Psalis smithi 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 smithi

description: Psalis smithi sp. n.
https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A5D6F1AF-7072-4578-8608-AAEDD23BED01
(Figs 10–12, 26, 36–38, 48, 54)
Holotype. Male, “ ZAMBIA 1396m / Chitunta Plain / (Miombo/Dambo mosaic) / 11°29'12"S, 24°24'18"E / 29.xi.–4.xii.2019 MV LightTrap / Bashford, M., Miles, W., / Mulvaney, L. Leg. / ANHRT:2019.25” // unique id.: ANHRTUK 00125545, gen. slide No.: LG 6361 (ANHRT).
Paratypes. Zambia. 5 males, 1 female, with the same data as in holotype, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00266197, 00125470, 00125541, 00125582, 00141801 (males), 00125507 (female), gen. slide Nos: BP 051, BP 052 (males), LG 6371 (female); 1 male, same data but collected by actinic light trap, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00124701; 1 male, Mwinilunga, Nkwaji, 1316m, 11°36'22"S, 24°33'17"E, 03– 10.xii.2020, MV Light Trap, leg. Chizuwa, D., Choongo, W., ANHRT:2022.4, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00265038; 1 male, Jiwundu Swamp, (Miombo / Riverine forest mosaic), 1340m, 11°51'54"S, 25°33'20"E, 29.x.–04.xi.2018, MV Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D., ANHRT:2018.40, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00063051 (ANHRT).
Description.
Adult (Figs 10–12, 26). Forewing length 16–17 mm in male, 20 mm in female paratype. Head relatively large, antenna bipectinate, rami of female antenna ca. one-quarter as long as those of male, ochreous in both sexes, dorsal side of antenna shaft pale ochreous grey; labial palp short and broad, porrect, third segment as long as first and second combined, covered in long ochreous piliform scales, first and second segments interspersed with dark brown scales. Frons, vertex and collar pale ochreous, vertex with some admixture of darker scales medially. Tegula covered in pale ochreous, long piliform scales turning pale grey apically; mesothorax pale ochreous grey. Legs. Fore- and midleg covered in long greyish brown piliform scales, hindleg pale ochreous; index of spurs 0-2-4. Abdomen shiny whitish grey. Forewing narrow and relatively short, costal margin very gently arched, apex rounded in male, pointed and slightly produced in female, termen evenly convex in male, slightly falcate in female, anal margin gently arcuate. Ground colour pale greyish brown, with blackish longitudinal streak along medial vein followed by a narrow, pale ochreous brown longitudinal area dorsally filling in cell and area between R5 and M1; transverse lines and discal spot absent, cilia relatively long, chequered with pale grey and dark brown. Underside pale ochreous brown in costal two-thirds, creamy white in anal third, longitudinal streak weakly discernible. Hindwing white with some creamy tinge along termen; transverse lines and discal spot absent; cilia relatively long, white. Underside as of upperside. Sexual dimorphism marked, forewing of female paratype ca. 15% longer than that of males with acute forewing apex and slightly falcate subapical section of termen.
Male genitalia (Figs 36–38). Uncus short and robust, dorsomedially with wide longitudinal groove produced to short laterodistal processes forming bifid apex. Socii very short but broad basally, with slightly concave dorsal margin, short produced apex and evenly rounded ventral margin. Tegumen short with relatively broad lateral arms gradually tapered proximad. Valva very short, broad at base, deeply cleft comprising a thin, finger-like sclerotized costal process and a wider, slightly tapered, tongue-shaped, sparsely setose and membranous valvula divided by deep, U-shaped depression; sacculus small, bearing a short, sclerotized straight ridge running at 45˚ angle from base of valva. Juxta ring-shaped, constructed of broad, curved, basally fused, apically pointed plates; vinculum very short with small, rounded-triangular saccus. Phallus short, moderately thick, coecum penis rounded, ventral margin gently curved, dorsal margin straight, carina unmodified; vesica very short, inflated spherical with very short distal diverticulum and small, elongate serrate plate of cornuti medially; vesica ejaculatorius narrow tubular.
Female genitalia (Fig. 48). Papilla analis short and very broad with small rounded pseudopapilla, ovipositor short, broad trapezoidal; apophysis posterioris thin, medium long, as long as apophysis anterioris; 8 th tergite very short and broad, ribbon-like. Ostium bursae wide, heavily sclerotized with densely spinulose margin, curly bracket-shaped; antrum short and broad, conspicuously quadrangular, moderately sclerotized; ductus bursae medium long, as long as diameter of corpus bursae, gradually dilated proximad; corpus bursae relatively small, spherical, fully membranous, signum bursae absent.
Diagnosis. Psalis smithi sp. n. is readily distinguished from P. africana by its smaller size (the forewing length of the latter species ranges between 16–19 mm in males and 20–24 mm in females), slimmer body and the more uniformly greyish brown ground colour and sharply defined longitudinal streak of the forewing. Contrastingly in P. africana, the bicolorous forewing, where the dorsal area is fawn and the ventral area is either grey with a purplish hue or fading into dark fawn and the transition between the different coloured areas is, although abrupt, never marked with a contrasting dark streak. Furthermore, the hindwing of the new species is uniformly white, whilst it is variably creamy white or pale ochreous often with a brown fringe in P. africana.
In the male genitalia, compared to P. africana, the new species has a dorsomedially deeply excavated uncus (it is only very slightly excavated in P. africana), shorter, more pointed socii, ca. 25% shorter valva with thinner costal process and a markedly shorter vinculum. The phalli of both species are similar with a slightly shorter coecum penis in P. smithi sp. n. which has a considerably smaller, spherical inflated proximal section of the vesica in contrast to the ca. twice larger, ovoid vesica of P. africana.
Compared to P. africana, the female genitalia of P. smithi sp. n. have a markedly shorter, apically less lobate anal papilla, a slightly wider, curly bracket-shaped ostium bursae (it is evenly concave or deeply notched in P. africana), a considerably shorter, less sclerotized antrum, a narrower and shorter ductus bursae and a much smaller, spherical corpus bursae lacking signum bursae in contrast to the ovoid bursa copulatrix of P. africana possessing a large elliptical plate of signum bursae.
Etymology. The new species is named in honour of Richard Smith, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, African Natural History Research Trust, acknowledging his remarkable support of entomological research in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Bionomics and distribution. Psalis smithi sp. n. is exclusively known to date from northwest Zambia where it inhabits marshlands and hygrophilous grasslands (dambo). All individuals were captured during the early 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 88-90, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.7, http://zenodo.org/record/14654862