Hylaea mediterranea Sihvonen, Skou, Flamigni, Fiumi & Hausmann 2014, new species
Creators: name: Sihvonen, Pasi
name: Skou, Peder
name: Flamigni, Claudio
name: Fiumi, Gabriele
name: Hausmann, Axel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Hylaea
Hylaea mediterranea

description: Hylaea mediterranea Sihvonen, Skou, Flamigni, Fiumi & Hausmann, new species
Material examined. Holotype male: HOLOTYPE / Hylaea / mediterranea [red rectangle label]; Italy, Sicily, 5.7 km ESE San Stefano Quisquina, near Pizzo della Rondine, 1000 m, 9.-10.x.2010, Peder Skou leg.; Prep. number 1738., Pasi Sihvonen (coll. Skou, Denmark, to be deposited at the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark). Paratypes altogether 6 males and 4 females. 1 male and 3 females: Italy, Sicily, / 5.7 km ESE San / Stefano Quisquina, / near Pizzo della Rondine, / 1000 m, 9.-10.x.2010, / Peder Skou leg.; Prep. number 1739. /, Pasi Sihvonen. 1 female: Italy, Sicilia, / 7 km S. of Castelbuono, / 1350 m, 5.vi.2005, / Peder Skou leg. (both specimens in coll. Peder Skou, Denmark). 1 male: Italy, Sicily, Mt Etna / Ragabo restaur. / 7 km SW Linguaglossa, / 1450 m, 8–9.ix.2002 / Leg. M. Fibiger & / G. Jeppesen. 1 male: Italy, Sicily, / 5.3 km SE Collesano, / Rifugio Orestano, / 1100 m, 8.x.2010, / Peder Skou leg (all in coll. Skou, Denmark). 1 male: Italien, Sizilien / Aetna, Nicolosi/ Monte San Leo/ 1110 m,/ N3739’ - E1459’/ 2. Juni 2001 / leg. Norbert Pöll; 305 [genitalia dissected, slide number 305 N. Pöll] (in coll. Pöll, Austria). 1 male: Italia / Sicilia / Campo Italia, 442m [38.2508°N 15.5442°E] / 30.5.2010 / leg. M. Infusino [DNA barcode specimenID BC MI 0116] (Universià di Messina, Zoological Collection, Italy). 1 male: Sicilia or. / Mte. Etna / 2km S Milo / (CT) 800m / 20.VIII.2001 / lg. Hausmann [DNA barcode specimen ID BC ZSM Lep 14248] (ZSM). Other material examined: 1 female: Italy, Calabria, M. Cocuzzo, 1150 m, leg. S. Scalercio, 28.7.1997, BC ZSM Lep 14249 (DNA barcode analysed, ZSM). 1 male: Italy, Sicily, Etna, Valverde, 350 m, 29.8.2008, GF Lep 0016 (DNA barcode analysed, Research Collection of Gabriele Fiumi, Italy). 1 male, Italy, Sicily, Etna, Valverde, 350 m, 29.8.2008, GF Lep 0017 (DNA barcode analysed, Research Collection of Gabriele Fiumi, Italy). 3 males: Italy: Molise / Isernia - Pescopennataro/ 1200 m / 41.8769 N, 14.2935 E / A. Sciarretta 30-Jun-2013; GWOTL1120-13; BC ZSM Lep 73518 [other 2 males with same label data except BC ZSM Lep 73519 and BC ZSM Lep 73520] (coll. University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy). Further 4 males and 7 females from Calabria (CS, Monte Cocuzzo; CS, Cava di Melis; CS, Cosenza/Donnici; VV, Lago Angitola; all in ZSM) in habitus corresponding to the characteristic features of H. mediterranea but excluded from the type series because of the distance from the type locality and the missing confirmation by DNA barcodes.
