Mecothrix aegyptiaca subsp. cana Hacker 2012
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
name: Vetina, Alvaro A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nolidae
Mecothrix
Mecothrix aegyptiaca
Mecothrix aegyptiaca cana hacker, 2012

description: Mecothrix aegyptiaca cana Hacker, 2012 stat. n.
(Figs 11, 12, 50, 70)
Nola (Mecothrix) cana Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 158. Type locality: Mozambique, Magude. Holotype female in coll. ZSM.
Material examined: Mozambique, Maputo Special Reserve. 1 ♂, 2 ♀, 9m, Mangrove Camp, Mangrove- Woodland Mosaic, 26°19'35.9"S, 32°42'35.7"E, 7–9.XII.2016, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Cristovao, J., Laszlo, G., Miles, W. leg., slide Nos: LGNA 322 ♂, LGNA 308 ♀, LGNA 321 ♀; 1 ♀, 22m, West Gate, Sand Forest, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 3–13.XII.2016, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Cristovao, J., Laszlo, G., Miles, W. leg., slide No.: LGNA 318 ♀; 1 ♂, 22m, West Gate, Sand Thicket, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 3–13.XII.2016, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Cristovao, J., Laszlo, G., Miles, W. leg., slide No.: LGNA 423 ♂; 1 ♀, 22m, West Gate, Sand Thicket, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 21–30.XI.2016, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Cristovao, J., Laszlo, G., Miles, W. leg., slide No.: LGNA 319 ♀; 2 ♂, 2 ♀, 22m, West Gate, Sand Forest, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 21–22.ii.2018, Actinic Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide Nos: LGNA 435 ♂, LGNA 436 ♂, LGNA 424 ♀, LGNA 431 ♀; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 22m, West Gate, Sand Forest, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 13–15.ii.2018, MV Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide Nos: LGNA 425 ♂, LGNA 426 ♀; 3 ♂, 1 ♀, 17m, Futi Corridor (Sand Forest Woodland Mosaic), 26°32'10.1"S, 32°43'09.7"E, 23–24.ii.2018, Actinic Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide Nos: LGNA 427 ♂, LGNA 428 ♂, LGNA 429 ♂, LGNA 430 ♀; 1 ♀, 17m, Futi Corridor (Sand Forest Woodland Mosaic) 26°32'10.1"S, 32°43'09.7"E, 23–24.ii.2018, MV Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide No.: 437♀; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 22m, West Gate, Sand Thicket, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 24–25.ii.2018, Actinic Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide Nos: LGNA 433 ♀, LGNA 438 ♂; 1 ♂, 22m, Maputo Special Reserve, West Gate, Sand Thicket, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 9–17.ii.2018, Actinic Light Trap, Laszlo, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L. leg., slide No.: LGNA 439 ♂ (coll. ANHRT, MHNM).
Remark. M. cana was originally described as a distinct species. The detailed comparison of specimens collected in South Mozambique and Egypt revealed no significant differences in the configuration of genitalia, however the Southern African specimens are uniformly paler, having graphite greyish forewing ground colour, while the North African ones are much darker, with dark brownish forewing ground colour. The species might have had in the past a continuous distribution in Eastern Africa along the coast of Red Sea and Indian Ocean, later it had probably been splitted into morphologically slightly different populations (M. aegyptiaca sahelica Hacker, 2012 in the Sahel and Tanzania, and M. aegyptiaca bischoffi Hacker, 2012 in Yemen). Separating the southernmost population on species rank is not justified based on these minor morphological differences, so cana has herewith been placed within the species aegyptiaca as valid subspecies.
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M. & Vetina, Alvaro A., 2019, Contribution to the knowledge of the Nolini of the Maputo Special Reserve in South Mozambique with description of two new species and several taxonomic updates (Lepidoptera, Nolidae, Nolinae), pp. 225-246 in Zootaxa 4571 (2) on page 229, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4571.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2608276