Saalmulleria stumpffi ( Saalmueller , 1884)

Lehmann, Ingo & Dalsgaard, Thure, 2023, Revision of Saalmulleria Mabille, 1891 (Lepidoptera, Metarbelidae) from Madagascar with the description of three new genera and fifteen new species, Evolutionary Systematics 7 (1), pp. 133-182 : 133

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.7.85204
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:24DF15AD-F8A0-4086-AD8C-60AD39C8A4AA
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4A09F31A-CC4C-5B70-BE14-139EDB4D472D
treatment provided by	Evolutionary Systematics by Pensoft
scientific name	Saalmulleria stumpffi ( Saalmueller , 1884)
status

Treatment

Saalmulleria stumpffi ( Saalmueller, 1884) View in CoL

Figs 4e View Figure 4 , 5c View Figure 5 , 7b View Figure 7 , 14a View Figure 14

Cossus stumpffi Saalmüller, 1884: In: Saalmüller, M. (Ed.) Lepidopteren von Madagaskar. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten. Zumeist aus der Sammlung der Senckenberg’schen naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Frankfurt am Main. Erste Abtheilung: Rhopalocera . Heterocera . Shinges et Bombyces. Cossidae : 210-211. Original combination.

Material examined.

Female , “Type”, “Madag.” [ Madagascar], “Loucoubé” [Lokobe, Nosy Be Island, Sambirano Region], "Stumpff 82" [1882], “X-II-82” [on another tiny label, 10th February 1882] Stumpff [Anton Stumpff from “Nossi-Bé” leg.; one specimen only, cf. Saalmüller 1884, pp. 210-211]; genitalia slide number 20/122008 I. Lehmann (SNMF) .

Re-description.

Female Head: Unusually small, 3.0 mm in diameter; rough-scaled; long hair-like scales of light brownish-olive mixed with sepia scales on fronto-clypeus, some with a light lilac and golden glint; eyes brownish-olive with small dark olive spots; a pair of pits is entirely absent on lower fronto-clypeus, a pair of conical projections absent, pits behind labial palpi absent; lower fronto-clypeus is broad, as broad as half of eye-diameter (viewed anteriorly) and smooth, without any structures; labial palpi dark olive-buff, very short, less than half of eye diameter, narrow, consisting of three segments, all segments are of almost equal length, 1st (basal) segment is very broad, at least 1.5 × broader than central segment, rectangular. Antennae bipectinate, narrow and long branches 3.5 × longer than width of shaft, branches are widely separated at base with 2.0 × width of branch, dorsal and lateral sides of branches not scaled, but with many setae in pairs ventrally and laterally, dorsal and lateral sides of flagellum scaled deep olive-buff mixed with brownish-olive.

Thorax: Densely covered with hair-like scales and broader scales of olive-brown with dark olive or sepia tips on patagia and on tegulae, sepia scales on tegulae with a light lilac glint; scale crest on metathorax is pronounced with long olive-brown hair-like scales with a slightly broader sepia tip. Fore and mid legs olive-brown, dorsally sepia, with long dense hair-like structures and a light lilac glint. Epiphyses present, 2.5 mm long, medium broad and flat. Hind legs with two pairs of tibial spurs, upper pair narrower and longer, up to 2.1 mm long, spurs in lower pair broader, up to 1.4 mm long, all spurs with a claw-like tip. Wingspan is 70.5 mm. Forewing length is 32.0 mm (as long as abdomen), large, broad with a rounded apex, upperside without any geometric design, deep olive-buff and towards termen with a light golden glint, a simple scale pattern is present, with a lunule-like sepia patch at center of forewing from base of M2 to base of CuA1, the patch is edged inwards by a small transparent spot, various terminal, sub-terminal and post-medial patches and bands of Saccardo’s umber, with a prominent broad V-shaped band of Saccardo’s umber from apex and costa to near end of CuA2, the latter vein is not marked in a different colour, termen with weak triangular dark olive lunules, a sepia patch is present below 30% of length of 1A+2A. Hindwing rounded but with a prominent pointed apex, termen not bent inwards, largely with short scales of deep olive-buff with a light golden glint, with a sepia patch at center of hindwing from base of M2 to base of CuA1, but the patch is not edged inwards by a small transparent spot as in forewing. Underside with scales of deep olive-buff with a light golden glint. Cilia very short for such a large species, 1.1 mm long, deep olive-buff with a glint. Forewing venation with strongly sclerotized and broad veins, 1A+2A deeply forked at base, fork is 25% the length of 1A+2A; CuP absent, but represented by a fold, slightly sclerotized on first 2/3 of its length; CuA2 originating from near hind margin of posterior cell; CuA1, M3 and M2 separated and initiating from apical angle of posterior cell; M1 originating from distal margin of median cell and is broadly separated from its anterior angle; areole absent; R1+R2 originating from a long stalk (the stalk has the length of ca. 40% of R3) and initiating from near anterior angle of median cell; R3+R4+R5 are long stalked and originating from anterior angle of median cell, the basal point of this stalk is exactly opposite of the basal point of the stalk of R1+R2; Sc more or less parallel to R1. Hindwing venation with three anal veins, 3A present, 1A+2A present with a well sclerotized fork at base, CuP present and well sclerotized; CuA2 originating from near hind margin of posterior cell; CuA1, M3 and M2 originating from apical angle of posterior cell, separated, M2 has a tiny fork at base; M1 and Rs originating from anterior cell, broadly separated, with M1 at center of distal margin of anterior cell; a short bar from Rs to Sc+R1 is weak, a strongly sclerotized vein in discocellular cell on both fore- and hindwing is present and long forked distally in forewing (a very rare character in Metarbelidae ). The discocellular cell on forewing and hindwing is small, only ca. 15% of wing size. The discocellular cell on the hindwing is similar in shape like a fish-tail, with the upper and lower tip in opposite position, and the upper tip is strongly pointed and bent. Fringe scales short if compared to the large hindwing size, 2.0 mm long, deep olive-buff with a glint. Retinaculum and frenulum absent.

