Lithostege samandooki Rajaei, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sh, Hossein Rajaei
name: Stüning, Dieter
name: Viidalepp, Jaan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Lithostege
Lithostege samandooki

description: L. samandooki Rajaei, sp. nov.
(Figs. 14, 66; Map 3)
Type material. Holotype Ƥ: ‘ Iran, Kerman, Jiroft NW, Gardaneh Sarbishan, Shingara vic., 2700–2900 m, 3./ 4.6.2002, leg. J.-U. Meineke, A. Hofmann, A. Kallies et al.’, ‘gen. prep. 1073/2010 H. R.’; Paratypes: 1 Ƥ: same locality; both in SMNK. 1 Ƥ: same locality, gen. prep. 1076/2010 H. R.; in ZFMK.
Description. Wingspan 25–26 mm. Antennae of female filiform, finely pubescent (male unknown). Frons protruding about one-half of the eye diameter. Palpi rather long and narrow, reaching well beyond frons. Head (palpi, frons, vertex) and abdomen spotted white and brown. Fore-tibia stout and flat (0.8 mm), bidentate distally, with inner tooth-like projection as long as tibia. The last abdominal tergite heavily sclerotised, with a straight posterior edge. Forewing greyish-brown, with a white postmedial line, longitudinally bisected by a brown line, projecting distad and sharply angled at veins M1, M3, less sharply angled in between; there is a broad, brownish band basally of the postmedial line. Antemedial line similar, angled in cell, not reaching costa. Hindwing grey, with two broad, very obscure bands on medial area. All wings with fringes alternatingly dark and light. Underside of forewings with the postmedial line visible only. Hindwing underside lighter, with a faint line in the middle. Female genitalia (Fig. 66). Antrum cylindrical, its posterior margin with a small, V-shaped incision; ductus bursae tubular, width about half the width of the antrum, extended into a sclerotized patch on membranous part of corpus bursae. The latter oval, distal half densely spiculate; membranous anterior diverticulum present.
Diagnosis. The waved postmedial lines on forewing resemble L. amoenata (Fig. 1), L. dissocyma (Fig. 11) and L. hreblayi (Figs 12, 13), however, in L. samandooki they are more distinctly angled than in the other three. In L. dissocyma the postmedials are also closer to the termen. The three lines on the hindwing of L. amoenata are absent here; in the female genitalia, the apophyses anteriores are shorter, and the cylindrical antrum in samandooki (Fig. 66) contrasts with the wide one found in L. amoenata (Fig. 58); ductus bursae narrower and membranous close to the antrum in the new species. In L. dissocyma and the other related species, more than half of corpus bursae is spiculate (Fig. 64); antrum cylindrical. posterior margin with a small, V-shaped incision in samandooki, but with a larger incision in hreblayi.
Distribution. SE Iran, vicinity of Shingara. Known from type locality only (Map 3).
Etymology. The name of this species is dedicated to Ebrahim Samandook, teacher of biology (at high school) of the first author (1993–1997). He is still active in teaching biology in Taybad, Khorasan-Iran.
description: Published as part of Sh, Hossein Rajaei, Stüning, Dieter & Viidalepp, Jaan, 2011, A review of the species of Lithostege Hübner, [1825] 1816 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Larentiinae), occurring in Iran and adjacent countries, with description of two new species from Iran and Pakistan, pp. 1-46 in Zootaxa 3105 on page 13, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.279200