Delorhachis baaka 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 baaka

description: Delorhachis baaka Fiebig, Taberer, Giusti and László sp. nov. (Figures 51–52, 89,
12 6, 152)
Holotype. Male, ′2°24′37.22̍N 12°29′55.74″E | CAMEROON, S-Region | Sangmelima, 30 km E Oveng, | Ngbwassa, 610 m asl | 2. November 2011, MV-lamp″ || ′RF 2021.897̍ || ′ SMNS _Lep_001221̍ (SMNS).
Paratype. Cameroon. 1 male, S-Region, Sangmelima, 18 km E Djoum, Anwam, 2 km NWbW on logging road, 680 m, 3 November 2011, 2°40′13.54″N, 12°48′17.14″E (SMNS).
Description
External morphology. Male. Fore wing length 13–13.5 mm. Head, collar, and tegula yellow-brown, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one pale green rounded patch. Thorax uniformly ochreous-brown dorsally. Abdomen pale orange-brown dorsally, first two segments with ochreous-brown hair scales. Fore wing short, broad, triangular, with rounded apex; ground colour ochreous-brown, veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia pale green, oval-shaped, margined with black on distal edge. Fringe long, colour as ground colour. Hind wing uniformly buff.
Female. Unknown.
Male genitalia. Uncus short, tapered, rounded apically. Tegumen broad. Gnathos large, very broad, shield-like, rounded quadrangular. Juxta short, rounded basally, with two short, broad, ventral ribbon-like distal processes; manica with a bunch of strongly curved, very long pseudocornuti. Vinculum relatively long, broad, rounded. Valva moderately long, medially abruptly tapered, with thin, curved, rounded dorsal tip without ventral process. Phallus relatively short, medially slightly bent, with sclerotised, apically pointed ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica membranous without cornuti.
Diagnosis
This species is closest externally to D. smithi due to the buff hind wing and the similarly rounded medial fore wing fascia, although in D. baaka sp. nov. the fore wings are darker in colour, and the tegula patch and fore wing fascia are pale green as opposed to the white markings of D. smithi. In the male genitalia, the uncus of D. baaka is considerably shorter, broader, and more rounded apically, and the gnathos is more strongly sclerotised and more quadrangular compared to the allied species. The valva of D. baaka is much wider basally, and the distal portion lacks a ventral process, whilst in D. smithi the valva is narrower and possesses a very narrow, long, pointed ventral process.
Compared to D. nimbaensis, D. baaka has ochreous-brown fore wing ground colour in contrast to the chestnut brown colouration of the related species. The hind wing of D. baaka is buff, whereas it is chestnut brown in D. nimbaensis. In addition, the tegula and fore wing patches of D. baaka are pale green compared with the white patches of the allied species. In the male genitalia, the uncus of D. baaka is shorter and broader, the gnathos is narrower and more quadrangular, the pseudocornuti are considerably longer and more curved, and the valva is markedly wider basally, lacking a ventro-apical process.
Genetic information
No D. baaka specimens were sampled for DNA barcoding.
Etymology
This species name is dedicated to the Baaka ethnic group inhabiting the southern rainforests of Cameroon, from which the holotype was collected.
Distribution and habitat (Figures 178–179, 186)
This species has only been identified from the Guinea-Congolian wet rainforest of south Cameroon.
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 99-100, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346, http://zenodo.org/record/7636801