Prometopidia joshimathensis subsp. yazakii Dey & Uniyal & Hausmann & Stüning 2021, ssp. n.
Creators: name: Dey, Pritha
name: Uniyal, Virendra Prasad
name: Hausmann, Axel
name: Stüning, Dieter
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Prometopidia
Prometopidia joshimathensis
Prometopidia joshimathensis yazakii

description: Prometopidia joshimathensis yazakii ssp. n.
Figs 2l–o; 3e; 4b, c, e, f, k; 5f; 6e
Prometopidia conisaria: Yazaki, 1995: 18 (specimens from Nepal only), text fig. 575 (female genitalia and 7th abdominal sternite), pl. 100, fig. 11 (♂ moth; Yazaki, pers. comm.) (nec Hampson, 1902).
Type-material examined. Holotype ♂, Nepal, Ganesh Himal, 1 km E of Gadrang, 2520 m, 9.iii.1996, 85°16’E 28°09’N, leg. László Bódi & György Makranczy; genitalia slide no. 2367-DS, Barcode No.: BC ZFMK Lep 00595. Coll. ZFMK.
Paratypes: 1♂, Nepal, Dhumre, Bimal Nagar, 500m, 29.–30.iii.1995, 84°26’E 27°55’N, leg. László Bódi & György Makranczy; genitalia slide No. 2368-DS, Barcode No.: BC ZFMK Lep 00597; 1♂, Nepal, Ganesh Himal, 1 km SW of Gadrang, 2900 m, 10.iii.1996, leg. László Bódi & György Makranczy; genitalia slide No. 2399-DS, Barcode No.: BC ZFMK Lep 00596; 1♀, Nepal, Dhaulagiri Himal, 2,5 km SE of Lebang, 2450 m, 24.iii.1996, leg. László Bódi & György Makranczy; genitalia slide No. 2400-DS, Barcode No.: BC ZFMK Lep 00594; Coll. ZFMK.
1♂, Nepal, Prov. Nr. 2 East, Jiri, 5.IV.1964, leg. W. Dierl; genitalia slide No. ZSM G 424; 1♀, same data, genitalia slide No. ZSM G 20364 (Pritha Dey fec.), coll. ZSM; 1 ♀, Nepal, Kathmandu valley, 5km SW of Kathmandu, Dhankinkali, 25.I.1996, leg. Chenga Sherpa; coll. CMS.
Nepal, Kathmandu valley, Godavari, 1600 m: 1♂, 10.i.1992; 1♂, 27.ii.1992; 2♂, 2.iii.1992; 1♀, 16.iii.1992; Godavari, Mt. Phulchouki, 2075–2275 m: 1♂, 2.iii.1992; 1♂, 17.iii.1992; 1♂, 19.iii.1992. Coll. K. Yazaki, Tokyo.
Description and diagnosis. Wingspan in males 29–31 mm, female 28 mm. Type-material from Joshimath of the same size as specimens of yazakii ssp.n. from E. Nepal. Pattern and coloration almost the same in both subspecies. There are lighter grey specimens which only have the area outside of the postmedial line darker grey, and completely darker grey specimens.Ante- and postmedial lines are punctate, with the dots on the veins. Females with very indistinct fasciae rarely occur.About half of the specimens of the subspecies yazakii, however, have continuous transverse fasciae (see fig. 2m): two of four in coll. ZFMK, four of eight in coll. Yazaki; the relation may change in larger samples. In both collections the single females have punctate fasciae. Among the nominotypical subspecies from Joshimath (n=7) and paratypes from Punjab (n=3) specimens with continuous fasciae do not occur.
The hindwing bases in males of ssp. yazakii are swollen and distinctly modified like a rectangular pouch, with a small, round, membranous section, similar to a tympanum, near the base of the frenulum. The basal part of vein Rs (upper vein of the hindwing cell) is also strongly angled, running adjacent to the distal border of the pouch. The function of this unusual structure is unknown and it should be paid more attention to it in future.
Further differences are seen in the shape of the distal process of the 7 th sternite in females: a rather narrow, transverse, almost rectangular process in P. joshimathensis joshimathensis (Fig. 4h), a broader, distally double-curved process in ssp. yazakii (Fig. 3e). The male genitalia of both subspecies are without distinctive differences, but the female genitalia are slightly larger in subsp. yazakii, with the anterior part of corpus bursae larger in relation to the posterior part and a larger signum with wider opening, broader sclerotized ring with more numerous and longer spines. Morphologically, all these differences are considered to be of subspecific value, though the genetic distance is rather high.
Distribution. Central and eastern Nepal (Fig. 1 (a))
Etymology. Dedicated to Katsumi Yazaki, Tokyo, one of the best-known experts of East Asian Geometridae, who as the first revising author studied specimens of Prometopidia intensively, designating and figuring also the lectotype of the type-species in the collection of the NHMUK. Moreover, he first recorded specimens of Prometopidia from Nepal.
Genetic data. BIN not yet assigned, data based on three sequences with fragment lengths of 407 bp, all from eastern Nepal. Maximum intraspecific variation 1.0%. Genetic distance to nominotypical subspecies 3.3%, requiring confirmation by additional specimens. Genetic distance to P. conisaria 6.7%.
description: Published as part of Dey, Pritha, Uniyal, Virendra Prasad, Hausmann, Axel & Stüning, Dieter, 2021, Revision of the genus Prometopidia Hampson, 1902, with description of the new species P. joshimathensis sp. nov. from West-Himalaya and its subspecies P. j yazakii ssp. nov. from Nepal (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Ennominae), pp. 28-44 in Zootaxa 4980 (1) on pages 40-42, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/4882907