Morabia brunnea Hausmann & Tujuba 2020
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
name: Hausmann, Axel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Morabia
Morabia brunnea

description: Morabia brunnea Hausmann & Tujuba, 2020
(Figs 10, 28–29)
Tujuba et al. (2020): 74. Holotype, male, Zambia, Mutinondo, coll. ZSM.
Type material examined. Holotype. Male, North Zambia, Mutinondo, 1390 m, wet Miombo, 27.xii. 2010, 12°23’30”S, 31°19’23”E, light trap, leg. J. Lenz, gen. slide No.: ZSM G 20945 (ZSM).
Additional material examined. Zambia. 1 male, Muchinga Province, Danger Hill, 30 km N of Mpika, 1684m, 11°37’38”S, 31°33’56”E, 27-30.iv.2019, Fish Bait, Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W. leg., ANHRT:2019.12, gen. slide No.: LG 5286; 1 male, Northern Province, Mutinondo Wilderness Area, 1460m, 12°27’06”S, 31°17’30”E, 17-20.v.2019, fish bait, Dérozier, V., Imakando, M., László, G., Miles, W. leg., ANHRT: 2019.12, gen. slide No.: LG 5300, BOLD sample ID: ANHRT053-20 /ANHRTUK- 00081925; 2 males, same site and collecting method, 16-20.iii.2017, Oram, D., Miles, W., Smith, L. leg. ANHRT: 2017.24, BOLD sample ID: ANHRT054-20 /ANHR-TUK-00152842; 2 males, Kapishya Hot Springs, Shiwa N’gandu Estate, 1437m, S11°10’13”, E31°36’00”, I-III. 2016, M. T. Harvey coll., leg. Smith, R. & Takano, H., ANHRT:2017.29, gen. slide No.: LG 5287; 1 male, same site, 22.xi.-8.xii.2015, general collecting, leg. Smith, R., Takano, H., Oram, D., ANHRT:2017.15; 1 male, same site, 1-5.iii.2017, Light Trap, Oram, D., Miles, W., Smith, L. leg.; 2 males, Chilambwe Falls, Kafubu River, 1420m, S09°50’13”; E30°43’35”, 8-9.xi.2014, Light Trap, leg. Smith, R., Takano, H. & Oram, D., ANHRT:2017.12; 1 male, Hillwood, Ikelenge (Miombo/Riverine forest mosaic), 1400m, S11°16’02”, E24°18’59’, 23-30.xi.2019, LepiLED Light Trap, Bashford, M., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L., Smith, R. leg., ANHRT:2019.25; 1 male, Chitunta Plain (Miombo / Dambo mosaic), 1396m, 11°29’12”S, 24°24’18”E, 29.xi.-4.xii.2019, fish bait, Bashford, M., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L. leg, ANHRT:2019.25 (ANHRT); 1 male, Mutinondo, S12°23.53’, E31°19.40’, 1390m, 13.x.2009, UV, leg. J. Lenz (RCHS).
Diagnosis. Morabia brunnea (Hausmann & Tujuba, 2020) has large, black subapical blotches gradually fading into a diffuse brownish-grey terminal band on the underside of the fore- and hindwings, similar to M. smithi sp. n. The differential characters between the two taxa are discussed in detail under the diagnosis of the latter species. Compared to M. nigripunctata, the upperside wing pattern of M. brunnea is confusingly similar, however the ground colour has a more brownish, rather than greyish tinge. The two species are easily distinguished by their underside markings, due to the more yellowish ground colour, the considerably larger discal spots and the much darker terminal band of M. brunnea compared to those of M. nigripunctata. In the male genitalia, M. brunnea has a somewhat longer and broader uncus, longer costal arms of the valva, a considerably longer sacculus, a shorter medio-ventral depression of the valva and a markedly narrower distal half of the valva than in M. nigripunctata. The aedeagus of M. brunnea is longer and S-shaped, whereas it is almost straight in M. nigripunctata. Additionally, M. brunnea has a considerably longer, medially curved cornutus vesicae which is straight in its congener.
The female is unknown.
Description. Description of the adult and male genitalia of M. brunnea is provided in Tujuba et al. (2020).
Genetic information (Fig. 44). BIN: BOLD: ABW6916 (n=3 from Zambia). Genetically homogeneous, so far without any intraspecific variation. The nearest neighbouring species are M. smithi (2.45%) and M. politzari (2.6%).
Distribution (Fig. 43). Morabia brunnea is to date, known only from the Zambian Plateau, but its true distribution probably extends towards southern DRC and eastern Angola.
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M. & Hausmann, Axel, 2022, Taxonomic review of the genus Morabia Hausmann & Tujuba, 2020 with descriptions of two new species and introducing five new generic combinations (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae), pp. 215-237 in Zootaxa 5134 (2) on pages 222-226, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5134.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/6534856