Rhodostrophia pelloniaria pelloniaria (Guenée, [1858])

Kumari, Shabnam, Bandyopadhyay, Uttaran, Uniyal, Virendra Prasad, Chandra, Kailash & Hausmann, Axel, 2024, Integrative taxonomic review of the genus Rhodostrophia Hübner, 1823 and its allied genus Tanaotrichia Warren, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) from the Western Himalaya, Zootaxa 5519 (1), pp. 59-89 : 71-73

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria pelloniaria (Guenée, [1858])

[ Fig. 15–17 , 37, 44 , 51, 58 ]

[TL: Indes orientales]

= pelloniaria meonodes Prout, 1935, [TL: Kashmir, Kulu, North Western India, India]

Phyletis pelloniaria Guenée, [1858] , in Boisduval & Guenée: Histoire Naturelle des Insectes (Species général Lépidoptérés), 10: 169. [Holotype ♂, Indes orientales (NHM)].

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria ; Hampson, 1895; The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, 3: 456.

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria ; Prout, 1938; In: Seitz, A. (Ed.) (1920–1941): The Macrolepidoptera of the world, 12: 145.

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria ; Sanyal et al., 2017; SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología, 45 (177): 157.

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria ; Chandra et al., 2019; Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots: 234.

Rhodostrophia pelloniaria ; Joshi et al. 2021; Insecta: Lepidoptera : Heterocera (Moths). Faunal Diversity of Biogeographic Zones of India: North-East. Published by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 511–576 pp.

Material examined: INDIA: 1♂, Himachal Pradesh, Dist. Kangra, Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary, Billing , 32.05978° N, 076.74229° E, 2341 m, 08. VI.2021 ; 3♂♂ 4♀♀, 01. VI.2022; 2♂♂ 4♀♀, Billing , 32.06312° N, 076.74973° E, 2572 m, 06. VI.2022 ; 3♂♂, Dhauladhar Mountain Range, Above Bharodi , 32.29750° N, 076.27121° E, 2308 m, 05. V.2022; leg. S. Kumari.

NWR specimens: INDIA: 1♂, Himachal Pradesh, Dist. Kangra , Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary, Billing, 32.05978° N, 076.74229° E, 2341 m, 08. VI.2021; 1♂, 01. VI.2022 ( BOLD Sample Id : BC_ ZSM _ Lep _117628); 1♀, 01. VI.2022; leg. S. Kumari.

Description:

Forewing length: Male: 14–16 mm, Female: 13–14 mm.

Antennae filiform in female; quadripectinate in male, flagellum dentate and brown ventrally, on the dorsal side three-fourth whitish and rest dark brown. Vertex whitish with pale ochreous tint. Frons dark brown. Labial palpi brown laterally, short, directed forwardly and then upward, hardly reaching frons. Collar ochreous with rose-red irrorations laterally; tegulae, patagia and dorsal thoracic and abdominal region greyish-ochreous. Ventral side dark brown with slight rose-red irroration on legs and abdomen. Legs features similar to R. herbicolens except the hindtibia in males with a single median and a pair of unequally sized terminal spurs; hair pencil absent. Forewing pale ochreous sometimes with greyish-brown suffusion, apically elongated with straight outer margin; females with slightly narrow wings. Costa pink; postmedial band oblique, rose-red, broader towards inner margin where it is often suffused with grey. Submarginal line greyish, parallel to the postmedial band but often obsolescent. Marginal line dark brown. Cilia rose-red with pale ochreous base and brown medial part. Discocellular dot small, black and often indistinct. Hindwing pale ochreous; postmedial band and the submarginal line similar to forewing, but starts disappearing towards costa near M1; discocellular dot as in forewing. Forewing underside ochreous; basal area suffused with dark grey, markings similar to upper side but with much greyer suffusion; veins dark grey; discocellular dot more prominent. Cilia darker than the upper side. Hindwing underside pale ochreous with darker rose-red suffusion; markings similar to upper side (see figs 15–17).

Male genitalia ( Fig. 37 ): Uncus long, weakly sclerotised, apex dilated, setose, bilobed, distal margin with small central indentation. Gnathos triangular, strongly sclerotised, median process elongated with slightly blunt tip. Valva symmetrical, not spinulose, ventral margin sclrotised, apical one-third slender, curved, terminally comprised of small, thin, digitiform process. Costa with small protrusion at base, curved, apically rounded, separated from valva, distal dorsal sclerite of valva costa elongated. Sacculus narrow, smooth, sclerotised, folded ventrad over valva. Juxta tongue-shaped. Aedeagus ( Fig. 44 ) long, thin, slightly curved midway; vesica without cornuti. Posterior margin of the 8 th abdominal sternite ( Fig. 51 ) weakly sclerotised, bilobed with a very low central depression (octavals very short).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 58 ) Papillae anales ovally-elongated, setose, small central notch on posterior margin; posterior apophyses four times the length of anterior apophyses. Ductus bursae narrow, sclerotised except for a small non-sclerotised submedian region, length nearly same as the corpus bursae, broader distal end, moderately curved towards the middle. Corpus bursae oval; signum developed as two flat, horizontal, collar-shaped sclerites, connected posteriorly, located below the junction with ductus bursae. 7 th sternite sclerotised, tongue-shaped, posterior margin convex shaped (concave in others except R. tristrigalis ), without lateral processes.

