Armatophallus exoenota Meyrick 1918, comb. n.
Creators: name: Bidzilya, Oleksiy V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Armatophallus
Armatophallus exoenota

description: Armatophallus exoenota (Meyrick, 1918), comb. n.
(Figs. 1–6, 17–19, 26–28)
Gelechia exoenota Meyrick, 1918: 52; Janse, 1958: 11, pl. 27f; Janse, 1960: pl. 58e, pl. 63c,d. Gelechia xylophaea Meyrick, 1921: 71. Syn. nov.; Janse, 1958: 16, pl. 28e; Janse, 1960: pl. 58f. Schizovalva exoenota (Meyrick, 1918): Bidzilya, 2007: 101, figs. 37, 38; pl. 7, fig. 4.
Material examined. Holotype of Gelechia exoenota ♀, [South Africa] "Pret. North, 23.2.1917, C.J. Swierstra" | "555" | "g. 5511. "| " Gelechia exoenota Meyr. Type No. 2514" (TMSA).
Holotype of Gelechia xylophaea ♀, [Zimbabwe] "Umwuma, Rhod., 12.12.'17. A.J.T Janse" | ”2194" (gen. slide 287/12, A. Bidzilya) (TMSA). Paratype of G. xylophaea ♀, "Umwuma, Rhodesia, 21.12.17, A.J.T.J." | " Gelechia xylophaea Meyr., 1/1, E. Meyrick det., E. Meyrick coll." (NHM).
South Africa: 1♀, Woodb. Will., 11.xii.1909 (Swierstra) (g. 5494); 2♂, 4♀, Rustenburg Natuurreservaat, 10– 17.xi.1976 (Potgieter & Molekane); 1♂, same data but 3–6.xi.1975 (Potgieter & Scoble); 1♂, Pretoria, 20.viii.1961 (Vari); 1♂, South Africa, Transvaal, Suikerbosrand Natuurreservaat, 9–10.xi.1980 (Kroon); 1♂, Three Sisters, 21.ii.1911 (Janse); 1♂, Limburg, Tvl., Potgietersrus Distr., 12.xii.1963 (Vari); 1♀, S. Afr., North West, Tswaing / Soutpan, 25 24S 28 06E, 29.xii.2000 (Krüger & Stephen) (all TMSA); 1♀, RSA, Richtersveld, Numees, Helskloof Gate, 9–12.x.2001, LF (Mey) (MFN). Namibia: 8♂, 4♀, Namibia, Brandberg, 18, 19, 22.iii. 2002, 1940 m, Wasserfallfläche, leg. W. Mey (gen. slide. 116/05♂; 126/05♀, O. Bidzilya); 1♂, Namibia, Waterberg NP, 21– 22.xi.2000, LF (Mey); 4♂, 2♀, Namibia, Sandveld, 60 km N Gobabis, 22–26.i.2007, LF (Mey & Ebert) (gen. slide 438/07, O. Bidzilya); 1♂, Namibia, Auas Mts., Windhoek, 1917 m, 2.xii.2008, LF (Mey & Ebert); 1♀, Namibia, Rooisand, Gambsberg Pass, 20.i.2007, aut. Falle (Mey & Ebert); 1♀, NAMIBIA-Exp., ZMB 1992, East Caprivi: Mudumu NP: Nakatwa, 18 10 S / 23 26 E, lux., 8–13.iii.92 (Mey); 1♂, 1♀, NAMIBIA-Exp., ZMB 1992, Kavango: Caudom Camp, 18°31'S / 20°43'E, lux., 22–25.ii.92, (Mey) (gen. slide MNHU-055,♀, M. Ponomarenko); 1♂, NAMIBIA-Exp., ZMB 1992, East Caprivi: Mudumu NP: Nakatwa, 18°10' S / 23°26' E, lux., 8–13.iii.92 (Mey); 1♂, Namibia, Namutoni, Etosha NP, 23–25.xi.2000, LF (Mey); 1♂, Namibia, Halali, Etosha Nat. Park, 16–17.xii.1993 (Mey & Ebert). Zimbabwe: 1♀, Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, 11–13.xii.1993 (Mey & Ebert) (all MFN); 1♂, Tanzania, Morogoro Town, 2.iv.1992 (Aarvik) (gen. slide NHMO 2310). Tanzania: 1♀, Tanzania, Morogoro, Morogoro Town, 4.ii.1993 (Aarvik) (Afr. Gel. 169); 1♂, Tanzania, Morogoro, Kitulangalo For. Res., 1.i.1993 (Aarvik) (Afr. Gel. 170) (all NHMO). Kenya: 1♂, 2♀, Rift Valley: L. Bogoria, 1000 m, 0°21' N 36°04' E, 6.ii.1999, 22.vi.2000, 12.viii.2007 (Agassiz); 1♂, Rift Valley: Rumuruti, 6000ft, 1.i.2000 (Agassiz); 1♀, Eastern: Mpala Res. C. 1720 m, 0°17'27'' N 36°53'52'' E, 24.xi.2002 (Agassiz, Aarvik & Kingston) (gen. slide 1440♀); 1♂, Eastern, Hunters Lodge 930 m, 2°12'49'' S 37°42'52'' E, (Agassiz & Ngugi) (all coll. Agassiz). Uganda: 1♀, Western, Budongo Forest 3000 ft, 19.vii.2000 (Agassiz) (coll. Agassiz). Ethiopia: 1♀, Ethiopia, Prov. Gamogofa, 8 km N Turmi, 9.v. 2008, 990 m (Hacker, Schreier) (gen. slide 8269) (Derra coll.). The GAMBIA: 1♀, Arabo Nature Reserve, 25.ii.2002 (Agassiz) (coll. Agassiz). Cameroon: 2♂, 1♀, Cameroon, North Province, Faro River Camp, 275 m, 08°23'N, 012°49'E, 09.v.2005 (J. & W. De Prins) (gen. slide 394/ 14♂, 395/14♀, 516/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya) (NHM).
