Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) festae Silvestri, 1932

Plusiocampa festae Silvestri, 1932: 75, figs x–xi.

Plusiocampa festae coi Silvestri, 1932: 78.

Diagnosis (Silvestri 1933a; Condé 1984a)

Slightly troglomorphic species. Antennae with 25 and 35 antennomeres. Non-protruding frontal process with non-tubercular setae. Pronotum with 1+1 ma, 3+3 la, 2+2 lp macrosetae; mesonotum with 1+1 ma, 3+3 la, 2+2 lp, 1+1 mp macrosetae; metanotum with 1+1 ma, 2+2 lp, 1+1 mp macrosetae; long, barbed notal macrosetae; abundant notal clothing setae. Two (rarely three) ventral tibial macrosetae; subequal claws (1.1) with large lateral crests; posterior claw with no backward overhang. Urotergites I–II with 1+1 post macrosetae; urotergite III with 1+0 la, 1+1 post macrosetae; urotergite IV with 1+1 la, 2+2– 3+3 post macrosetae; urotergites V–VII with 1+1 la, 5+5 post macrosetae; urotergite VIII with 7+7 post macrosetae; abdominal segment IX with 9+9 post macrosetae; urosternite I with 7+7, urosternites II–VII with 5+5, urosternite VIII with 2+2 macrosetae. Male with an area of glandular g 1 setae and enlarged appendages with glandular a 1 setae.

Remarks

The studied material (see Table S 2 in Supplementary Material) from MSS habitats was collected from inland Greece. Three specimens from Évia show variability in the number of post macrosetae on the third urotergite; they have 2+1, 2+2 and 3+3 post macrosetae, showing the dubious value of the subspecies P. (P.) festae coi. In addition, a juvenile from Montes Orno, Crete, has also been studied and it matches in all chaetotaxic characters with P. (P.) festae festae . In conclusion, we suggest that P. (P.) festae coi should be synonymized with the nominate subspecies.

Habitat and distribution

Soil-dwelling species previously found on Karpathos and Leros, islands of the Dodecanese Archipelago; also collected in endogean environments at two sites on Crete and at a locality near Izmir, Anatolia, Turkey. It seems to inhabit MSS, where it has also been found at 14 localities in continental Greece.