Paratalanta stachialis Toll & Wojtusiak 1957
Creators: name: Zhang, Dandan
name: Cai, Yanpeng
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Crambidae
Paratalanta
Paratalanta stachialis

description: Paratalanta stachialis Toll & Wojtusiak, 1957
(Figs. 9, 10, 18, 25)
Paratalanta stachialis Toll & Wojtusiak, 1957: 290. Type locality: China, Jilin Province [Kirin], Hsiaoling.
Material examined. CHINA: 1 ♂, Mt. Wuling (40.60ºN, 117.47ºE), Xinglong County, Hebei Province, 800 m, 21.viii.2009, leg. Aihuan Zhang & X.L. Tian; 1 ♀, Mt. Wuling (40.60ºN, 117.47ºE), Xinglong County, Hebei Province, 800 m, 6.ix.2011, leg. Qiang Gao; 5 ♂♂, 12 ♀♀, Mt. Li, Jincheng County (35.43ºN, 111.97ºE), Shanxi Province, 1520 m, 16 – 19.viii.2006, leg. Xu Zhang & Haiyan Bai, gen. slide no. CYP 12021 (♂), CYP 12022 (♀), DXC06356 (♂), ZDD07004 (♀); 5 ♀♀, Mt. Baiyun (33.67ºN, 111.83ºE), Song County, Henan Province, 1400 m, 15 – 17.viii.2008, leg. Houhun Li, gen. slide no. CYP 11033, CYP 11050.
Diagnosis. Paratalanta stachialis can be recognized easily by having a very narrow and elongate fore wing with broad costal and subterminal bands in male, with an elliptical spot before apex in both male and female. This species is characterized by the editum with basal half narrow and distal half swollen elliptically, the sella stout, straight and finger-shaped, the sacculus with a large thumb-shaped basal process, and the large, curved cornutus that is about 1/2 length of the phallus in the male genitalia; and the antrum with the lateral margin concave inward is diagnostic for P. stachialis in the female genitalia (Fig. 25).
Paratalanta stachialis is similar to P. cultralis amurensis by the male having an elongate fore wing. It can be differentiated by the fore wing having an elliptical straw yellow spot before apex, the orbicular and reniform stigmata indistinct in male, distinct in female; the sacculus with a large thumb-shaped basal process, the sella straight and finger-shaped, and the curved cornutus about 1/2 length of the phallus in the male genitalia; and the antrum without lateromedial process in the female genitalia. In P. cultralis amurensis, the elliptical spot is absent before the apex on the fore wing, the orbicular and the reniform stigmata are distinct in both male and female; the sacculus is gently arched dorsobasally, the sella is needlelike, the cornutus is less than 1/6 length of the phallus in the male genitalia; and the antrum bears a pair of horn-shaped processes laterally in the female genitalia.
Description. Adult (Figs. 9, 10) with wingspan 32.5 – 41.5 mm. Wings straw yellow with a light violet shade in male, pale yellow in female; fore wing with costal band, subterminal band, antimedial and postmedial lines grayish brown; costal and subterminal bands connected at apex, where placed a straw yellow elliptical spot; antemedial line from 1/5 of costal margin obliquely outward to basal 1/4 of 1A, then curved inward to basal 1/4 of dorsal margin; in male cell grayish-brown, orbicular and reniform stigmata indistinct, in female cell pale yellow as the wing, orbicular and reniform stigmata distinct, deep brown; postmedial line straight, from 2/5 of costal margin to 1/2 of dorsal margin, indistinct anteriorly. Hind wing with postmedial line and subterminal band grayish brown; postmedial line slender, straight, parallel with inner margin of subterminal band; subterminal band broad, slightly narrowing from apex to tornus. Fringe of wings silver gray.
Male genitalia (Fig. 18): Uncus triangular, narrowly rounded at apex. Valva broad, rounded at apex; dorsal margin straight, ventral margin slightly curved; transtilla small, with sparse setae; sacculus with a large thumbshaped basal process, reaching dorsad acrossing 2/3 width of valva, slightly twisted distally; editum with basal half narrow, distal half swollen elliptically; sella stout, straight, finger-shaped. Juxta nearly elliptical. Saccus elliptical. Phallus about 3/4 length of valva; cornutus long, thick, curved, about 1/2 length of phallus.
Distribution. China (Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jilin, Shanxi, Shaanxi).
Ecology. Caught in mountains from 800 m to 1520 m. Flight period from middle August to early September.
Notes. The male of this species is described for the first time. Sexual dimorphism is evident between male and female.
description: Published as part of Zhang, Dandan, Cai, Yanpeng & Li, Houhun, 2014, Taxonomic review of the genus Paratalanta Meyrick, 1890 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Pyraustinae) from China, with descriptions of two new species, pp. 118-132 in Zootaxa 3753 (2) on pages 129-130, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3753.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/227700