Description. Adult (Figs. 1–6). Wingspan 12.5–20.1 mm. Head: Covered with grey brown-tipped scales, sometimes uniformly ochreous to dark yellow, frons light, off-white; thorax and tegulae brown to black; labial palpus light brown, with a few black scales at base, inner surface light, off-white segment 2 slightly broader, about as long as segment 3; antenna of male slightly thicker than antenna of female, scape dark grey with narrow white apical ring, antennal segments brown with narrow white basal rings. Thorax: Forewing brown mottled with black especially along costal margin from base to 2/3, base with black pattern of irregular shape, three indistinct black dots in cell, sometimes small white dot at ¾ of costal margin, cilia grey, black-tipped; hindwing and cilia grey. Variation. Rather variable species. Ground colour of forewing varies from light brown to grey; veins sometimes mottled with orange; black pattern along costal margin sometimes divided in 2–3 black diffuse spots, well developed or nearly merged with ground colour. Abdomen: Male genitalia (Figs. 17–19) with uncus narrow, weakly prolonged, covered with strong setae, socii developed, longer than uncus, sub-ovate; gnathos long, strong, comparatively thick, weakly curved, slightly broadened before apex, with pointed tip; valva digitate, slightly exceeding the top of uncus setae, inner margin with short triangular tooth before half length, distal half broadened, haired, apex rounded; sacculus broad at base, distal portion moderately broad, outer margin finely serrated, tapered after 2/3 length, nearly reaching middle of valva; vincular lobes terminated into narrow projections that are curved inwards, anteromedial emargination broad and deep; saccus comparatively long, rounded; phallus short, base swollen, distal portion short with three small teeth, apex with two transverse arms. Variation. Two males from Cameroon and Tanzania with additional arm on the apex of the phallus; subapical teeth may be partially or completely reduced. Female genitalia (Figs. 26–28). Segment VIII sub-rectangular, weakly narrowed apically, evenly sclerotized, densely covered with fine microtrichia, with narrow digitate posteromedial sclerite, two narrow folds extending distally from base of apophyses anteriores, posterior margin straight, anterior margin strongly sclerotized with paired sub-triangular projections joint medially; apophyses posteriores very long and narrow, apophyses anteriores broad at base, distal portion narrow, straight, slightly longer than segment VIII; antrum broad, rounded, with broad v-shaped internal sclerite, ductus bursae of even width and abrupt transition to globular corpus bursae; signum at bottom of corpus bursae, prolonged serrated plate with broad ridge inside.
Biology. The adults occur from October to May and in August, with captures ranging from 275 m to 1940 m elevation.
Distribution. The Gambia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa.
Remarks. Due to the considerable variation in the wing pattern A. exoenota may be confused with the other Armatophallus -species. The head that is usually lighter than the forewing and thorax is the most constant character to distinguish A. exoenota from related species. The male genitalia are close to those of A. crudescens but differ from this and other species in the presence of well developed socii; a broader sacculus and differently shaped arms at the tip of the phallus are additional characters that distinguish A. exoenota from A. crudescens. The female genitalia are similar to those of A. crudescens but the ductus bursae is longer and narrower, the sclerotized plate in the antrum is bigger, the distal narrow portion of the apophyses anteriores is shorter, segment VIII lacks sclerotized patches and the signum is narrower and longer.
A. exoenota is an externally rather variable species widely distributed in Africa. The specimens from South Africa and Namibia (including the holotype) differ from the specimens from Eastern and Western Africa in the dark, uniformly brown forewing with poorly expressed black markings. No significant differences in the genitalia were observed, except for the number of arms and teeth on the apex of the phallus. Specimens from Tanzania and Cameroon have three arms in contrast to two arms in specimens from South Africa. However the third arm may be merged with the distal portion of the phallus in some specimens and then is hardly visible; moreover, the arms differ in length. It is possible that specimens from Cameroon with a well developed third arm represent a separate species, but we prefer to treat them here as A. exoenota until their status can be assessed by the study of additional specimens.
G. xylophaea was described from three females collected in Umwuma (Zimbabwe) and Woodbush Village (Transvaal, South Africa). The female from the last locality does not bear a type label. The holotype and both paratypes differ externally from the holotype of exoenota in having a lighter, grey forewing with well expressed black pattern along the costal margin. However, the female genitalia of the holotype of G. xylophaea agree in all details with those of exoenota so that there can be no doubt about their synonymy.
description: Published as part of Bidzilya, Oleksiy V., 2015, Armatophallus gen. n., a new genus of gelechiid moths (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) from the Afrotropical and Oriental regions, pp. 413-429 in Zootaxa 3981 (3) on pages 416-420, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3981.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/241823