Leucochlaena labrys, Sattin & Fiumi & Floriani & Govi, 2025

Sattin, Luca, Fiumi, Gabriele, Floriani, Alessandro & Govi, Guido, 2025, Leucochlaena labrys, a new species from Crete, Greece (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Xyleninae, Episemini), Ecologica Montenegrina 81, pp. 43-53 : 44-53

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.81.6
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B0E048C2-33DE-4956-90DC-360B6BA894D7
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A687EF-FFDC-FFAD-FF37-F890FA92FD46
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Leucochlaena labrys
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Leucochlaena labrys View in CoL sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 1a View Figure 1 , 4a View Figure 4 ): male, Greece, East Crete, surroundings Agios Nikolaos, m 1000, Lassithi Mountain , 3–4.X.2024, legit L. Sattin, dissected by G. Fiumi, (temporally in coll. G. Govi, will be deposited in a public museum).

Paratypes: 1 male, Greece, East Crete, Surroundings Agios Nikolaos, m 1000, Lassithi Mountain , 18.X.2023, legit L. Sattin, dissected by G. Fiumi, BOLD ID: BC ZSM Lep 119595, coll. GG ; 1 female, 52 males, same locality, 3–4.X.2024, legit L. Sattin, in colls GG, GF, AF, GLT ( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 B-O) ; 1 female, 15 males, same locality, 11–13.X.2024, legit A. Floriani, in coll. AF .

Diagnosis. The new species ( Figs 1–3 View Figure 1 View Figure 2 View Figure 3 ) is externally reminiscent of L oditis but differs in the postmedial line of the forewing, which is most defined but not clearly double as in L. oditis , and in the terminal band of the hindwing always clearly visible surrounded by a thin white line towards the edge of the wing.

Moreover, the male genitalia of L. labrys are distinctive for the medial diverticulum with 4–5 parallel and straight cornuti about twice the length of the bulbed cornutus present at the end of the dorsal digitiform diverticulum, as also observed in L. caillezi . This is the most evident differential character compared to all other species of the oditis group except for L. caillezi . Female genitalia are characterised by the appendix bursae utricular and apically rounded and well sclerotized, distinguishable from any other species of the group except for L. jeanhaxairei , which has a similar appendix bursae.

Description.

External morphology of adults ( Figs 1–3 View Figure 1 View Figure 2 View Figure 3 ). Wingspan: 29–34 mm in males. The only two females known are slightly smaller than males ( 29–32 mm), as in L. oditis . Forewing length 15-17 mm in males and 15-16 in female. Male antenna bipectinate, filiform in female. Body and forewing dark brown. Antemedial line light brown and not clearly defined, in comparison to the rest of the wing. Postmedial line most defined but not clearly double as in L. oditis . Whitish subterminal line regularly arched and well-marked. Blackish terminal line bordered internally by dark lunules. Orbicular little evident and very variable in colour and in size from less than 1 to 1.5 mm. Reniform very variable from ochreous to whitish (about 15% of the specimens collected). Veins of the forewings whitish to ochreous as in L. oditis . Male hindwing whitish, with discal spot almost absent in the majority of specimens. Medial band recognisable. Terminal band always distinct and surrounded by a thin white line towards the edge of the wing. Female hindwing uniformly dark with medial band barely visible against the background of wing and trace of thin white line on wing edge.

Male genitalia ( Figs 4A View Figure 4 , 5).

General configuration of genitalia similar to that of L. oditis described in Ronkay et al. (2001).

Aedeagus: at the base of vesica with one triangular subbasal cornutus variable in size. Dorsal digitiform diverticulum ending in a long and thin bulbed cornutus like in all other species of the oditis group. Median diverticulum covered with numerous very fine spines and 4–5 parallel and straight cornuti about twice the length of bulbed cornutus present at the end of dorsal digitiform diverticulum as also observed in L. caillezi .

Female genitalia ( Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ).

Ductus bursae shorter than that of L. oditis . Appendix bursae utricular and apically rounded and well sclerotized, distinguishable from any other species of the group with the exception of L. jeanhaxairei which has a similar appendix bursae. Corpus bursae globular with two oval signa.

Distribution and bionomics. The new species is known only from its type locality in Crete ( Greece) and probably is endemic to the island. The moths were collected in the landscape typical of medium altitude in the island with low shrubland, high shrublands (mainly Juniperus phoenicea ), and small evergreen and semi-evergreen oaks ( Quercus coccifera and Quercus brachyphylla ; Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ). In the flight period, the new species shares the habitat with the following species: Axia nesiota Reisser, 1962 , Isturgia berytaria (Staudinger, 1892) , Dyscia crassipunctaria (Rebel, 1916) , Crocallis helenaria Ruckdeschel, 2006 , Episema gozmanyi Ronkay & Hacker, 1985 , Leucochlaena muscosa , Tiliacea cypreago ulriki Fibiger, 1992 , Polymixis culoti (Schawerda, 1921) .

Etymology. The species name is derived from lábrys (λάβρυς in ancient Greek) a two- bladed axe, sacred symbol of Minoan religion and power. Several labrys have been found in the palace of Knossos; it is hypothesized that the noun labyrinth derives precisely from labrys, and that therefore the palace of Knossos was the "palace of the labrys".

DNA Barcoding. We used the only sequence obtained from our specimens and we compared it to all the sequences of the subgenus Leucochlaena (totally eighteen) available on BOLD as common data from various European countries and from North Africa, Jordan and Turkey.

Barcoding analysis ( Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ) showed that the single examined specimen of Leucochlaena labrys has a 1.4 % distance from Leucochlaena of the oditis group from North Africa (the closest species), a 2.3 % distance from Leucochlaena oditis jordana from Turkey and about a 3,2 % distance from Leucochlaena of the oditis group from Europe. By the way L. turatii Schawerda, 1931 , another island endemic, has less than 1 % distance from Leucochlaena of the oditis group from Europe.

It is necessary to note that the sequences have been inserted in the table and figure 7 with the name with which the sequences were inserted in the BOLD System. However, these North African specimens were later differentiated into more species ( Ronkay et al. 2023) and probably the specimen from Tunisia indicated as L. jordana is one of the latter species. A detailed examination of the genitalia of the specimens, whose sequences are inserted in BOLD, is necessary in the future, just as a genetic examination of the various recently described taxa from North Africa would be highly appropriate.

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the help and continuous support of Axel Hausman (Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Germany), whom we warmly thank for the DNA barcoding.

Many thanks to Aidas Saldaitis (Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania) for the gift of some specimens of Leucochlaena oditis jordana from Jordan. We are thankful to Chiara Morosinotto (Padova, Italy) for commenting on the manuscript.

References

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Ronkay, L., Ronkay, G. & Landry, B. ( 2023) The Jacques Plante Noctuidae Collection. Part II. Amphipyrinae, Psaphidinae, Cuculliinae, Oncocnemidinae, Acontiinae, Pantheinae, Dyopsinae, Raphiinae, Acronictinae, Bryophilinae, Heliothinae, Condicinae & Xyleninae. New taxa. Heterocera Press, Budapest, 445 pp.

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Sitography https://lepiforum.org/wiki/taxonomy/Noctuoidea/ Noctuidae / Xyleninae / Episemini / Leucochlaena ?view

=101&regions=eu visited 01/17/2025 https://butterfliesofcrete.com/moths-of-crete/a-z-moth-families/family-noctuidae/ visited 01/17/2025 https://britishlepidoptera.weebly.com/178-leucochlaena-oditis-beautiful-gothic.html visited 01/17/2025