Psalis bashfordae László & Powell, 2024, sp. n.
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
name: Powell, Bethany
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Erebidae
Psalis
Psalis bashfordae

description: Psalis bashfordae sp. n.
https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 069F8495-F9A4-4DD9-945E-41DF6C4AFFB4
(Figs 13–17, 33–35, 53)
Holotype. Male, “ REPUBLIC OF CONGO 390m / Odzala- Kokoua National Park, / Lobo Research Camp / 00°35'04"N, 14°53'12"E / 12–19.iv.2024, actinic light trap / Bashford,M., László,G., / Talani,M., Yaba Ngouma,S. leg. / ANHRT:2024.7” // unique id.: ANHRTUK 00214691, gen. slide No.: LG 6422 (ANHRT).
Paratypes. DRC. 1 male, Léopoldville, 24.v.1949, leg. Dr. Fontaine, QR code label with unique id: NHMUK 010292341 (NHMUK). Nigeria. 2 males, Kateregi, 12.ix.1910, leg. Scott Macfie, QR code label with unique id: NHMUK 010292331, gen slide No.: NHMUK 014332600 (NHMUK); 1 male, Zungeru, 22.xi.1911, gen slide No.: BP 055 (OUMNH). Republic of Congo. 5 males, with same data as in holotype, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00381891, 00381894, 00381893, 00381892, 00214725, gen slide Nos: LG 6365, 6364; 6 males, same data but collected by MV light trap, 13–18.iv.2024, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00381896, 00381895, 00381897, 00214722, 00214733, 00214734; 1 male, same data but collected by LepiLED light trap, 16–17.iv.2024, unique id: ANHRTUK 00381898 (ANHRT).
Description.
Adult. Male (Figs 13–17). Forewing length 12–13 mm in male. Head relatively large, antenna bipectinate, rami ochreous brown, antenna shaft greyish brown; labial palp short and broad, covered in long piliform scales, dorsal side pale ochreous, ventral side greyish. Frons covered in mixture of dark grey, whitish and ochreous scales; vertex ochreous grey; collar hay, vertex with some admixture of darker scales medially. Tegula and mesothorax covered in long brownish grey piliform scales dusted with white. Legs. Foreleg greyish brown with some white scales, midleg femur ochreous brown, tibia darker towards tarsi, hindleg, femur yellowish white, tibia darker toward tarsi; index of spurs 0-2-4. Abdomen whitish. Forewing narrow and relatively short, costal margin very gently arched, apex rounded, termen straight, tornus smoothly rounded, anal margin very gently convex. Ground colour dark brown to fawn, longitudinal streak along medial vein not distinguishable, subterminal triangle beneath median vein darker than rest of wing; small blackish spot present postmedially near tornus; transverse lines and discal spot absent; cilia greyish brown. Underside as of upperside but paler, triangular patch weakly discernible. Hindwing white with some creamy tinge along termen; transverse lines and discal spot absent; cilia pale brownish white, slightly darker around apex. Underside as of upperside.
Male genitalia (Figs 33–35). Uncus short, quadrangular, apex bifid with short rounded processes. Socii very short, broad basally, with rounded margins and apex. Tegumen short with relatively broad lateral arms gradually tapered proximad. Valva short, broad at base, deeply cleft comprising a thin, long, finger-like sclerotized costal process overreaching a wider, strongly tapered, triangular, sparsely setose and membranous valvula. Valval lobes divided by deep, V-shaped depression; sacculus relatively long, with a sclerotized straight ridge running at 45˚ angle from base of valva. Juxta ring-shaped, constructed of broad, curved, basally fused, apically pointed plates; vinculum short with well-developed, rounded-triangular saccus. Phallus short, moderately thick, coecum penis rounded, ventral margin gently curved, dorsal margin straight, carina unmodified; vesica short, largely inflated ovoid with large distal diverticulum and small, elongate serrate plate of cornuti basally; vesica ejaculatorius thick tubular.
Female unknown.
Diagnosis. Psalis bashfordae sp. n. is readily distinguished from P. africana by its much smaller size (the forewing length of the latter species ranges between 16–19 mm in males), slimmer body and the more uniformly dark brown ground colour. Psalis bashfordae sp. n. has a slightly darker triangular area in the distal half of the forewing in contrast to the longitudinally divided bicolorous forewing of P. africana where the dorsal area is fawn and the ventral area is either grey with a purplish hue or fading into dark fawn. This transition is abrupt in P. africana but is only represented by a lightly contrasting triangle in P. bashfordae sp. n. Additionally, a subtornal spot is present in both species, but is more heavily marked in P. africana.
In the male genitalia, the new species has a slightly narrower uncus and noticeably shorter valvula, where the long costal process extends further past the tip of the valvula than in P. africana. The inflated vesica is more greatly elongate in P. bashfordae sp. n., near ovoid in shape, as opposed to the more spherical vesica in P. africana.
Etymology. It is with great pleasure that this new species is dedicated to Molly Bashford (ANHRT), committed museologist and experienced field worker, collector of a substantial number of new insect species in Africa.
Bionomics and distribution. Psalis bashfordae sp. n. is known to date from northern Congo, western DRC, and Nigeria. Kiriakoff (1956a) listed specimens from throughout DRC (all in the collections of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium) and although require confirmation, those from Congo-Ubangi, Stanleyville, Tshuapa, Bas-Congo and Sankuru probably belong to this species. The specimen cited from Ghana by Kiriakoff (1965a) could not be traced but most likely belongs to this species. The specimens in northern Congo were collected in a wet savannah habitat surrounded by marshland and forest patches in the beginning of the rainy season.
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M. & Powell, Bethany, 2024, Review of the Afrotropical Psalis Hübner, [1823] with descriptions of two new species and notes on Asiatic taxa (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Lymantriinae, Orgyiini), pp. 77-96 in Ecologica Montenegrina 77 on pages 91-93, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.7, http://zenodo.org/record/14654862