Loxostege shirazalis ( Amsel, 1961 )

Alipanah, Helen, Asselbergs, Jan, Malm, Tobias & Slamka, František, 2023, Taxonomic study of the subfamily Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Iran, Zootaxa 5289 (1), pp. 1-82 : 61

Loxostege shirazalis ( Amsel, 1961)

( Fig. 27C )

Pyrausta shirazalis Amsel, 1961: 424 , text-fig. 115, pl. 6 figs 234–235.

TL: Iran, Shiraz, 7000 ft.

Material examined. Qazvin Prov.: 1 ♂, Rudbâr-e Sharestân, Daryâbak , 2150 m, 12.vi.1995, Parchami-Arâghi, Ebrâhimi, Ardeh leg. (gen. prep. HA-2828, HMIM) .

Distribution. Shiraz ( Amsel 1961).

Remarks. This species was decribed by Amsel (1961) based on one male and one female collected in Shiraz, Fars Province. It was transferred to the genus Loxostege by Yepishin (2022). As stated by Amsel (1961), the phallus cmprises a bunch of fine cornuti ( Amsel 1961: 397, 424). In the single examined male, the uncus and fibulae are exactly match with the illustration of Amsel (1961), but the cornuti form a small horn-shaped sclerotized plate distally with several scattered thin spines around it. Additionally, the distal edge of the phallus is distinctly crenate ( Fig. 28A‒C ). These features are not distinguishable in the photos of the holotype presented by Yepishin (2022) and neither is the shape of the juxta, which is clear in our examined male ( Fig. 28A ).

Genus Achyra Guenée, 1849

Figures

FIGURE 27. A) Loxostege sticticalis (Linnaeus), male. B) L. mira Amsel, female. C) L. shirazalis (Amsel), male. D– F) Achyra nudalis (Ḩbner): male, Hormozgan, Gheshm (D), female, West Azarbaijan, Maku (E), male, West Azarbaijan, Maku (F) (scale bar = 10.0 mm).

FIGURE 28. Male genitalia of Loxostege shirazalis (Amsel) (genitalia slide HA-2828, HMIM). A) Genitalia and phallus in ventral and lateral views, respectively. B) Fibula. C) Distal end of phallus.