Indalia albicosta Macià & Ylla & Gastón & Huertas & Bau 2022, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Macià, Ramon
name: Ylla, Josep
name: Gastón, Javier
name: Huertas, Manuel
name: Bau, Josep
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Erebidae
Indalia
Indalia albicosta

description: Indalia albicosta (Rogenhofer, 1894) comb. nov.
Original combination: Lithosia albicosta Rogenhofer, 1894. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 9: 10.
T. L.: La Palma, Paso de la Lavanda, Canary Isles, Spain.
= Eilema albicosta witti Kobes, 1993 syn. nov.
Material examined. SPAIN: EL HIERRO: 1 ♂, Casa Rural El Valle, San Andrés, 998 m, 26.vi.2018, T. Fariño leg.; LA GOMERA: 2 ♂ and 1 ♀, La Hormiguera, 86 m, 14.vii.2018, T. Fariño leg.; LA PALMA: 6 ♂ and 3 ♀, Los Canarios, 800 m, 8.iv.1973, C. Zehentner leg., 28.vii.1986, 21.xii.2003, W. Bogi leg.; MÁLAGA: 4 ♂, Mijas, 455 m, 30 SUF55, 19.v.2014, 24.ix.2015, JM. Moreno leg.; HUELVA: 1 ♂, El Rompido, La Punta, 3 m, 14.iii.1992, R. Citores leg.; TENERIFE: 3 ♂ and 2 ♀, Guía de Isora, 12.iv.1985, A. Legrain leg.; 12 ♂ and 10 ♀, Tejina, 150 m, 6.xii.2013, 9.ii.2014, 15.xi.2014, R. Macià leg.; 2 ♂ and 1 ♀, Barranco del Infierno, Adeje, 20.i.2015, R. Macià leg.; 5 ♂ and 2 ♀, Montaña de la Horca, Puerto de la Cruz, 239 m, 4.xii.2013, R. Macià leg.; 2 ♂, Chirche, 1200 m, 25.ii.1990, R. Macià leg.; 3 ♂, Parque Rural de Anaga, 8.xii.2010, R. Macià leg.; 1 ♂, Fuente del Joco, Aguamansa, 1952 m, 16.vii.2018, T. Fariño leg.
Diagnosis. Indalia albicosta is a small-sized species with dark silver grey wings and a bright white costal stripe on the forewings; it is difficult to confuse with any other species.
Re-description. Imago (Figs. 19–20). Average wingspan males 26.5 mm (n=10; 21–31 mm); average wingspan females 24.3 mm (n=10; 20–27 mm).
Genitalia (Fig. 58). Male genitalia: uncus long, cylindrical, slender, not flattened, with a pointed tip; valvae short and wide, apical sacculus very short, sharp and slightly recurved towards the cucullus; juxta rectangular, weakly sclerotised and slightly pointed in its upper part; vinculum short. Aedeagus short, thick with three medium-sized cornuti. Female genitalia: anal papillae and the abdominal segment A8 large; lamella postvaginalis absent; ostium bursae wide and membranous; ductus bursae broad short and slightly membranous; corpus bursa membranous with a signum in its lower part; upper part of the bursa with a large rounded wart and a sclerotised plaque inside; short and wide membranous process leading to ductus seminalis.
Immature stages (Fig. 83). The final instar larva is 15 mm long. Cephalic capsule well developed, 1.50 mm wide, pale grey, with a dark brown spot covering the epicranium, with a smooth vertex. Body with yellowish verrucae (the L1 wart has not been observed), all with translucent and black setae; dorsal line between D1 verruca, very sinuous and dark, bordered by a yellowish-white sinuous band. From D2 to SD 1 a dark brown band with light areas, and from SD 1 to L3 yellowish white with various dark brown spots. Pupa slender, with light brown spots on the back, clypeus not appreciable. Tip of abdomen rounded, without cremaster. Pupae of both sexes very similar. The cocoon concealed under lichens, bark and roks with little silk.
Molecular data. All specimens analysed were captured in the Canary Archipelago and showed identical COI sequences regardless of the island of origin (Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro). RESL Cluster Analysis returned a single cluster and all sequences coincided with a published BIN (BOLD: ACD0672). Indalia albicosta is closely related to Indalia interposita (PP=1), both grouping into a moderately supported clade with Indalia uniola (PP=0.77), with equally short TN-distances among them (between 5.52% and 5.73%).
Biology. Multivoltine, with continuous generations throughout the year. Favours xerothermic biotopes from sea level to 1000 m. Adults are attracted to artificial light and the larvae feed on lichens on trees and in the soil (Ylla et al. 2010). In captivity accepts artificial diet.
Distribution (Fig. 104). This species was thought to be endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is very abundant on all the islands except Fuerteventura. In 1958 it was found in the Iberian Peninsula, Punta Umbría, Huelva (Agenjo, 1963). At first, the finding was considered an accidental arrival, but it has been recorded several times since in Huelva and Málaga (Citores et al. 2013; Moreno-Benítez et al. 2014). In Portugal, a sighting in the Algarve region is a distinct possibility.
Observations. The lack of citations on Fuerteventura is surprising; it is present on nearby Lanzarote, and is perhaps overlooked.
We were unable to find sufficient evidence from morphological and genetic studies to justify subspecific separation of the taxon witti Kobes. The Iberian specimens deserve a more detailed study, but hitherto only sporadic individuals have been observed.
description: Published as part of Macià, Ramon, Ylla, Josep, Gastón, Javier, Huertas, Manuel & Bau, Josep, 2022, The species of Eilema Hübner, [1819] sensu lato present in Europe and North Africa (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), pp. 1-87 in Zootaxa 5191 (1) on pages 27-29, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5191.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7144073