smaller corpus bursae than C. intacta ( Fig. 8 and Fig. 11: H in Borth et al. 2017).

Description of female genitalia ( Fig. 7 ). Papillae anales long, narrow, apically rounded, with long setae basally; apophyses anteriores and posteriores long and narrow but apophyses anteriores shorter than apophyses posteriores. Antevaginal plate (7th abdominal sternite) broad, short, with deep and narrow concavity, strongly asymmetric: its left lobe long and curved at right angle, and right lobe significantly shorter with arcuate, wavy ostial margin. Antrum long, narrow, strongly sclerotized, dorsoventrally flattened, posteriorly broadened. Ductus bursae short, narrow, membranous, with sclerotized plate in its medial section. Posterior section of corpus bursae relatively narrow, sack-like; anterior section of corpus bursae broad, globular.

Distribution. C. becheri is only known from the Central and Central Highland regions of Vietnam (Thừa Thiên- Huế, Kon Tum, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi Provinces and Lâm Đồng).

Note. The 658 base pair COI 5’ sequence of the female specimen ( Fig. 1 , DNA no. 22005- 150516 -VI) differs from that of the holotype from Central Vietnam and one other male by 2 base pairs by 0.31%, and from C. intacta from Nepal ( Fig. 1 : E in Borth et al. 2017, DNA no. 22025- 250515 -NE) by 2.66%. The recently sequenced specimen of C. intacta from Nepal differed from four sequenced specimens of C. intacta from Japan and China by 2.82% but no differences in male genitalia were observed.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Catocala spp., female adults, 1, C. becheri, Vietnam, Lam Dong (coll. S. Didenko); 2, C. becheri, Vietnam, Kon- Tum, Ngoc Linh Mts. (coll. H. Seibald); 3, C. becheri, Vietnam, Th ừa Thiên-Hu ế Prov., Bach Ma Mtn. (coll. R. Borth); 4, C. intacta, Japan, Tajimi, Gify (coll. A. Saldaitis); 5, C. intacta, China, Jiangxi, Wuyi Shan Mts. (coll. S. Didenko); 6, C. intacta, China, Fujian (coll. A. Saldaitis).

FIGURES 7 – 8. Catocala spp., female genitalia. 7, C. becheri, Vietnam, Lam Dong, slide AV 2912 ♀ Volynkin; 8, C. intacta, China, Jiangxi, slide AV 2913 ♀ Volynkin.