Polymixis (Lophotyna) albirena Benedek & Volynkin & Babics & Saldaitis 2021, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Benedek, Balázs
name: Volynkin, Anton V.
name: Babics, János
name: Saldaitis, Aidas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Polymixis
Polymixis albirena

description: Polymixis (Lophotyna) albirena (Moore, 1867), comb. nov.   
(Figs 7, 8, 23, 32)  
 Mamestra albirena Moore, 1867, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1867: 53 (Type-locality: [NE India, north of West Bengal] “Darjeeling”).   
 Type material examined. Lectotype (hereby designated): “Darjiling.Atkinson” / “ Mamestra albirena Moore type” / “Moore Coll. 94-106” / “1956/79” / red ring “Type” label / QR-code label with unique number “NHMUK010354588” (NHMUK).   
 Additional material examined. NEPAL: 1 male, Koshi, Terhathum area, above Gorja, Tshisopani, 2600 m, 87°37´E, 27°21´N, 05.xi.1996, leg. Gy. M. László & G. Ronkay, gen. prep. No.: RL11849 ♂; 1 female, Mechi, Taplejung area, Yamphudin village, 1800 m, 87°59´E, 27°28´N, 31.x.1996, leg. Gy. M. László & G. Ronkay, gen. prep. No.: RL11850 ♀ (HNHM).   
 Remarks. 1. In the original description, Moore (1867) mentioned specimens from two localities (“Calcutta; Darjeeling”) which are syntypes. In order to stabilize the nomenclature, we hereby designate the male specimen from Darjeeling labelled as ‘Type’ and housed in the NHMUK collection as lectotype and fix the type locality of the species as Darjeeling (north of West Bengal, north-eastern India). 2. The lectotype male of L. albirena was dissected by Tams, who did not mount genitalia on microscope slides and left thousands of badly labeled vials in the collection of NHMUK, which have not been re-curated so far (Alberto Zilli pers. comm.), therefore the genitalia of the lectotype of L. albirena are currently unavailable for examination. However, the genitalia of the specimen (incorrectly treated as holotype) were illustrated by Boursin (1956, pl. 31: fig. 6) and they display no remarkable differences from those of the specimen from Nepal dissected.   
 Diagnosis. The forewing length is 16–20 mm in males and 18 mm in females. Polymixis albirena (Figs 7, 8) can easily be distinguished from its congeners by the dark chocolate brown colouration and quite indistinct transverse lines. The male genital capsule structure of P. albirena (Fig. 23) is reminiscent of that of the P. khumbuensis species-group (Figs 24, 25) but can easily be distinguished by the symmetrical clavi (they are asymmetrical in the P. khumbuensis species-group), the apically rounded dorsal costal protrusion (whereas it is triangular with a pointed tip in the P. khumbuensis species-group), the markedly less elongate cucullus, and the relatively larger left digitus which is protruding beyond the ventral margin of the valva (it is conspicuously less elongate in the P. khumbuensis species-group). In the female genitalia of P. albirena (Fig. 32), the ventral ostial margin of the antrum is straight, whereas those of other species-groups are wavy or having a medial ventral protrusion.   
 Distribution and bionomics. The species is known from north-eastern India (West Bengal and Sikkim) (Moore 1867; Hampson 1910) and Nepal. The species inhabits monsoon forests at altitudes of 1800–2500 m. Adults are on the wing in late autumn (November).
description: Published as part of Benedek, Balázs, Volynkin, Anton V., Babics, János & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2021, Review of the subgenus Lophotyna Hampson of the genus Polymixis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Noctuinae), with descriptions of two new species from Myanmar, pp. 22-40 in Zootaxa 4999 (1) on pages 25-33, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4999.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/5089283