Abdomen: Very long with 32.0 mm in length and very broad at center with 9.0 mm, with hair-like scales of deep olive-buff, some with chestnut tips, and a strong light golden glint, upper part of abdomen broadly sepia, end of abdomen broadly sepia, abdominal tuft short with 5.0 mm length, sepia.

Female postabdominal structure with very large, pear-shaped lobes of papillae anales in horizontal position, one lobe 50% the size of papillae anales, lobes ventrally with long setae and few long setae along the edge, each lobe with a long and deep oblique graben-like structure that has no setae at center; papillae anales covered with many short and many long setae. Segment 8 represents a medium broad rectangular sclerotized band, more narrow ventrally, setose along its posterior margin with long setae but without any setae on dorsal part of posterior margin and on segment 8, a very narrow band is attached ventrally extending to the base of anterior apophysis, where the band is weakly attached and has a very broad rectangular-shaped base that fits like a segment into segment 8 (Fig. 7b View Figure 7 , only visible in fresh preparations); anterior apophysis slightly bent downwards, 3.0 × as long as segment 8 dorsally, on basal half of length 2 × as broad as at tip, within the first 30% of their length strongly knee-like shaped, on almost the whole length with a deep horizontal graben-like structure; posterior apophysis narrow but with four times broader base, 50% the length of anterior apophysis, with large sclerotized base that is 40% the size of papillae anales in lateral view, posterior apophysis equal in length of dorsal part of segment 8; ductus bursae and corpus bursae are unknown.

Male: unknown.

Diagnosis.

Saalmulleria stumpffi has by far the largest wing size in Metarbelidae worldwide and its small transparent spot in the forewing near base of M2 to base of CuA1 distinguishes it from all other species of Saalmulleria . The size of one lobe of the papillae anales is 50% of the size of the whole papillae anales and is at present the largest among Metarbelidae . Remarkable differences to the other species of Saalmulleria comprise also the very long setae along the posterior margin of segment 8 that are absent from its dorsal part, the strongly knee-like shape of the anterior apophyses present on 30% of their length and the very large sclerotized base of posterior apophysis that is 40% the size of the papillae anales.

Distribution.

Saalmulleria stumpffi is only known from Lokobe, including the Réserve Naturelle de Lokobe (740 hectare in size), located on the southeastern part of the small island of Nosy Be (320 km2 in size) ca. 14 km off the northwestern coast of the main island of Madagascar. The whole area belongs to the "Sambirano Region" and to the "Madagascar Subhumid Forests" ecoregion. Saalmulleria stumpffi is classified herein as an endemic species to the "Sambirano Region" and might be restricted today to Nosy Be Island and scattered forest areas nearby located on the "main island" of northern Madagascar. Nosy Be Island has an altitude range of 5-419 m, average annual rainfall is among the highest along the west coast of Madagascar ranging from 2000-2356 mm at Lokobe, with highest rainfall in November-April ( White 1983; Hijmans et al. 2005; Reinhardt et al. 2022). Prior to 1300 BP, Nosy Be Island was largely covered by lowland rain forest comprising also genera such as Podocarpus L’Hér. ex Pers., but became increasingly a mosaic of grassland, bushland and forest until present due to human activities including the use of fire to destroy forests for agriculture ( Reinhardt et al. 2022). The Lokobe forest comprises Leguminosae tree species such as Parkia madagascariensis Viguier ( Mimosoideae ), Adenanthera pavonina L. ( Mimosoideae ) and Cordyla madagascariensis R. Vig. ( Papilionoideae ); other tree species include, e.g. Croton loucoubensis Baill. ( Euphorbiaceae ), Macphersonia madagascariensis Blume ( Sapindaceae ), the extremely rare Pandanus androcephalanthos Martelli ( Pandanaceae ), Sorindeia madagascariensis Thouars ( Anacardiaceae ), one species of Tambourissa Sonn. ( Monimiaceae ) and Trilepisium madagascariense DC. ( Moraceae ) ( Birkinshaw 2001; Berry et al. 2017). Pierre Viette took one of the possibly oldest pictures published of this forest in November 1958 (cf. Viette 1962, plate III, fig. 6).