Sufetula fulgurata Muller, Hayden & Leger 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Müller, Anne
name: Hayden, James
name: Lees, David C.
name: Léger, Théo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Crambidae
Sufetula
Sufetula fulgurata

description: Sufetula fulgurata Müller, Hayden & Léger, sp. nov.
LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 8DFC4324-BFA0-49AE-BEFE-03D6A6 29713A
(Figures 7, 8, 23, 35, 46)
Material examined. Holotype. Ƌ. PHILIPPINES: Luzon, Zambales, Zambales Mountains, Coto; 15.46 ǫN 120.05 ǫE; 150m; 09 - 10 Nov. 1998; W. Mey leg.; DNA voucher MFNLEP943; genitalia slide MfN gen. prep. 334M; specimen identifier coll.mfn-berlin.de_u_b416f6 (MfN). Paratypes. 16 Ƌ; specimen identifiers coll.mfn-berlin.- de_u_58ebd1, 25d228, d1cfde, 6d0a7e, a70683, 2db249, 869146, 5738f7, 62093c, 15b3d2, a31b7e, f971ee, 5708ef, 1f1859, 2a6f6d, 2a6f6e; 4 ♀; specimen identifiers coll.mfn-berlin.de_u_18dc19, 1ff9c0, 9d8864, 205b59. Detailed information in Table S1. Other specimens examined. 5 unsexed (specimen identifiers coll.mfn-berlin.de_u_e89e14, 901ad4, b6c087, 18dc18, 56cc79). Detailed information in Table S1.
Similar species. Sufetula elfridea sp. nov., Sufetula serrata sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Sufetula fulgurata sp. nov. (Figures 7, 8) is distinguished from S. elfridea sp. nov. by the postmedian line jagged on the anal fold (straight in S. elfridea sp. nov.). From Sufetula serrata sp. nov., it is separated by examination of genitalia: the narrow uncus has a pointed apex, and the valva is tapered to a pointed apex (Figure 35), and in the female genitalia (Figure 46), the colliculum forms a narrow sclerotised ring not reaching the posterior margin.
Description. Wings (Figures 7, 8). Male forewing length: 4.5 mm (Figure 7); colour generally pale yellow to fuscous. Antemedian area dark brown. Antemedian line thick, white, thinly edged with dark brown distally, conspicuously curved outwards on costal 1/3, then jagged toward dorsum. Costa with three oblique spots pointing towards margin, white, thinly edged with dark brown. Discoidal spot oval, dark brown. Thick, white postmedian line curved from costa to acute point between veins M 1 and M 2, then bent inwards, with marked indentation on anal fold. Subterminal area with subapical dark brown patch. Fringes pale yellow and brown. Hindwing pale yellow, thinly speckled with dark brown towards dorsum. Median line thick, white, fading toward costa, shifted inwardly at 2A vein. Postmedian area with prominent dark brown area in dorsal half. Female forewing length: 7 mm (Figure 8); as male, but markedly suffused with dark brown. Tympanal organs (Figure 23). Ƌ. Bullae tympani slightly recessed laterad, deeply recessed posteriad, extended by 2/5 posterior of ramus tympani. Saccus tympani small, very shallow, poorly differentiated. Venulae secundae faintly marked, medially incurved, running down to anterior 1/3 of sternum II. Male genitalia (Figure 35). Uncus ca half of tegumen arm length, narrow, triangular, apex pointed. Valva ovate, apex narrowed into a pointed tip. Phallus long, slender, with minute denticles distally; cornuti absent. Female genitalia (Figure 46). Posterior apophyses ca 2.5 × tergite VIII length. Anterior apophyses 2 - 2.6 × tergite VIII length; slightly thickened at posterior 1/3 of both apophyses. Colliculum forming narrow sclerotised ring of ca 1/10 of tergite VIII length, not reaching antrum opening. Ductus bursae ca 2.1 × corpus bursae length, narrow, straight. Corpus bursae globular with some short bristles in posterior area. Signum 1/5 of corpus length, round, with short, tooth-shaped thorns.
Distribution. Known from Luzon (Zambales, Benguet) at an elevation between 150 and 750 m (Figure 55).
Etymology. From the Latin fulguratus, a, um “struck by lightning”, referring to the zigzagging postmedian line of the forewing.
DNA barcoding. An intraspecific variation of 0.3% was found among specimens from the same locality (Zambales, Coto, at 150 m elevation).
description: Published as part of Müller, Anne, Hayden, James, Lees, David C. & Léger, Théo, 2025, Assessment of species diversity of the Lathrotelinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from the Philippines using morphology and DNA barcoding reveals eight new species, pp. 1-24 in Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity CLXVI (CLXVI) on page 18, DOI: 10.1016/j.japb.2025.01.012, http://zenodo.org/record/15396126