Radiarctia screabile subsp. screabile Wallengren 1875, comb. n.
Creators: name: Haynes, Patrick G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Arctiidae
Radiarctia
Radiarctia screabile
Radiarctia screabile screabile (wallengren, 1875)

description: Radiarctia screabile screabile (Wallengren, 1875) comb. n.
Figures 1, 2, 4, 5, 19, 20, 21.
Spilosoma screabile Wallengren, 1875: 102.
Phissama screabile (Wallengren, 1875); Fawcett, 1900: 316.
Diacrisia lutescens (Walker, 1855); Hampson, 1901: 295.
Spilosoma semihyalina Bartel, 1903; Hampson, 1920: 395.
Spilosoma screabilis Wallengren, 1875; Hampson, 1920: 395; Gaede, In Seitz, 1930: 98.
Spilosoma lutescens screabile Wallengren, 1875; Goodger & Watson, 1995: 18.
Radiarctia lutescens screabilis (Wallengren, 1875); Dubatolov, 2006: 148.
Type locality: Transvaalia [South Africa, Transvaal]. Range: Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa.
Material examined. Kenya: Nairobi, 1 ɗ / Arctiidae genitalia slide 6280, 1 Ψ (BMNH), 1 ɗ (PGH); Suna (S. Kivirondo), 1 ɗ; Kitale, 21 ɗɗ (BMNH). Tanzania: Amani, 1 ɗ; Mbeya, 2 ɗɗ; Marungu Plateau, 2 ɗɗ (BMNH). Malawi: Lake Nyasa, 1 Ψ; Likoma, 1 ɗ; Mt.Mulanje, 1 Ψ (BMNH); Chinteche, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide AR16 (MRAC). Democratic Republic of the Congo: “Region de M’Pala” [Mpala,? west edge of Lake Tanganyika], 1 Ψ (BMNH); Lubumbashi, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide AR18 (MRAC). Angola: Mt. Moco, Luimbali, 1800m, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide S13 (PGH), 4 ɗɗ (BMNH); Gamba, 1 ɗ; N’dalatando, 4 ɗɗ (BMNH). Zambia: Mwinilunga Township, 7 ɗɗ, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide S10, 1 Ψ (PGH); Fort Jameson [Chipata] 1 ɗ; Mumbwa, 1 ɗ; “Gimson” (labelled as in N. Rhodesia), 4 ɗɗ, 6 ΨΨ (BMNH); Chalimbana, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide S19; Ndola, 1 ɗ / genitalia slide S106 (PGH). Zimbabwe: Bulawayo, 1 Ψ; Harare, 1 ɗ (BMNH), 8 ɗɗ / genitalia slides S11, S116, S124, S125, S126, 8 ΨΨ / genitalia slides S94, S134, S141, S158 (PGH); Nr. Marondera, Tarisira, Gosho Park, 1500m, e.l., 2 ɗɗ / genitalia slides S107, S117; Bvumba, Laurenceville, 1200m, e.o., 6 ɗɗ / genitalia slides S109, S119, 1 Ψ; Nr. Chimanimani N.P., Hayfield B, 920m, 14 ɗɗ / genitalia slides S113, S115, 2 ΨΨ, 1 Ψ / genitalia slide S135 (PGH). South Africa: Blyde River Nature Reserve [E. Transvaal], 1 ɗ / genitalia slide S103, legs & antenna slide S247; Rustenburg [Nature Reserve], 1 ɗ; KwaZulu Natal, Ngome State Forest, 1 ɗ (PGH); Pietermaritzburg (Natal), 2 ɗɗ, 2 ΨΨ (BMNH), 1 ɗ (TMP); Natal, Durban, 2 ɗɗ, 1 ɗ / Arctiidae genitalia slide 6281, 1 Ψ (BMNH), 1 ɗ (TMP); Verulum, 2 ɗɗ; Zululand, St. Lucia, 1 ɗ; Natal, Muden, 1 ɗ, 2 ΨΨ; Natal, Howick, 1 ɗ; Natal (no localities stated), 1 ɗ (ZSM), 11 ɗɗ, 1 Ψ / Arctiidae genitalia slide 6282 (BMNH); Ladysmith, 1 ɗ; Pretoria, 1 ɗ, 2 ΨΨ; Port St. John, 1 ɗ; Pondoland, Umtata, 2 ɗɗ (BMNH); North Drakensburg, Giant’s Castle National Nature Reserve, 1 ɗ (SZMN).
Description. Forewing: ɗ 19 – 23mm, Ψ 23 – 28mm. Male. HEAD: Grey with deep orange nuchal fringe. Palp brown dorsally, deep orange ventrally. Antenna bipectinate; longest pectination approximately half the diameter of the eye. THORAX: Patagium grey with orange posterior fringe. Tegula grey, pale orange laterally and posteriorly. Mesonotum and metathorax orange, grey mediodorsal streak. Legs: Femur and tibia dark grey dorsally, orange ventrally; tarsus dark grey. Small foretibial spine present. Forewing yellowish orange with grey interneural patches in most spaces, occasionally less distinct between veins M2 and CuA2. Hindwing paler, almost semihyaline in some specimens. Underside of fore and hind wings as upper surface but much paler. ABDOMEN: Orange dorsally with long or short black intersegmental bands; lateral row of black spots and a row of feint black sublateral dashes; pale grey ventrally. Genitalia: Posterior margin of eighth abdominal tergite more or less convex. Eighth sternum with a distinct medial sclerite and lobate and moderately helical lateral processes. Coremata present. Saccus rounded and well developed. Juxta wide, partially divided at the base, and lightly concave posteriorly. Valva more or less bifurcate apically. Uncus wide and tapering to a slightly hooked apex. Aedeagus without apical spines; vesica lightly scobinate with a pronounced group of spines basally, and two or three groups of cornuti distally (cornuti described by Dubatolov, 2006 as push-pin-like shape). Female. As the male but larger, and darker orange with more pronounced dark grey interneural forewing patches. Hindwing deeper yellowish orange, not semihyaline. Underside of wings slightly paler than upperside. Genitalia: Ductus bursae short and wide. Corpus bursae with three distinct signa of small concentrically arranged cornuti. Bulla seminalis large and extending approximately half length of bursa copulatrix.
Comments. Allowing for interpretation of faded and worn material (see Introduction), there is noticeable variation in intensity of the grey interneural patches and the black intersegmental bands. On the vesica the cornuti vary in number together with the occasional absence of basal spines. However, despite the examination of a large number of specimens, there was no robust evidence of geographical variation (but see R. nyangana below) or of any clinal distribution.
description: Published as part of Haynes, Patrick G., 2011, A review of some of the Binna- like species of Afrotropical Spilosoma Curtis (1825) listed by Goodger & Watson (1995) and including the genus Radiarctia Dubatolov (2006) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Arctiinae), pp. 22-36 in Zootaxa 2811 on pages 24-25, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.277133