Sufetula metallias Müller & Hayden & Lees & Léger 2025, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Müller, Anne
name: Hayden, James
name: Lees, David C.
name: Léger, Théo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Crambidae
Sufetula
Sufetula metallias

description: Sufetula metallias (Meyrick, 1897), comb. nov.
(Figures 16, 29, 40, 52)
Diplopseustis metallias Meyrick, 1897: 90-91. Type locality: Indonesia, Sangir [Sangihe] Is[land].
Material examined. Syntypes: Ƌ (specimen ID NHMUK013699638): “ LECTO-TYPE ” [dark blue circled] | “Type” [red circled] | “ Sangir. Doherty. Feb.–Mar. 1892 ” |“ Diplopseustis | metallias Meyr. ” “metallias Meyr ”; | 97-97; Ƌ (specimen ID NHMUK013699636): “ PARA-LECTO-TYPE ” [light blue circled] | “ Sangir. Doherty. Feb.–Mar.1892 ” | “ Diplopseustis metallias Meyr. 1/ 1 Meyrick E. Meyrick det. In Meyrick coll.”. Deposited in NHMUK.
Other specimens examined. 15 Ƌ, 13 ♀, 2 unsexed. Detailed information in Table S 1.
Similar species. Sufetula cyanolepis Hampson, 1912.
Diagnosis. In the forewing (Figure 16), the shiny silver markings, the tawny yellow background colour and the two costal spots are shared with Sufetula cyanolepis (type locality: South Sulawesi). The absence of a broad brownish suffusion in the median area of the fore- and hindwings separates this species from S. cyanolepis. In S. metallias comb. nov. the tawny yellow background predominates not only in the median area but in the pre-terminal area of both wing pairs, so that the species appears contrastingly marked with brown. In addition, in S. cyanolepis there is a premedian and pre-terminal narrow whitish band in the forewing and a postmedian one in the hindwing that are not evident in S. metallias comb. nov. In the male genitalia (Figure 40), the uncus is narrowed at basal 1/3, and the apex is spatulate. The female genitalia (Figure 52) are identical to those of Sufetula elfridea sp. nov. and S. serrata sp. nov.
Redescription. Wings (Figure 16). Forewing ground colour tawny to yellow. Antemedian area with thick dark brown patch at costa, on its middle with faintly marked shiny silver patch. Antemedian line thick, white speckled with silver iridescent scales, thinly edged with dark brown; arched distad across discal cell to anal fold, then running straight and perpendicular to dorsum from anal fold to edge. Costa with two oblique, tooth-shaped median spots, white with iridescent scales. Discal spot oblong, parallel to costa, white with iridescent scales, dorso-distally flanked with dark brown patch. Postmedian line thick, white, near costa with iridescent scales, thinly edged with dark brown; running perpendicular to costa to medial veins, bent obliquely basad on median fold, conspicuously indented inwards on CuA 2. Subterminal area speckled with dark brown, along margin with two patches of iridescent scales. Margin dark brown. Fringes chequered tawny yellow and brown. Hindwing pale yellow. Postmedian line white with iridescent scales, faded at costa, shifted inwards on CuP. Subterminal area dark brown on dorsal half. Tympanal organs (Figure 29). Ƌ ♀. Bullae tympani 1/4 recessed posterior of ramus tympani. Posterior depressions large, almost as wide as bulla, length 1/3 width, not dimorphic. Venulae secundae faintly marked, kinked twice (Ƌ) or running nearly straight (♀), running down to anterior 1/3 of sternum II. Pons tympani fused throughout. Male genitalia (Figure 40). Uncus ca 1/3 of tegumen arm length, narrowed at basal 1/4, apex spatulate. Valva subovate, apex rounded. Phallus slender, devoid of denticles apically, cornuti absent. Female genitalia (Figure 52). Posterior apophyses ca 2.2 - 2.5 × tergite VIII length. Anterior apophyses ca 1.7 - 2 × tergite VIII length. Colliculum short, tubular, sclerotised. Ductus bursae ca 2.1 × corpus length, slender, straight. Corpus bursae medium-sized, globular; posterior half with erected acanthae. Signum 1/4 of corpus length, forming an oval patch of small, sclerotised, tooth-shaped thorns.
Distribution. Known from Indonesia, Sulawesi (Sangihe island, South Sulawesi) and from the Philippines (Leyte), at an elevation between 120 and 650 m (Figure 55).
DNA barcoding. An intraspecific distance of 3.7% is observed between the specimens MFNLEP968 from Libas (Southern Leyte, 120 m elevation) and MFNLEP974 from Lake Danao (Leyte, 650 m elevation).
description: Published as part of Müller, Anne, Hayden, James, Lees, David C. & Léger, Théo, 2025, Assessment of species diversity of the Lathrotelinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from the Philippines using morphology and DNA barcoding reveals eight new species, pp. 1-24 in Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity CLXVI (CLXVI) on pages 20-21, DOI: 10.1016/j.japb.2025.01.012, http://zenodo.org/record/15396126