Pedesta wangi Xue & Li & Zhu & Lu & Li & Zheng 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Xue, Guoxi
name: Li, Meng
name: Zhu, Jianqing
name: Lu, Weicheng
name: Li, Jialing
name: Zheng, Bowen
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Hesperiidae
Pedesta
Pedesta wangi

description: Pedesta wangi Xue, Li & Zhu, sp. nov.
(Figs. 2–5, 16)
Holotype: male, Cenwanglaoshan NNR, Guangxi, 7.V.2015, 1270 m, leg. Guoxi Xue [M1, A41].
Paratypes: 3♂♂, ditto, 7.V.2015 [CWLS1, LC8], 9.V.2015 [CWLS2, A42], 10.V.2015 [CWLS3, LC15].
Since the new species extremely resembles P. xiaoqingae (Figs. 6–10), and the latter has been described in detail by Huang & Zhan (2004), a comparative diagnosis of the two species are provided as follows instead of a pure description of the new one.
1. On the forewing of P. xiaoqingae, the upper cell spot is absent or very minute on the dorsal side and present but minute on the ventral side, whereas it is always absent on both sides in the type specimens of P. wangi.
2. On the ventral side of the hindwing, there are well developed or reduced markings in P. xiaoqingae, but it is totally unmarked in the new species.
3. Cilia on both the forewing and the hindwing of P. xiaoqingae is checkered, but it is unicolorous in P. wangi.
4. In the male genitalia of P. xiaoqingae (Fig. 14, 15), the tip of the left footstalk is shallowly bifurcate (Fig. 14: K, L, Fig. 15: H) or truncate with serrate margin (Fig. 14: D); the tip of the right footstalk is wide and apparently bifurcate (Fig. 14: D, J, L, Fig. 15: H). While in the new species (Fig. 16), the left footstalk is triangular and its tip is sharply pointed (Fig. 16: G, L, M); the tip of the right footstalk is triangular, with serrate margin (Fig. 16: F), slightly bifurcate (Fig. 16: L) or sharply pointed (Fig. 16: M).
Etymology. The new species is named after Mr. Chunhao Wang (Beijing) for his kind help to the first author’s study on skipper butterflies.
Discussion. This new species is only known from the type locality, Cenwanglaoshan NNR (Fig. 17). All four males were captured by the side of a road inside the reserve. But no more specimens were found during the collecting trip to the same place in June of 2017. Its voltinism and relative bionomic information need further study.
Based upon examined specimens and the records in Inayoshi (2019), a distribution map of P. xiaoqingae and P. wangi is provided (Fig. 18). It shows that P. xiaoqingae is distributed from Nanling Mountains, Hainan Island to Vietnam and central Laos, whereas the type locality of P. wangi is located at the southeast edge of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and isolated from the distribution range of P. xiaoqingae by Guangxi Basin. So we infer that geographic isolation played a very important role during the speciation of the cryptic species P. wangi.
description: Published as part of Xue, Guoxi, Li, Meng, Zhu, Jianqing, Lu, Weicheng, Li, Jialing & Zheng, Bowen, 2019, Descriptions of Pedesta wangi sp. nov. and the female of P. xiaoqingae (Huang & Zhan, 2004) from China (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), pp. 356-364 in Zootaxa 4700 (3) on pages 358-359, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4700.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/3548616