Psalis africana Kiriakoff 1956
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
name: Powell, Bethany
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Erebidae
Psalis
Psalis africana

description: Psalis africana Kiriakoff, 1956
(Figs 4–8, 21–25, 30–32, 43–47, 51–52)
Psalis africana Kiriakoff, 1956, Entomologische Berichten 16: 127. Holotype male, in coll. NHMUK. Type locality: Kenya, Kibwezi.
Primary type material examined.
Holotype. Male, [circular label with red margin] “Type” // “Kibwezi, B.E.A. / 17. Dec. 1921., / (W. Feather).” // “Pupa, / No. 11.” // “Rothschild / Bequest / B.M. 1939-I. ” // “No / areole.” // [with handwritten] “ Psalis / africana / Kiriakoff. / Holotype.” // QR code label with unique id.: NHMUK 012823340 (NHMUK).
Additional material examined.
Angola. 1 male, N’Dalla Tando, 2700 ft, 25.xi.1908, leg. Dr W.J. Ansorge, QR code label with unique id.: NHMUK 010292329, gen. slide No.: NHMUK 014332598 (prepared by G.M. László) (NHMUK). Kenya. 1 male, paratype, same locality and collector as in holotype but collected on 20.xii.1921, QR code label with unique id.: NHMUK 010292328, gen. slide No.: NHMUK 014332597 (prepared by G.M. László); 1 female, paratype, same locality and collector, QR code label with unique id.: NHMUK 012823382 (NHMUK). Mozambique. 2 males, Maputo Special Reserve, Ponta Milibangalala, (Dune Grassland), 15m, 26°26'58.6"S, 32°55'29.8"E, 25–30.v.2017, MV and actinic Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., László, G., Miles, W., Vetina, A., ANHRT:2017.26, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00077690, 00096711, gen. slide Nos: LG 6366, LG 6367; 1 female, Maputo Special Reserve, West Gate, (Sand Thicket), 22m, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 21–30.xi.2016, Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Cristóvão, J., László, G., Miles, W., ANHRT:2017.22, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00004207, gen. slide No.: LG 6368; 1 female, Maputo Special Reserve, West Gate, (Sand Forest), 22m, 26°30'14.2"S, 32°42'59.6"E, 21–22.ii.2018, MV Light Trap, leg. László, G., Mulvaney, J., Smith, L., ANHRT:2018.2, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00150097, gen. slide No.: LG 6373; 1 male, Manica Province, Chimanimani National Reserve, Nyabawa village (Eastern Miombo Woodland), 708m, 19°42'09.4"S, 33°01'53.1"E, 5–6.viii.2018, LepiLED Light Trap, leg. László, G., Miles, W., Vetina, A., ANHRT: 2018.30, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00046968, gen. slide No.: LG 6372 (ANHRT). South Africa. 1 male, Natal, Durban, ii.1906, leg. Bell Marley, QR code label with unique id.: NHMUK 010292330, gen. slide No.: NHMUK 014332599 (prepared by G.M. László) (NHMUK). South Sudan. 1 female, Tereteinia Hill, 11.xii.1925, ca. 3200 ft, leg. G.D. Hale Carpenter, gen. slide No.: BP 044 (OUMNH). Zambia. 1 male, Chilambwe Falls, Kafubu River, 1420 m, 09°50'13"S, 30°43'35"E, 08–12.ii.2019, MV Light Trap, leg. Dérozier, V., Mulvaney, L., Takano, H., ANHRT:2019.4, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00251601, gen. slide No.: LG 6359; 1 male, 1 female, Choma, Bruce-Miller Farm Nansai (Southern Miombo woodland), 1179m, 16°38'32"S, 27°01'47"E, 25.iv.–01.v.2022, MV Light Trap, Miles, W., Mulvaney, L. leg., ANHRT:2022.6, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00263214, 00263492, gen. slide Nos: LG 6360, LG 6376; 1 male, Senka Hill, Mukulizi Forest Reserve, Muchinga Province, 1566m, 09°05'43"S, 32°05'06"E, 01– 06.v.2019, MV Light Trap, leg. Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W., ANHRT:2019.12, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00136084, gen. slide No.: LG 6362; 1 male, Lukwakwa, West Lunga NP, (Cryptosepalum forest / Dambo), 1147m, S12°39'40", E24°26'13", 09–15.xi.2018, MV Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D., ANHRT:2018.40, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00066307, gen. slide No.: LG 6363; 1 female, Jiwundu Swamp, (Miombo / Riverine forest mosaic), 1340m, 11°51'54"S, 25°33'20"E, 29.x –04.xi.2018, MV Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D., ANHRT:2018.40, unique id.: ANHRTUK 00063044, gen. slide No.: LG 6369; 3 females, Danger Hill, 30 km North of Mpika, Muchinga Province, 1684m, 11°37'38"S, 31°33'56"E, 27–30.iv.2019, MV and LepiLED Light Trap, leg. Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W., ANHRT: 2019.12, unique ids: ANHRTUK 00080959, 00080960, 00083764, gen. slide Nos: LG 6370, LG 6374, LG 6375 (ANHRT).
