Pseudoradiarctia scita Walker 1865, comb. n.
Creators: name: Haynes, Patrick G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Arctiidae
Pseudoradiarctia
Pseudoradiarctia scita

description: Pseudoradiarctia scita (Walker, 1865) comb. n.
Figures 16, 17, 30, 31, 32
Antheua scita Walker, 1865: 298.
Diacrisia scita (Walker, 1865); Hampson, 1901:296.
Spilosoma scita (Walker, 1865); Gaede, In Seitz, 1930: 98; Goodger & Watson, 1995: 19. Binna scita (Walker, 1865); Dubatolov, 2006: 139.
Type locality: Natal [South Africa, Natal]. Range: South Africa, Zambia.
Material examined. Two syntype ɗɗ, Natal (Gueinzius) 55-96 / Antheua scita (BMNH). Walker (1865) described scita from two males. To stabilize the nomenclature and remove any confusion as to the identity of this species, the specimen (in good condition) bearing the small round green label “ Type ” is here designated LECTO- TYPE and the remaining syntype (with damaged antennae and worn hindwings) is here designated PARALECTO- TYPE. Additional non-type material examined: South Africa: S. Africa, 1 ɗ; Natal, 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ; Natal, 1903,1 ɗ / Arctiidae genitalia slide 6279; Natal, Umkomaas, 6 ɗɗ, 1 Ψ / Arctiidae genitalia slide 6277 / BMNH (E) #805645; Natal Coast, 1 ɗ; Natal, Howick, 2 ɗɗ; Natal, Verulam, 1 ɗ; Zoulouland [Zululand], 1 ɗ; Transvaal, Cape Colony, 1 ɗ; Durban, 1 ɗ (BMNH); Natal, Zululand, Eshowe, 1 ɗ (SZMN); Zambia: “Gimson”, N. Rhodesia, 6 ɗɗ (BMNH).
Description. Forewing ɗ 17–19mm, Ψ 21–22mm. Male. HEAD: Frons orange-brown; vertex orange. Palp black dorsally, orange ventrally. Antenna dark brown, paler dorsally. THORAX: Patagium brown, posterior fringe orange. Tegula grey-brown with orange fringes. Mesonotum orange, grey dorsomedially. Metathorax orange. Legs: Femur orange dorsally and laterally, black apex and dark grey ventral and inner surfaces; tibia and tarsus greybrown. Forewing orange-yellow with all interneural spaces filled with brown. Hindwing as forewing but darker brown interneurally and becoming less so at the base. Under surface of forewing and hindwing as upper surface but sometimes paler. ABDOMEN: Orange dorsally with partial black segmental banding or spots; grey-orange laterally with a row of black spots; orange admixed with grey ventrally; eighth segment entirely orange. Genitalia: Posterior margin of eighth abdominal tergite concave, weakly bilobed, and thinly sclerotized posteriorly; eighth sternum with a small medial sclerite and large ‘ear’ shape lateral sclerites. Coremata present. Juxta long, wide basally, and divided into two sharply curved terminal processes with the left-hand process shorter. Valva long, narrow, tapered and finely setose laterally and apically. Uncus broad and swollen basally, tapered apically and sparsely setose. Aedeagus broad; vesica large and finely scobinate. Female. As the male but larger and with slightly stronger underside markings. Genitalia: Ductus bursae short and very wide. Corpus bursae large with two oval signa of concentrically arranged cornuti. Ductus seminalis wide and together with bulla seminalis approximately equal length of bursa copulatrix.
Comments. The placement of scita in the new genus Pseudoradiarctia is tentative. Although on facies this species is quite distinct from other Pseudoradiarctia, it does exhibit important characters described for the genus. The general plan of the genitalia matches the type of Pseudoradiarctia with the exception of the shape of the juxta and larger vesica. It may possibly be assigned to a subgenus of Pseudoradiarctia.
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 page 34, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.277133