Differential diagnosis: The subspecies pelloniaria has an overall paler outer appearance while its close ally R. p. khasiana ( Fig. 18 ) (from Khasis) is comparatively darker with bright rose-red irroration, especially on the markings and cilia. Also, the postmedial band and the submarginal line of the hindwing are much more prominent in R. p. pelloniaria than in R. p. khasiana . Underside markings and the overall colouration are darker and prominent in R. p. khasiana . Male genitalia with apical digitate process of valva comparatively short and the posterior margin of the 8 th abdominal sternite with shallow central concavity while rather simple posterior margin in R. p. khasiana ( Cui et al. 2019) . Female genitalia with the posterior margin of the 7 th sternite simple, outcurved and tongue-shaped (however, with a narrow ‘V-shaped’ central incision in R. p. khasiana ).

Remarks: We have differentiated our specimens by comparing them with the habitus and genitalia illustrations of R. pelloniaria in Cui et al. (2019). We have identified the specimens discussed in Cui et al. (2019) as likely belonging to the R. pelloniaria khasiana subspecies as suggested by its morphological features.

Distribution: India: Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (Kashmir), Himachal Pradesh (Kullu, Dalhousie), Uttarakhand (Kumaon), Meghalaya ( Prout 1935; Chandra et al. 2019; Joshi et al. 2021). Elsewhere: Pakistan (Chandra et al. 2019).

Genetic data: BIN: BOLD:AFI2528 with 8.06% distance to nearest-neighbour R. tumulosa and 9.96% to R. tristrigalis (nearest species in the Himalaya).

Bionomics: R. pelloniaria is a typical Himalayan species. Its adults have been documented throughout the Himalaya previously, but the life history and larval stages remain unknown. Adults have been observed to fly over a wide elevational range of 1400–2800 m in a previous study by Sanyal et al. (2017), as well as during our primary field surveys in the DMR. However, they are mostly found at higher elevations inhabiting Himalayan Moist temperate forests (12/C1a, C1c, C2b), and are comparatively more active during the pre-monsoon season.

Figures

FIGURES 4–16. Habitus images of Rhodostrophia spp. 4–7. R. borealis (4a–4b: Male, 5a–5b: female, 6a–6b: Male, Syntype, NHMUK, 7a–7b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK. 8–9. R. cinerascens* (8: Male, 9: Female). 10–12. R. herbicolens (10a–10b: Male, 11a–11b: Female, 12a–12b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK), 13–14. R. muricolor (13a–13b: Male, Syntype, NHMUK, 14a–14b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK). 15–16. pelloniaria (15a–15b: Male, 16a–16b: Female). *Specimens and genitalia slide at ZSM-SNSB, Munich; slides and photos prepared by Dr Axel Hausmann.

FIGURES 17–28. Habitus images of Rhodostrophia and Tanaotrichia spp. 17. R. pelloniaria (17a–17b: Male, Holotype, NHMUK). 18. R. khasiana (18a–18b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK). 19–22. R. stigmatica (19a–19b: Male, 20a–20b: Female, 21a–21b: Male, Syntype, NHMUK, 22a–22b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK). 23–26. R. tristrigalis (23a–23b: Male, 24a–24b: Female, 25a–25b: Male, Syntype, NHMUK, 26a–26b: Female, Syntype, NHMUK). 27–28. R. vinacearia (27a–27b: Female, 28a–28b: Male, Syntype, NHMUK).

FIGURES 34–47. Male genitalia images of Rhodostrophia and Tanaotrichia spp. 34–41. Male Clasping organ (CLA). 34. R. borealis, 35. R. cinerascens*, 36. R. herbicolens, 37. R. pelloniaria, 38. R. stigmatica, 39. R. tristrigalis, 40. T. prasonaria trilineata. 41–47. Male aedeagus. 41. R. borealis, 42. R. cinerascens*, 43. R. herbicolens, 44. R. pelloniaria, 45. R. stigmatica, 46. R. tristrigalis, 47. T. prasonaria trilineata. *Specimens and genitalia slide at ZSM-SNSB, Munich; slides and photos prepared by Dr Axel Hausmann.

FIGURES 48–62. Male genitalia images of Rhodostrophia and Tanaotrichia spp. 48–54. Male 8th Abdominal Sternite. 48. R. borealis, 49. R. cinerascens*, 50. R. herbicolens, 51. R. pelloniaria, 52. R. stigmatica, 53. R. tristrigalis, 54. T. prasonaria trilineata. 55–62. Female genitalia images of Rhodostrophia and Tanaotrichia spp. 55. R. borealis, 56. R. cinerascens*, 57. R. herbicolens, 58. R. pelloniaria, 59. R. stigmatica, 60. R. tristrigalis, 61. R. vinacearia, 62. T. prasonaria trilineata. *Specimens and genitalia slide at ZSM-SNSB, Munich; slides and photos prepared by Dr Axel Hausmann.