Delorhachis meyi Taberer, Fiebig, 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 meyi

description: Delorhachis meyi Taberer, Fiebig, Giusti and László sp. nov. (Figures 27–29, 78–
79, 10 9–110, 14 3–144, 163)
Holotype. Male, ′ Uganda, Kibale | National Park | Biol. Field Station | 19.-24.XI.2014, LF | leg. W. Mey ̍ || ′ Zool. Mus. | Berlin ̍ || ′ MfN gen. prep. N o 437̍ (MfN).
Paratypes. Kenya. 8 males, 2 females, Western Kakamega Forest N.P., Buyangu, Udo ̍s camp, 0.354°N, 34.864°E, 1600 m, 9 October 2005, Bartsch, D., Holstein, J. leg.; 7 males, Western Kakamega Forest N.P., Buyangu, Buyangu Hill, 1550–1650 m, 0.336°N, 34.852°E, 7 October 2005, Bartsch, D., Holstein, J. leg.; 1 female, 2 males, Western Kakamega Forest N. P., Buyangu, between Zalazar circuit and Busambuli River, 0.317°N, 34.850°E, 1600 m, 10 October 2005, Bartsch, D., Holstein, J. leg., gen. slide no., RF 2021.895; 7 males, 1 female, Western Kakamega Forest N.P., Buyangu, Busambuli Picnic site, 1550–1600 m, 0.317°N, 8 October.2005, Bartsch, D., Holstein, J. leg., gen. slide no. RF 2021.896 (SMNS). Uganda. 1 male, Mpigi, Mpanga Forest, 25–30 November 2014, Mey, W. leg., gen. slide no.: MfN 436 (MfN); 1 male, same site, 25–29 October 2014, Aarvik, L., Larsen, K. leg. (NHMO); 1 male, Central Region Mpigi District, 4 km west of Mpigi, Mpanga Forest, 1216 m, 0.206°N, 32.302°E, 18 October 2015, Ochse, M. leg., gen. slide no. RF 126.2018; 3 males, same site and collector, 18 October 2015; 1 male, Western Region, Kamwenge Province, 5 km NNW from Nkingo, Kibale National Park, 1220 m, 0.437°N, 30.393°E, 21 October 2015 Ochse, M. leg.; 1 male, Western Region, Bushenyi Province, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Maramagambo Forest, 955 m, 0.423°S, 29.868°E, 29 October 2015, Ochse, M. leg. (RCRF); 1 male, Bushenyi Province, Kalinzu Forest, January 2008, Lequeux, J.P. leg.; 1 male, Semliki Forest, Bundibugyo, August 2005 (RCMS); 1 male, Western Region, Kasese Province, Kibale National Park, Makerere Field Station, Kanyawara Camp, 1557 m, 0.565°N, 30.356°E, 24 October 2014, Ochse, M leg., gen. slide no. 31.131, BOLD process ID: GWOUI371-21 (RCRF); 3 males, Katera Sango Bay, Masaka, October 1960, Carcasson, R.H. leg.; 1 male, Mukono, 17 June 1938; 1 male, Jinja, July 1931 (NHMUK); 4 males, Kasese District, Kibale National Park, 1500 m, 36 N VF 0582 6208, 19–24 October 2014, Aarvik, L., Larsen, K. leg., gen. slide no. NHMO 4110 (NHMO); 1 male, Kibale Forest, Biological Field Station, c. 14 km SE Fort Portal, 1510 m, 0.562°N, 30.357°E, 22 October 2014, Beck, K.R. leg. (SMNS); 1 male, Budongo Forest, Sonso campsite, 1.792°N, 31.582°E, 20 October 2001, Wagner, Th. leg. (RCLK).
Description
External morphology. Male. Fore wing length 11–14 mm. Head, collar, tegula, and thorax vermillion, antenna bipectinate in basal fourth, otherwise filiform, colour as of head. Tegula with one green rounded patch. Dorsal side of thorax with a central green patch; ventral side pale beige without markings. Legs vermillion laterally, beige medially. Abdomen uniformly pale beige, first two abdominal segments with vermillion hair scales. Fore wing short, broad, triangular,with rounded apex; ground colour vermillion, veins contrasting black in postmedial area. Medio-ventral fascia Veronese green, very broad,rounded,margined with black on distal edge.Fringe long, slightly darker than ground colour. Hind wing uniformly pale ochreous with slightly darker, long fringe. Underside of wing. Both wings pale vermillion without markings; fringe as ground colour.
