Afroracotis (Herbuloracotis) deportata László & Hausmann & Karisch 2023, comb. n.
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
name: Hausmann, Axel
name: Karisch, Timm
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Afroracotis
Afroracotis deportata

description: Afroracotis (Herbuloracotis) deportata (Herbulot, 1970) comb. n.   
(Figs 48–50, 155–156, 237, 309)  
 Racotis deportata Herbulot, 1970, Mémoires O.R.S.T.O.M. 37: 166, pl. 13, fig. 17. Holotype male (MNHN). Type locality: Madagascar: Tsaratanana (towards W), Andavaka valley, 1850m.   
 Type material examined   
 Holotype, male, red label “TYPE” / “ Madagascar Nord massif du Tsaratanana (versant Ouest), 1850m, vallée de l’Andavaka 11/ 13-X-1966, P. Soga ” / [red label with handwritten] “ Racotis deportata TYPE Hrblt” / [with handwritten] “ Racotis deportata Herbulot Mém. De l’ORSTOM. No 37, 1970, p. 166 pl. 13 fig. 17”, gen. slide No.: Gen.-Präp. TK 3294 (MNHN).   
 Additional material examined   
 Comoros. 2 females, Grande Comore, L. Humblot, Ex Oberthur Coll. Brit. Mus. 1927-3, gen. slide No.: NHMUK 010316167 (prepared by László) (NHMUK). Madagascar. 1 male, 1 female, Madagascar, Ambohitantely Special Reserve, 24–29.xi.2011, S18°11’51”, E47°17’03”, 1530m, at light, M. Tryzna lgt., gen. slide Nos: LG 4067 (male), LG 4082 (female) (ANHRT); 1 male, Andringitra, Ambanafatra, R. Ambatohapike, 1390m, 22.1579°S, 47.025°E, 17.ii.1995, leg. D. Lees, gen. slide No.: LG 4426, DNA barcode/BOLD process id.: BC ZSM Lep 24628/GWORK817- 09; 1 female, Toamasina, Makira, Lac Amparihibe, SB 0, 700m, 15.035°S, 49.5836°E, 20.ii.2003, leg. D. Lees, gen. slide No.: LG 4749, DNA barcode/BOLD process id.: BC ZSM Lep 42383/GWOSN152-11 (ZSM); 1 male, Ranomafana, Valbio Research Centre, 896m, 21°15’10”S, 47°25’37”E, 8–9.iv.2018, leg. H.S. Staude (RCHS).   
 Diagnosis. Forewing length 18–23 mm. The distinctive characters between A. deportata and the species of the A. apodosima group are discussed under the diagnosis of the latter taxa and the characterisation of the A. deportata species-group.   
 Genetic information. This species has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD:AAL0851. The intraspecific divergence between the two DNA barcoded specimens is 0.00%. Afroracotis deportata shows similar short pairwise distances when compared to multiple, distantly related Afroracotis taxa. For instance, it differs from A. milesi sp. n. (belonging to the subgenus Zebracotis subgen. n.) by 5.19–6.02%, from Racotis ugandaria (attributed to a monotypic genus Chorocotis gen. n. described below) by 5.53–5.59% not reflecting a relationship to these taxa. The morphologically most similar species is A. apodosima diverging from A. deportata at a pairwise distance of 5.94–6.02%. The uncertainties regarding the phylogenetic position of A. deportata are also expressed by the different topologies observed in the ML and BI trees: in the former analysis, the species recovered as a sister clade of a cluster comprising the sole species A. argillacea and the A. apodosima species-group, whereas in the BI cladogram, A. deportata forms a distinct sister clade of the A. aristophanousi sp. n. — A. longicornuta sp. n. cluster. The significantly larger pairwise distances between A. deportata and A. argillacea, A. aristophanousi sp. n. and A. longicornuta sp. n. (6.36–6.69%, 6.47–7.36% and 7.01–8.30%, respectively) suggest that the closest relative of the Madagascan endemism is most probably the south-east African A. apodosima.   
 Distribution (Map 3). Afroracotis deportata is only known from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M., Hausmann, Axel & Karisch, Timm, 2023, Integrative taxonomic revision of the African taxa of the Racotis Moore, 1887 generic complex (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae, Boarmiini), pp. 1-109 in Zootaxa 5308 (1) on pages 37-38, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5308.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8080929