Meganola illaudata
Creators: name: László, Gyula M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nolidae
Meganola
Meganola illaudata

description: Meganola illaudata (Fletcher, 1958)
(Figs 54–56, 87, 106)
Vandamia illaudata Fletcher, 1958, Ruwenzori Expedition 1952 1 (4): 56, figs 22–24, 37. Type locality: Uganda, Ruwenzori, Ibanda. Holotype, ♂ (NHMUK).
= Meganola eburneana Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 416, syn. n.
Material examined. Ivory Coast. 1 male, 1171m, Mt. Tonkoui Peak, 07°27’15.2”N; 07°38’12.5”W, 1–8.XI.2015, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg., ANHRT:2017.16, slide No.: LGNA 224 ♂. Liberia. 4 ♂, 6 ♀, 1165m, Nimba Mts camp, ENNR, Nimba county, 7°31’45”N, 8°31’37”W, 03–13.xii.2017, Light Trap (blended bulb 250W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, slide Nos: LGNA 486 ♂, LGNA 500 ♂, LGNA 555 ♂, LGNA 556 ♂, LGNA 489 ♀, LGNA 501 ♀, LGNA 557 ♀, LGNA 558 ♀; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1000–1100m, Nimba Mts., ENNR, Nimba county (Cellcom road), 7°32’45.88”N, 8°31’21.04”W, 02–14.xii.2017, Cold Cathode Light Bucket, Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, slide No.: LGNA 493 ♂; 1 ♀, 611m, Lofa County, Wologizi Mts, base camp forest, 8°07’17”N, 9°57’42”W, 20.xi.–01.xii.2017, MV Light Trap (125W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. & Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33; 1 ♀, 865m, Lofa County, Wologizi Mts, Ridge Camp, 8°07’10”N, 9°57’11”W, 24–29.xi.2017, Light Trap (blended bulb 250W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. & Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33 (ANHRT).
Remark. Meganola illaudata has unique male genitalia bearing a bifid uncus (Fig. 87), allowing for easy identification of an otherwise rather featureless moth. The species was described from the Ruwenzori Mts, Uganda. The genitalia of the male holotype and a female paratype are illustrated by Hacker et al. (2012) and despite his knowledge of both sexes of M. illaudata, Hacker described M. eburneana Hacker, 2012 based on a single female specimen collected in Ivory Coast showing no distinctive characters distinguishing it from M. illaudata. A long series of externally well matching males and females of M. illaudata from Liberia in the ANHRT collection confirms the conspecificity of the two species, therefore M. eburneana is synonymised here with M. illaudata. It is worth noting that the species is also figured by Hacker et al. (2012) as a female paratype specimen of M. antennata Hacker, 2012 from Pwani, Tanzania which is undoubtedly as a result of a misidentification.
Distribution. Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, D.R. Congo, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko Island) and Ivory Coast (Hacker et al. 2012). The specimens from Liberia are new country records representing the westernmost occurrence of the species.
description: Published as part of László, Gyula M., 2020, Review of the genus Meganola Dyar, 1898 of Ivory Coast and adjacent areas with descriptions of 5 new species and several taxonomic updates (Lepidoptera Nolidae, Nolinae) - Taxonomic studies on West African Nolinae I., pp. 151-182 in Zootaxa 4853 (2) on pages 180-181, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4853.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4410542