Diagnosis. Although externally indistinguishable, in the male genitalia, the following subtle differences can be observed between P. africana and the Asian species: P. africana has a noticeably narrower valvula and a somewhat larger, more inflated basal section and distal diverticulum of the vesica. In the female genitalia, the differences between P. africana and P. pennatula are more distinctive, expressed by the markedly heavier sclerotization of the ostium bursae, the considerably shorter, anteriorly more abruptly constricted antrum, the narrower and more strongly sclerotized ductus bursae and the shorter transverse ovoidal plate of the signum bursae in P. africana compared to those of the P. pennatulasecuris species pair.
Taxonomic note. In their conference paper, Balaji et al. (2021) briefly referred to a phylogenetic analysis in which samples from Kenya and Tamil Nadu (India) clustered separately, though diverging only very slightly, whilst a sample from Australia diverged considerably from the P. pennatula-africana cluster. It is also interesting to note that the configuration of the ostium bursae seems to be constantly different in the East African and the Zambian populations: the former has an evenly arcuate distal margin of the ostium (similar to that of P. pennatula but much more heavily sclerotized) while the latter has a conspicuous U-shaped medial notch, somewhat similar to the shallower and rather V-shaped ostial notch in P. securis. Unsurprisingly for this group, no constant distinctive characters were observed in the external habitus and male genital morphology of the southern-eastern and southern-central African P. africana populations; molecular studies however might elucidate the taxonomic value of the observed differences in the female genitalia structures.
Bionomics and distribution. Kiriakoff (1956a) reported P. africana from Angola (a specimen has been dissected in the NHMUK, see above), DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe; some of the records from central and western DRC, Ghana (not traced during this study) and Nigeria (3 specimens examined and dissected in NHMUK and OUMNH), refer to P. bashfordae sp. n., as does Aurivillius’ (1900) record of P. pennatula from Mukinbungu (DRC). Additionally, Dall’Asta (1977) reported the species from Ethiopia, and Sevastopulo (1957) from Uganda as Psalis pennatula. Psalis securis was accounted for from several African countries (Kenya: Butler (1894), Mozambique: Pagenstecher (1893), South Africa: Janse (1915), Distant (1897), Hampson (1905), Zimbabwe: Hampson (1905)) prior to Kiriakoff’s description of the Afrotropical Psalis and these records refer to P. africana. The specimens examined from Zambia during this study represent a new country record.
Psalis africana seems to be more prevalent in open woodland habitats, although it occurs sympatrically in northwest Zambia with P. smithi sp. n. in wetlands and hygrophilous grasslands (dambo), as well. This species is polyvoltine with records from both the rainy and dry seasons. The larva of P. africana has been reported (as P. pennatula) to feed on various cereals and undefined grasses (Sevastopulo 1975) and, similarly to its Asian sisters, may have the potential to be considered as an agricultural pest on farm crops of the Poaceae family (Kroon 1999).
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M. & Powell, Bethany, 2024, Review of the Afrotropical Psalis Hübner, [1823] with descriptions of two new species and notes on Asiatic taxa (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Lymantriinae, Orgyiini), pp. 77-96 in Ecologica Montenegrina 77 on pages 83-86, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.7, http://zenodo.org/record/14654862