Delorhachis smithi Taberer, Fiebig, 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 smithi

description: Delorhachis smithi Taberer, Fiebig, Giusti and László sp. nov. (Figures 46–48, 87,
12 2–123, 150)
Holotype. Male, ′ GABON 430 m | Mikongo (Rougier), Monts | de Cristal (Secondary forest) | 0°29′47̍N, 11°10′42″E | 28.vii–12.viii.2019 MV Light Trap | Albert, J.-L., Aristophanous, M., | Bie Mba, J., Dérozier, V., | Moretto, P. Leg. | ANHRT:2019.17″ || ′ANHRTUK | 00130411̍ || ′ Gen. slide No. | TT 094 | prep. by T. R. Taberer ̍ (ANHRT).
Paratypes. Republic of the Congo. 2 males, Odzala National Park, 400–500 m, 0.383°N, 14.833°E, 29 January–03 March 1997, Siniaev, V., Murzin, S. leg., gen. slide no. 36.326, 36.327 (MWW); 2 male, same site and collectors (MWW). DRC. 2 males, Mai-Ndombe, Ekongo camp, 2.756°S, 20.315°E, March–April 2017, Prozorov, A., Prozorov, T., Kravchenko, V. leg., gen. slide nos.: NI09, NI10 (RCHS). Gabon. 3 males, Mikongo (Rougier), Monts de Cristal (Secondary forest), 430 m, 0.484°N, 11.178°E, 28 July–12 August 2019, Albert, J.-L., Aristophanous, M., Bie Mba, J. Dérozier, V., Moretto, P. leg., ANHRT:2019.17, unique IDs: ANHRTUK 00167735, 00130412, 00131020, gen. slide nos. TT 038, TT 094, DNA barcode ID/ BOLD process ID ANHRTUK00167735/ANLMN7641-21 (ANHRT).
Description
Male external morphology. Fore wing length 11–13 mm. Head, collar, tegula, and thorax yellow-brown, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one white rounded patch. Thorax yellow-brown dorsally, beige ventrally. Legs beige. Abdomen uniformly beige, first two segments with yellow-brown hair scales. Fore wing short, broad,triangular, with rounded apex; ground colour pale yellowish-brown,veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia white, broad, oval, slightly directed inwards, margined with black on distal edge; costal area sometimes with small, diffused white patch postmedially. Fringe long, slightly paler than ground colour. Hind wing uniformly buff, with weakly defined black veins from medial to distal portion. Underside of oth fore wing and hind wing buff without markings; fringe same as ground colour.
Female. Unknown.
Male genitalia. Uncus relatively long, tapered, pointed apically. Tegumen broad. Gnathos very broad, rounded, shield-like, weakly sclerotised. Juxta short, rounded basally, with two short, ventral ribbon-like distal processes; manica with a bunch of slightly curved, long pseudocornuti. Vinculum broad, moderately long, rounded. Valva long, very narrow, distally with a short, pointed dorso-apical process and a long, narrow, thin, pointed ventral process. Phallus short, straight, with sclerotised, apically pointed ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica membranous without cornuti.
Diagnosis
Delorhachis smithi is reminiscent externally of D. syntomoctena, but differs in the following features: the thorax and wings are paler, the tegula patch is lighter, and the head and abdomen are less vivid yellow in D. smithi compared with D. syntomoctena. The medial fascia of both species is white, although in the new species, it is much broader than in D. syntomoctena, and the black veins on the hind wing of D. smithi are less sharply defined compared with the related species.
In the male genitalia, the gnathos of D. smithi is broadly rounded apically whilst in D. syntomoctena the gnathos possesses a short, rounded triangular, apical process. The valva of the new species is markedly narrower, with much longer, thinner, and more pointed distal processes where the dorso-apical process is shorter than the ventral, compared to the broader, triangular valva of D. syntomoctena whereby the processes are much thicker, distally rounded, and the dorso-apical process is longer than the barely noticeable ventral one. The pseudocornuti of the manica are slightly more curved in D. smithi, and the phallus is shorter and straighter compared with the allied species.
Compared to D. manuelae, the new species has a much broader, rounded medial fascia. In the male genitalia, the gnathos of D. smithi is rounded without an apical depression (it is medially deeply incised in D. manuelae), and the valva is considerably narrower and more elongate, with much longer apical processes. The pseudocornuti of D. smithi are also markedly longer and more curved than in the related species.
In comparison to D. bakossii, D. smithi has a paler ground colour, a slightly larger fore wing fascia and a less striate hind wing. The male genitalia of D. smithi has a conspicuously narrower valva, with much longer, narrower, more pointed apical processes than in the allied species. The pseudocornuti are also noticeably longer in D. smithi.
Genetic information
This species has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD:AEK3851 (n = 1). As only one specimen of D. smithi was barcoded, intraspecific variation could not be calculated. The pairwise distance between the new species and D. syntomoctena is 6.84–7.01%.
Etymology
This new species is dedicated to Richard Smith, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the African Natural History Research Trust.
Distribution and habitat (Figures 177, 186)
This species has been found in Gabon and the northern region of the Republic of the Congo, a continuous area of wet Guinea-Congolian lowland rainforest.
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 96-97, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346, http://zenodo.org/record/7636801