Pseudokatha, Macià & Ylla & Gastón & Huertas & Bau, 2022

Macià, Ramon, Ylla, Josep, Gastón, Javier, Huertas, Manuel & Bau, Josep, 2022, The species of Eilema Hübner, [1819] sensu lato present in Europe and North Africa (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Zootaxa 5191 (1), pp. 1-87 : 47

Genus Pseudokatha gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:68AA6DDF-B9C1-44B0-85E1-6EB3CCDFADF5

Type species: Eilema rungsi Toulgoët, 1960 Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 65: 48.

Diagnosis.

Imago. Small species. Forewings relatively broad and short, uniformly pale sandy brown to greyish brown; females somewhat paler, with ochre-white hindwings. The species of the genus Pseudokatha gen. nov. differs from those of the genus Katha in that they are larger in size, have a different wing pattern, and are sexually dimorphic. They distinguished from the genus Tarika , also by the sexual dimorphism of the species of this genus ( Singh & Joshi, 2013). Pseudokataha rungsi ( Toulgöet, 1960) bears a certain resemblance to species of the genus Pelosia (Hübner, [1819]) , especially Pelosia obtusa (Herrich-Schäffer, 1852) , with which it shares habitat and flight season. In fact, the rungsi specimens captured for the first time in Greece were described as Pelosia hellenica Derra & Hacker, 1983 .

Male genitalia. Uncus cylindrical, short and robust; valvae ovoid; saccular process slender and slightly curved at the end; clasper absent; sacculus narrow and elongated. Aedeagus very large in comparison with the rest of the genitalia, with a large and sharp end sclerotised cornutus, which is several times longer than the diameter of the aedeagus; vesica tubular, with a large number of small cornuti.

Female genitalia. Anal papillae prominent, sclerotised; lamellae postvaginalis and antevaginales absent or inconspicuous; ductus bursae long, narrow and membranous; corpus bursa ovoid, with two small signum and a large appendix or process in the upper part, globular, membranous and somewhat smaller than the corpus bursa, whence the ductus seminalis emerges; a slightly sclerotised area on the reverse of the upper part of the corpus bursa.

Derivatio nominis. false Katha .

Molecular data. A single species of this genus has been analysed ( Pseudokatha rungsi ). Molecular results presented below for this species also apply to the genus.

Taxa included.

Pseudokatha rungsi ( Toulgoët, 1960) comb. nov.