Shimbania budaensis, Lehmann & Dalsgaard, 2023

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

Shimbania budaensis sp. nov.

Figs 1b , 8c

Material examined.

Holotype, male, Kenya, South Coast, [Kwale County], Buda Forest [Reserve], 0 m [incorrect altitude that is 27-93 m], 15 January - 01st February 1995, mercury vapor light, Dr. Politzar leg., genitalia slide number 05/082009 I. Lehmann (MWM).

Description.

Head: with dense, short hair-like scales of light brown and ivory-yellow between and around eyes; eyes olive with black spots; a pair of pits are present on lower fronto-clypeus; pits behind labial palpi are tiny slits; antenna 0.36 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches of 4 × width of shaft, branches not scaled and shaft densely scaled, cream dorsally; labial palpi brown.

Thorax: Patagia grey-vinaceous, forming a collar ring; tegulae with long hair-like dark chestnut scales with a slightly vinaceous glint. Metathorax with small crest of ivory-yellow scales, crest brown at center. Hind legs olive-grey with fine hair-like scales, on lower part of tarsus olive (instead of brown) dorsally; two pairs of long tibial spurs of unequal width and length, upper pair narrow ca. 2.0 mm and 1.5 mm, lower pair of spurs broader ca. 1.5 mm and 1.0 mm long. Forewing length 23.5 mm and wingspan 52.0 mm. Forewing upperside light grey-olive with a light golden glint, but upper inner half is dark olive; below half of 1A+2A a large dark chestnut patch; forewing with many narrow brown-olive lines from near costal margin to dorsum, only few are interrupted by narrowly brown veins; a large, but weak olive sub-terminal patch is “V” -shaped from R3 to near half of CuA1; termen without striae or lunules; CuA2 brown, with a brown streak extending into discal cell; remaining veins are not distinctly coloured with few exceptions; cilia short, 1.1 mm, with cream base and grey tips. Underside of forewing olive-buff with a golden glint and some dark olive-buff patches and short lines. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow with a light golden glint, without brown veins and hence, all veins are not distinctly coloured, some pale olive-buff patches occur; cilia as in forewing; underside as in forewing.

Abdomen: Mainly cream-olive mixed with ivory-yellow, glossy; abdominal tuft cream-olive and pale olive-buff, short, 1/5 length of abdomen. Genitalia with long uncus, 60% of length of whole gnathos, with a narrow graben-like surface ventrally. Gnathos has gnathos arms that are large, one arm 60% the size of valva; upper part of the gnathos arm is a long band, as long as 65% of basal width of valva, the lower part of the gnathal arm is large, and it does not touch the other arm but is well separated from it (ventral view), of broadly slightly rectangular (instead of triangular) shape with a pronounced thorn-like structure and with its base 70% of the basal width of valva, without smaller thorns along its slightly wavy dorsal edge; the gnathal arms are connected ventrally by a narrow sclerotized band that is as broad as 30% of the transtilla and is narrowly bifurcated at the middle. The Gnathos ends well above the dorsal edge of the transtilla. The valva is elongated rectangular with a dorsal edge of 2.2 × the length of uncus, tip broadly rounded; ventral edge is bent suddenly inwards and has a well pronounced sacculus that is broad on its first half, as broad as 25% of width of valva, sclerotized, long, 90% of length of ventral edge of valva; saccus absent; juxta well developed, with two broadly ear-shaped lobes and a broadly V-shaped emargination in between, it is 60% the length of juxta, tips of lobes pointed. Phallus very large, as broad as 40% of basal width of valva and 25% longer than costal width of valva, only slightly S-shaped and bent upwards at tip distally, vesica without cornuti. The basal width of the vinculum is among the broadest in Shimbania .

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Shimbania budaensis sp. nov. can be separated from all other congeners by the very broad ventral base of the vinculum that has 45% of the basal width of its elongated valva and hence, is at present among the two broadest ventral bases of a vinculum among Shimbania . Only S. wanjakinuthiaae sp. nov. has a broader ventral base of vinculum, but can easily be separated from the former species by its very broad and short rectangular valva with a costal margin that has only 1.4 × the length of the uncus and with a ventral margin that is not suddenly bent inwards. Additionally, the sacculus is broadest, longest and well sclerotized in S. budaensis sp. nov. if compared to all other species presented herein.

Distribution.

Shimbania budaensis sp. nov. is classified as a lowland coastal forest species that is at present endemic to the "Usambara-Kwale local centre of endemism" sensu Burgess (2000). The species is only known from Buda Forest Reserve (6.7 km2 in size) located ca. 6 km inland from the Indian Ocean, ca. 3 km southwest from Gogoni Forest Reserve, where a species of Shimbania was never recorded (Lehmann unpubl. data collected in 2001-2007), and ca. 16 km southwest from Kaya Muhaka ( Lehmann and Kioko 1998, 2005). Noteworthy, Buda Forest has among 30 studied Kenyan coastal forests very high species diversities and is in this aspect among the seven top sites ( Fungomeli et al. 2020).

Etymology.

Shimbania budaensis is named for the Buda Forest Reserve (Kenya) and to remember my (I.L.) first observations on larger moths in various coastal forests, such as Buda Forest, undertaken by bicycle in 1989.

The gender of the new species name is feminine.

Figures

Figure 1. a. Shimbania baginerichardi sp. nov., holotype, male, Kenya, Kwale County, Shimba Hills National Reserve; b. S. budaensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Kenya, Kwale County, Buda Forest Reserve; c. S. tanaensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Kenya, Tana River County, Mchelelo Camp, close to the Tana River; d. S. tanaensis sp. nov., paratype, male, Kenya, Mombasa County, Shimo la Tewa.

Figure 8. Male and female genitalia in a pressed condition below glass: a. Shimbania baginerichardi sp. nov., holotype, male, Kenya, Kwale County, Shimba Hills National Reserve; b. S. tanaensis sp. nov., paratype, male, Kenya, Mombasa County, Shimo la Tewa; c. S. budaensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Kenya, Kwale County, Buda Forest Reserve; d. S. pwaniensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Tanzania, Pwani Region, road from Dar es-Salaam to Chalinze, near the railway-crossing, ca. 2 km from the Ruvu River.