Gnopharmia erema Wehrli

Sh, Hossein Rajaei, Stüning, Dieter & Trusch, Robert, 2012, Taxonomic revision and zoogeographical patterns of the species of Gnopharmia Staudinger, 1892 (Geometridae, Ennominae), Zootaxa 3360, pp. 1-52 : 19-20

Gnopharmia erema Wehrli

( Figs 13 & 38 ; Map 2)

Gnopharmia erema Wehrli, 1939: 71 . Syntypes 2 3, BMNH, ZFMK (examined). Type locality: Kerbela desert, Iraq. Gnopharmia erema: Wehrli, 1953: 566 , pl. 47f; Parsons et al., 1999: 406.

Type material examined. Syntype 3, ‘Kerbela desert | 12.4.37 ’, ‘ Gnopharmia erema Wehrli , 3, Holotype [red label, partly handwritten by Wehrli], ‘ Gnopharmia erema Wehrli Stgr. , abgebildet Seitz IV. Suppl. fig.’[yellow label, partly handwritten by Wehrli], ‘gen. prep. 411/2008 H. Rajaei.’, BC ZFMK Lep 0 0 785 [barcoding serial number], in ZFMK. Syntype 3, ‘ Iraq: desert | Kerbela | 1.v.1937 | E. P. Wiltshire’, ‘ erema | Wehrli Gnopharmia | Dr. Wehrli’, ‘Wehrli genitalia slide no. 7251 3, ‘Wiltshire coll. | B.M. 1979-433’, in BMNH. Additional material studied: 2 3, 4 Ƥ: 1 Ƥ, same locality as type locality, 11.iv.1937 E. P. Wiltshire, genitalia preparation E. P. Wiltshire 2698, Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979-433; 1 3, same locality, 6.v.1937 E. P. Wiltshire, genitalia preparation E. P. Wiltshire 1104 male, Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979-433; 1 Ƥ, same locality, 11.iv.1937 E. P. Wiltshire, genitalia preparation E. P. Wiltshire 1104 female [same slide as male] / Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979-433; 1 3, same locality, 4.v.1937 E. P. Wiltshire, Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979-433, Gnopharmia erema Wli ; 1 Ƥ, same locality, 5.v.1937 E. P. Wiltshire / Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979-433; 1 Ƥ, same locality, 11.iv.1937 E. P. Wiltshire / Wiltshire coll. B.M. 1979- 433. all in BMNH.

Description. Wings and body ( Fig. 13 ). Frons conically extended, distal depression and central protrusion weak. Genae distinctly pointed antero-ventrally. Free apical segments in male antennae 10. Tibial spines rather long and acute. Wingspan 24 mm (paralectotype in ZFMK measured, but lectotype and additional specimens in BMNH more or less of the same size). Wings on upperside light greyish-brown or sand-coloured, dusted with brown scales, transverse lines replaced by a few rather indistinct dark brown spots, most conspicuous those on costa. An indistinct darker brown submarginal band present, not bordered distally by a dentate line; marginal area as ground colour, margin with black spots or short streaks centrally between the veins, apical patch absent. Fringe unichrome, almost white. Discal dots blackish brown. Hindwings with pattern elements even more reduced, marginal streak more continuous. Under side much lighter than upperside, sand-coloured, shining. Marginal band very faint, hardly visible. Discal dots clearly marked. Male genitalia and pre-genital abdomen ( Fig. 38 ). Aedeagus short (1.2 mm), stout, with a short coecum penis and a small ventral fin; two long and one shorter proximal subapical spines (number and size probably variable. Wehrli (1953: 566) mentions 3–4 larger and some smaller spines) present in a dorso-lateral position on right side, also 1–3 small, tooth-like distal spines ventrally near the tip of the aedeagus. Cornuti on vesica absent. Octavals short (0.3 mm), broad, with rounded tip.

Diagnosis. In some characters, e.g. shape of aedeagus and length and arrangement of proximal subapical spines, this species is very similar to G. kasrunensis (fig. 41) and G. cocandaria (fig. 42). In cocandaria , the aedeagus is longer and narrower, kasrunensis has a larger, but also stout aedeagus, but the proximal spines are longer, the distal spines are absent and a large, multiple cornutus is present (the latter absent in erema ). The octavals are short and broad in erema (fig. 38-d), longer, narrower, with rounded tips in cocandaria and even longer, with curved distal parts in kasrunensis . Moreover, both species are distinctly larger and different in appearance. In the absence of barcoding results (the attempt to barcode one of the male syntypes has not been successful), G. erema is treated here as a distinct species, based on morphological characters only. It may also be a subspecies (or a desert form) of the widespread G. kasrunensis . For evaluation of its real status freshly collected material of G. erema is necessary.

Taxonomic note. Wehrli based his description on two male specimens only, collected by E. P. Wiltshire in the Kerbela desert on 12. IV. and 1.V., respectively. He did not state which of the two should be the holotype, just mentioned: “ holotype in his [Wiltshire’s] collection” (translated from German). Indeed, the specimen collected 1.V. 1937 is kept in the BMNH collection; Wehrli dissected it before (the description of the genitalia in Seitz 4, Suppl.: 566 is based on this preparation), but the genitalia slide No. 7251 could not be traced there (John Chainey, in litt. Dec. 2011). On the other hand, Wehrli labelled the second specimen which he kept in his own collection (now in coll. ZFMK) as “ holotype ” (an invalid subsequent type designation). This specimen also was figured in Seitz 4, Suppl., pl. 47f. It has been dissected now and agrees well with the description of the first specimen. Besides the two specimens mentioned above, Wiltshire collected another six specimens simultaneously. For some reason, Wehrli did not recognize them in the description. All are very similar in size and coloration and are also kept in the BMNH collection at present. G. e re m a is well defined by the two syntypes and there is no risk of confusing it with other taxa. So, to our opinion, a designation of a lectotype is not necessary.

Life history and habitat. All specimens studied have been collected in April and May, in the Kerbela desert in the centre of Iraq. In the original description, Wehrli (1939: 71) calls it a “desert species”, but no details about the characteristics of the habitat are known (except that it is a lowland habitat).

Distribution (Map 2). Only known from the type locality.

Figures

FIGURE 10 – 14. G. cocandaria. 10: female from Kuldja, cited and figured by Wehrli (1953) in Seitz 4 (suppl.); 11: G. maculifera maculifera, lectotype, male from Samarkand [Uzbekistan]; 12: G. maculifera afghanistana, holotype, male; 13: G. erema, lectotype; 14: G. irakensis, syntype, male. a, upperside; b, under side; c, original label. Scale bar: 1 cm.

FIGURE 37 – 38. Male genitalia and abdominal sternites. 37: G. colchidaria colchidaria, lectotype of G. c o l c h i d a r i a melanotaenia, gen. prep: 415 / 2008 H. R., SEM prep. 17 / 2009 H. R., 38: G. erema, lectotype, gen. prep: 411 / 2008 H. R. a: genital capsule; b: aedeagus; c: distal part of aedeagus (SEM; with scale); d: sternite A 8. Scale bar: 1 mm.