Delorhachis bakossii Fiebig, Taberer, Giusti and Laszlo 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Taberer, Tabitha R.
name: Fiebig, Ralf
name: Giusti, Alessandro
name: László, Gyula M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Limacodidae
Delorhachis
Delorhachis bakossii

description: Delorhachis bakossii Fiebig, Taberer, Giusti and László sp. nov. (Figures 45, 86,
121, 149)
Holotype. Male, ′4°58′29.19̍N 9°41′24.52″E | CAMEROON, SW-Region, | Bangem, Bakossi Mtns, | 2.5 km W Muaback, NE | slope of ridge, 1200 m asl, | 25. October 2011, MV-lamp″ || ′RF 2021.898̍ (SMNS).
Description
External morphology. Male. Fore wing length 12.5 mm. Head, collar, and tegula yelloworange, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one cream-white rounded patch. Thorax ochreous brown to beige dorsally. Abdomen yellow-orange dorsally, first two segments with ochreous brown to beige hair scales. Fore wing short, broad, triangular, with rounded apex; ground colour ochreous brown, veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia white, oval, margined with black on distal edge. Fringe long, slightly darker than ground colour. Hind wing uniformly light brown, veins black from medial to distal portion.
Female. Unknown.
Male genitalia. Uncus moderately long, tapered, pointed apically. Tegumen broad. Gnathos broad, weakly sclerotised, with two short, rounded distal lobes with a shallow medial depression. Juxta with two moderately long, heavily sclerotised distal processes; manica with a cluster of short, straight pseudocornuti. Vinculum relatively long, broad, rounded. Valva very wide at base, tapered, distally with a short, rounded dorso-apical process and a slightly longer, rounded ventral process. Phallus long, narrow, medially slightly bent with sclerotised, apically pointed ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica long, tubular, membranous without cornuti.
Diagnosis
Externally, this species is reminiscent of D. syntomoctena, although the fore wing fascia in the new species is wider and more rounded, compared to the very narrow, ovoid fore wing fascia of the related species. In the male genitalia, however, the differences are obvious: the gnathos of D. bakossii sp. nov. has a shallow, medial depression at the apex compared to the pointed apex in the gnathos of the allied species. Also, the distal portion of the valva in the new species has a shorter, rounded dorso-apical process, and a slightly longer ventral process compared to those of D. syntomoctena.
In terms of the male genitalia morphology, this species is closest to D. manuelae due to the valva being very broad at the base and curved ventrad, but distinguished by the much wider distal section and the broader apex of the valva, as well as the apically less deeply depressed gnathos and the slightly shorter pseudocornuti in D. bakossii.
Genetic information
No DNA barcodes were available for this species.
Etymology
The species is named after the Bakossi, a West African ethnic group based in south-west Cameroon. The settlement area of the Bakossi includes the Bakossi Mountains, the type locality of the species.
Distribution and habitat (Figures 180–181, 186)
This new species has so far only been recorded from the Bakossi Mountains of southwestern Cameroon, a mountainous rainforest region which makes up part of the Cameroon Line.
description: Published as part of Taberer, Tabitha R., Fiebig, Ralf, Giusti, Alessandro & László, Gyula M., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the genus Delorhachis Karsch 1896 (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae), pp. 54-129 in Journal of Natural History 57 (1 - 4) on pages 94-95, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346, http://zenodo.org/record/7636801