Female. Fore wing length 15–16 mm. Body and wing colour as in male. Antenna filiform. Fore wing broad with outer margin more evenly arcuate than in males. Green medioventral fascia is markedly longer and slightly narrower than in males, almost parallel with outer fore wing margin; costal area with triangular green dash postmedially. Hind wing uniform pale beige; fringe somewhat darker.
Male genitalia. Uncus long, tapered, apically pointed. Tegumen broad, elongate. Gnathos broad, tapered medially with rounded apex. Juxta rounded basally, with two short, lateral, ribbon-like distal processes; manica with a bunch of long, sclerotised, curled pseudocornuti. Vinculum short and broad, rounded. Valva moderately broad at base, constricted medially, very narrow, distally forming a long, narrow, slightly curved, pointed dorso-apical process and a very short, pointed ventral process. Phallus medium-long, moderately thick, slightly medially bent with sclerotised ventral surface in its basal half. Vesica membranous without cornuti.
Female genitalia. Ovipositor short and narrow, papilla analis narrow-triangular, sparsely setose. Apophysis posterioris long, thick, straight, medially tapered, apically pointed. Eighth tergite short, quadrangular; apophysis anterioris very short. Ostium bursae relatively wide, surrounded by a heavily sclerotised, densely setose antevaginal plate. Ductus bursae short, membranous, gradually dilated anteriorly; cervix bursae largely dilated, membranous. Corpus bursae membranous, distal tubular section very short and thick; proximal part of corpus bursae ovoid with small signum bursae consisting of two fully separated, semi-circular, strongly scobinate plates.
Diagnosis
The comparison between D. meyi and D. parvinota is provided under the diagnosis of the latter species.
The new species is also reminiscent of D. chlorodaedala but distinguished by the somewhat larger size and slightly larger fore wing fascia with a broader base. In the male genitalia, D. meyi has a broader and less pointed gnathos, more curved pseudocornuti of manica, markedly narrower and medially more constricted valva with a considerably longer and narrower, more pointed, less curved dorso-apical process. The phallus of the new species is much shorter, less tapering, with markedly shorter coecum than in D. chlorodaedala.
Compared to D. parvinota, D. meyi, is bigger in size with a larger body, and the fore wing fascia is considerably larger and broader. In the male genitalia, they are rather similar, although D. meyi has a slimmer and apically less tapered gnathos, less curled pseudocornuti, and valva with less curved and thicker dorso- and more pointed ventro-apical processes. In the female genitalia, the antevaginal plate of D. meyi is much smaller, smoother and somewhat more heavily sclerotised than that of D. parvinota. The ductus bursae is similarly short in both species, but the tubular part of the corpus bursae is substantially wider in D. meyi than in D. parvinota. Finally, the signum bursae of D. meyi is smaller and semi-circular in shape, compared to the larger, amorphous signum of the related species.
Genetic information
This species belongs to the BIN URI: BOLD:AEO1351. As only one specimen was sampled for DNA barcoding, no data of intraspecific variation can be provided. The nearest neighbour to D. meyi is D. parvinota, with 3.33% pairwise distance between the two species. The genetic divergence of D. parvinota from D. pallidifascia and D. chlorodaedala was 4.15–4.30% and 6.97–7.68%, respectively.
Etymology
Delorhachis meyi is named in honour of the collector of the holotype, Wolfram Mey, former collection manager of the MfN, Berlin, renowned specialist of Microlepidoptera and Trichoptera.
Distribution and habitat (Figures 175–176, 184)
Delorhachis meyi inhabits the rainforest and secondary grassland mosaic region of Uganda and Kenya, although the locality data suggests that this is a forest-dwelling species.
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 84-86, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2157346, http://zenodo.org/record/7636801