Sundagrapha recta Liu & Yan 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Bo
name: Yan, Wei
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Sundagrapha
Sundagrapha recta

description: Sundagrapha recta Liu, sp. nov.
https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 08EA1FDB-584B-4006-BFF8-1576FFA03D9C
Figs. 1–3, 7, 9
Description. Head. Antennae densely covered with black scales on both sides, bipectinate on basal two-thirds in males, rami long, length of longest rami about 7 times the diameter of the flagellum segments; filiform in females. Frons not protruding, covered with smooth, pale brown scales. Labial palpus slightly elongated, erect, with intermingled short, black, and brown scales. Vertex with lamellar, black scales. Compound eyes orange, fading over time, dotted with black spots. Chaetosemata present, near eye margin. Proboscis short, probably functional.
Forewing length: male 14.4 mm; female 13.7 mm.
Thorax. Tegulae well-developed, pale brown, shield-like, with a few hair-like scales posteriorly. Legs slender, covered with pale brown and black scales; hind tibia dilated, with a pale brown scent brush in males. Ground colour of wings reddish-brown or rust red. Forewings with apex angled, termen smoothly curved. Fovea absent in males. Costal area covered with black scales extending nearly to the apex. Distal third of forewing deep reddish-brown, proximal two thirds light reddish-brown. Submarginal line sinuous, black, positioned near the inner edge of the distal band, and bordered on both sides by white scales, with particularly numerous white scales concentrated near the tornus. Multiple black longitudinal stripes present between veins, extending from submarginal line to fringes; only four longitudinal stripes between M 1 and M 2, M 2 and M 3, CuA 1 and CuA 2, and CuA 2 and 1A+2A distinct, with others reduced and nearly invisible. Hindwing similar to forewing, but submarginal line discontinuous, with breaks and gaps. The black longitudinal stripes faint, barely visible. Discal spot small, round, and prominent. Underside of both forewing and hindwing simple, with the distal band and discal spot appearing more conspicuous than on the upperside.
Pregenital abdomen. Dorsum scaled brown, dotted with a few black scales. Venter scaled pale brown, without black scales. Lateral abdomen with several pairs of short scale brushes on segments 4, 5, 6 and 7. Tympanal organs moderately sized, without lacinia. A pair of sterno-tympanal processes, with short free ends, just reaching the tympanal cavity, present laterally on sternite 1+2. Setal comb long, about one third of the width of sternite 3, with a straight field of long setae. The 8th segment elongated, length slightly less than its breadth. Coremata absent.
Male genitalia. Uncus conical, slightly sinuous, with the distal ¼ bifid ventrally, and the apex bearing a pair of tiny tips. Gnathos with strong lateral arms, central part forming an inverted U-shape with a rounded apex. Tegumen large, with a V-shaped incision anteriorly at the centre. Juxta small, shield-shaped, distally slightly pointed at the centre. Saccus broad and rounded. Valvae roughly triangular, with a curved setose ridge running from the apex to the base. Apex near the ventral margin slightly produced. Distal portion of the valve with a straight edge, only slightly curved near the apex. Costal process slender, curved ventrad, with a minute tip; distal two-thirds free, proximal one-third contiguous with the main valve via a triangular sclerotised patch. Cucullus well developed, situated in the distal half of the costal process. Aedeagus with a large asymmetrical cornutus and a weakly sclerotised, scobinate patch in the vesica. Basal part of cornutus rectangular, with the edges of both long sides rolled inward and a single long spine asymmetrically protruding from the distal end of one side. Bulbus ejaculatorius nearly as long as aedeagus shaft; cap-like portion large, almost half the total length.
Female genitalia. Ovipositor rather short, papillae anales covered with long setae. Anterior apophyses short, about 3/5 length of posterior apophyses.A thin, needle-like sclerite present between the bases of posterior apophyses. Lamella antevaginalis large, strongly sclerotised; central portion U-shaped; lateral part bears a pair of large, fanshaped structures with slightly curled edges ventrad. Lamella postvaginalis quite small, trapezoidal, narrow distally. Introitus bursae rather small, funnel-shaped, membranous. Posterior part of bursa slightly longer and narrower than anterior part, sclerotised, with multiple longitudinal ridges. Anterior part of bursa inflated, membranous, with a large signum. Signum disc-shaped, outer surface covered with a week of long spines, central opening rounded, inner surface with a few minor denticles at the bottom.
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word rectus, meaning 'straight', which refers to the straight distal edge of the valve of the male genitalia.
Type material. Holotype, ♂. CHINA: Hainan, Changjiang, Bawangling, 19.08627°N, 109.12228°E; 468 m; 20–21.Jul.2024; leg. Bo Liu & Wei Lin; CRICATAS / IZCAS, gen. prep. no. CRICATAS00290. Paratype. CHINA: Hainan: 1 ♀, same collection data as for holotype, CRICATAS / IZCAS, gen. prep. no. CRICATAS00291.
Diagnosis. Along with three other congeners, shares a similar wing pattern and structurally similar male (and, where available, female) genitalia, making it easily distinguishable from other species in related genera (see the diagnosis of the genus). Within the genus Sundagrapha, the new species can be differentiated from other three congeners by the following characters: 1. The apex of valve is pointed and extremely short in S. recta, rather long in S. tenebrosa and S. lepidata, but truncate in S. laoensis. 2. The distal edge of the valve is straight in S. recta and S. lepidata, whereas it is somewhat concave in S. tenebrosa and S. laoensis. Also, the valve apex is much shorter in S. recta than in S. lepidata. 3. S. recta and S. tenebrosa both exhibit distinct double dark submarginal lines with edged white scales on the forewing, while these features are fainter or absent in S. lepidata and S. laoensis. Furthermore, S. recta is considerably larger than S. tenebrosa, so that they can also be distinguished from each other.
Distribution. China (Hainan).
description: Published as part of Liu, Bo & Yan, Wei, 2025, First record of the genus Sundagrapha Holloway, 1982 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae, Cassymini) from China, with description of a new species, pp. 571-576 in Zootaxa 5575 (4) on pages 572-575, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5575.4.7, http://zenodo.org/record/14762777