Description. External characters and pregenital abdomen (diagnostic characters underlined) (Figures 2, 7): Wingspan male 31 mm (n=4), female 37–41 mm (n=4). Wings light green, medial lines white. Medial line curved before costa, basal part moves away from costa (not parallel with costa). Postmedial line rather straight, only weakly curved, barely angled before it reaches costa near apex and evenly curved outwards on inner margin. Medial area concolorous with rest of wing. Terminal line and fringes concolorous with wings, forewing apex dark red. Hindwing postmedial line distinct, curved. Discal spots absent. Wings below as above, but paler. Frons redbrown, thorax and abdomen concolorous with wings. Area between antennae (vertex) white. Antennae white dorsally, male antennae bipectinate, female antennae fasciculate. Hindleg tibia of both sexes with 2+2 spurs. Tympanal organs medium-sized. Sternites and tergites 3–8 of both sexes undifferentiated.
Male genitalia (Figure 11): Generally as in H. fasciaria (Linnaeus) and H. pinicolaria (Bellier). Aedeagus with additional arm, apex not expanded in H. mediterranea (apex expanded in H. compararia). Base of vesica with straight row of microcornuti in H. mediterranea (vesica with angled row of microcornuti, reaching aedeagus apex in H. compararia). Uncus relatively narrower before wide apex in H. mediterranea (uncus relatively wider before wide apex in H. fasciaria and H. pinicolaria, but the differences are not clear-cut).
Female genitalia (Figure 15): Generally as in H. fasciaria and H. pinicolaria (Bellier), but with following quantitative difference: signum large in H. mediterranea (signum absent or minute in H. fasciaria, H. pinicolaria and in H. compararia). Genitalia are large in H. mediterranea (genitalia considerably smaller in H. compararia). Shape and size of the lamella antevaginalis, and width and length of the posterior part of the corpus bursae are variable and should be treated with caution.
Distribution (Figure 20). Type specimens originate from Sicily (Italy, DNA barcoded), one specimen from Calabria (Italy, taken out of a longer series and DNA barcoded) and three specimens from Molise (Italy, DNA barcoded). One further specimen has been reported from the island of Marettimo, West of Sicily (L. Dapporto, pers. comm., not DNA barcoded). Outside this the distribution area needs verification. Some specimens from Greece, for instance from Mount Parnassos, Karpenision and Lesvos, are externally similar, but the female signum is small, thus not agreeing with the Italian material. DNA barcodes are not available, so far, for Greek populations.
Phenology. Bivoltine: In Sicily it flies from late May (rarely early May) to early July and from late August to late October (Flamigni et al. in press).
Biology. The species has been reared (G. Fiumi and D. Righini) from the Etna Mountain, Sicily. Female laid eggs on May 1 st (Figure 22), the caterpillars fed on the needles of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies (Figure 23), the first pupa was observed on June 26 th (Figure 24) and the first adult (Figure 25) emerged on 11 July. Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies are not present in Sicily; in the collecting localities Pinus laricio and P. halepensis are common.
Habitat (Figure 21). In pine forests and places with more scattered pine trees. Altitude range from sea level to 1780 m (Flamigni et al. in press).
Similar species. All four species in the Palaearctic Hylaea fasciaria species group are similar. The diagnostic, external characters shown in the Figures 6–9 are somewhat tentative and should not be used in isolation, but should be combined with other information including biology, collecting locality, male and female genitalia and DNA barcodes. An overview of diagnostic morphological features is given in Table 1. The taxon squalidaria (as judged from the original figure) differs in the straight forewing medial line, not curved at costa; forewing medial and postmedial lines at large distance, thus the medial area very broad; hindwing postmedial line strongly curved, parallel to termen.
Genetic data. Genetically homogeneous in Calabria, Molise and Sicily (n=8), mean intraspecific variation 0.19%, maximum variation 0.46%. Nearest species: Hylaea fasciaria (minimum pairwise distance 3.3%). See Figure 26.
Variation. Little variation in habitus observed, so far. Forewing postmedial line is straight or weakly curved outwards on inner margin. The specimens from Calabria (Italy) often have the forewing postmedial line clearly angled before it reaches costa. Only light green specimens are known.
Etymology. The species name mediterranea refers to the Mediterranean area, where the species occurs.
description: Published as part of Sihvonen, Pasi, Skou, Peder, Flamigni, Claudio, Fiumi, Gabriele & Hausmann, Axel, 2014, Revision of the Hylaea fasciaria (Linnaeus, 1758) species group in the western Palaearctic (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Ennominae), pp. 469-486 in Zootaxa 3768 (4) on pages 478-479, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3768.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4909658