Sesamia lalaci Hévin & Kergoat & Zilli & Capdevielle-Dulac & Musyoka & Sezonlin & Conlong & Van Den Berg & Ndemah & Le Gall & Cugala & Nyamukondiwa & Pallangyo & Njaku & Goftishu & Assefa & Kandonda & Bani & Molo & Chipabika & Ong'amo & Clamens & Barbut & Le Ru 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Hévin, Noémie M. C.
name: Kergoat, Gael J.
name: Zilli, Alberto
name: Capdevielle-Dulac, Claire
name: Musyoka, Boaz K.
name: Sezonlin, Michel
name: Conlong, Desmond
name: Van Den Berg, Johnnie
name: Ndemah, Rose
name: Le Gall, Philippe
name: Cugala, Domingos
name: Nyamukondiwa, Casper
name: Pallangyo, Beatrice
name: Njaku, Mohamedi
name: Goftishu, Muluken
name: Assefa, Yoseph
name: Kandonda, Onésime Mubenga
name: Bani, Grégoire
name: Molo, Richard
name: Chipabika, Gilson
name: Ong'amo, George
name: Clamens, Anne-Laure
name: Barbut, Jérôme
name: Le Ru, Bruno
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Sesamia
Sesamia lalaci

description: Sesamia lalaci Le Ru sp. nov.
Figures 8 E, P; 11; 12 A – B
Type material.
Holotype ♂, MOZAMBIQUE, Nampula district, Lalaci, 14 ° 57 ′ 40 ″ S, 37 ° 16 ′ 02 ″ E, 656 m a. s. l., III. 2010, ex larvae in stems of Cenchrus purpureus, gen. prep. LE RU Bruno / 5, (B. Le Ru leg.) (MNHN). — Paratypes: MOZAMBIQUE: two ♂, Nampula district, Pharani, 14 ° 56 ′ 34 ″ S, 37 ° 53 ′ 22 ″ E, 584 m a. s. l., IV. 2010, ex larvae in stems of Hyparrhenia schimperi (A. Rich.) Stapf, gen. prep. LE RU Bruno / 6, (B. Le Ru leg.) (MNHN); one ♂, Nampula district, Muacala River, 14 ° 10 ′ 12 ″ S, 39 ° 54 ′ 24 ″ E, 180 m a. s. l., III. 2010, ex larvae in stems of Megathyrsus maximus, (B. Le Ru leg.) (MNHN); TANZANIA: one ♂, Mtwara Region, Ndanda, 10 ° 30 ′ 07 ″ S, 39 ° 01 ′ 02 ″ E, 306 m a. s. l., iii. 2007, ex larvae in stems of Cenchrus purpureus, (B. Le Ru leg.) [MNHN].
Diagnosis.
(See also the identification key of incerta subgroup, section 3.4. 2.). This species can be distinguished from the other known members of the incerta subgroup by the combination of the following characters of the male genitalia: tegumen with large flat peniculi; vinculum u-shaped at the outer margin and w-shaped at the inner margin without indentation, with a large sized saccus, rounded; juxta large, the inferior plate shaped like an elongated triangle, almost isosceles, with a slight bulge at the bottom, the two sides straight, ending with a long and narrow, shortly bifid superior plate at least three times shorter than the inferior plate; phallus strongly curved in the middle.
Description.
(Fig. 12 A, B). Antenna ochraceous, shortly pectinate, flagellum adorned dorsally with ochraceous scales; palpus ochraceous; eyes brown. Head and thorax covered with long ochraceous hairs. Forelegs brown, otherwise dark ochraceous suffused with fuscous scales. Forewing ochraceous, slightly suffused with brown and fuscous scales; a longitudinal grey fuscous fascia along lower margin of cell, partly within, partly without cell from base of cell to the subterminal line; three dark brown spots, one antemedial, one at apex of cell and one postmedial; one subterminal line with brown elongated markings on the veins; outer margin adorned with more or less visible brown spots between the veins, fringe light ochraceous suffused with brown and fuscous scales, basal line of fringe light ochraceous. Hindwing white, fringe concolor (white), suffused with fuscous scales. Underside of forewing light ochraceous, heavily suffused with fuscous and brown scales in costal and apical areas and below the cell, fringe light ochraceous suffused with fuscous scales, basal line light ochraceous. Underside of hindwing white suffused with brown and fuscous scales in costal and apical areas, fringe concolor (white), suffused with fuscous scales. — Forewing length: male 28–33 mm (x ̅ = 30.7 mm, N = 4). — Male genitalia (Fig. 8 E, P). Tegumen with large flat peniculi; vinculum u-shaped at the outer margin and w-shaped at the inner margin without indentation, with a large saccus, rounded. Valve with sacculus and cucullus separate; costa short and narrow, heavily sclerotized, ending with a stout and long straight spine, with two apical teeth; sacculus heavily sclerotized rounded at base, a broad and short apical extension, curved inwards, strongly club-shaped, bearing numerous short and stout spines; cucullus weakly sclerotized, slightly clavate at apex, with scattered and papillated hairs; juxta large, the inferior plate shaped like an elongated triangle, almost isosceles, with a slight bulge at the bottom, the two lateral sides straight, ending with a long and narrow, shortly bifid superior plate at least three times shorter than the inferior one; uncus angled and stout at base, narrowed in distal part, pointed at apex, tufted with long hairs on upper side; phallus short and thin, strongly curved in the middle; lamina ventralis with an elongate carinal crest, produced into paired lateral lobes; vesica with a small semi-circular flat cornutus.
Etymology.
Named after Lalaci, a small village in Nampula district in Mozambique; treated as a noun in apposition.
Distribution.
Mozambique. Known from localities in the ‘ East African coastal Zanzibar-Ihambane’ (Mosaic # 16 a) vegetation mosaic (White 1983) (Fig. 11) belonging to the Zambezian bioregion (sensu Linder et al. 2012).
Ecology.
Larvae were collected from young stems and shoots of Cenchrus purpureus, Hyparrhenia schimperi (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Andersson ex Stapf and Megathyrsus maximus growing along rivers or in wetlands inhabited by various Poales belonging to the following genera Echinochloa, Megathyrsus, Panicum and Setaria.
Remarks.
This species is morphologically very close to S. lusese sp. nov., S. msowero sp. nov. and S. pennipuncta, and its identification is impossible without a thorough examination of the genitalia.
description: Published as part of Hévin, Noémie M. C., Kergoat, Gael J., Zilli, Alberto, Capdevielle-Dulac, Claire, Musyoka, Boaz K., Sezonlin, Michel, Conlong, Desmond, Van Den Berg, Johnnie, Ndemah, Rose, Le Gall, Philippe, Cugala, Domingos, Nyamukondiwa, Casper, Pallangyo, Beatrice, Njaku, Mohamedi, Goftishu, Muluken, Assefa, Yoseph, Kandonda, Onésime Mubenga, Bani, Grégoire, Molo, Richard, Chipabika, Gilson, Ong'amo, George, Clamens, Anne-Laure, Barbut, Jérôme & Le Ru, Bruno, 2024, Revisiting the taxonomy and molecular systematics of Sesamia stemborers (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Apameini: Sesamiina): updated classification and comparative evaluation of species delimitation methods, pp. 447-501 in Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 82 on pages 447-501, DOI: 10.3897/asp.82.e113140