Spitosa Espeland, Huang & Inayoshi, 2024

Huang, Si-Yao, Inayoshi, Yutaka & Espeland, Marianne, 2024, Two new genus-group replacement names of Riodinidae from Asia (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea, Riodinidae), Zootaxa 5512 (2), pp. 295-300 : 296

Spitosa Espeland, Huang & Inayoshi , nom. nov.

Figs. 1, 2 , 7

Sospita Hewitson, 1861: 75 (junior homonym of Sospita Mulsant, 1846: 137 ( Coleoptera , Coccinellidae )).

Sospitia Evans, 1927: 126 (incorrect subsequent spelling).

Type species: Taxila fylla Westwood, 1851 , fixed through Art. 67.8 of the Code ( ICZN 1999).

Diagnosis. Externally, Spitosa can be easily distinguished from Abisara ( Figs. 5, 6 , 9 ) and all the other riodinid genera distributed in Asia by the forewing bearing a narrow and clear transverse band in the discal zone extending from costa to tornus (sometimes with an additional paler one in the postdiscal zone) and the hindwing tail-like projection obsolete. In male genitalia, Spitosa can be distinguished from Abisara as well as Sibosia easily by the presence of the central plate and juxta, the broader valvae and the distal section of valvae rounded, while the distal section of valvae is bifurcate in Abisara and the valvae are much slender and ended in a narrow and curved distal process in Sibosia .

Etymology. The name Spitosa is an anagram of the generic name Sospita , its gender is feminine.

Species composition.

S. fylla (Westwood, 1851) , comb. nov. ( Figs. 1, 2 , 7 )

S. fylloides ( Moore, 1901) , comb. nov.

S. magdala ( Fruhstorfer, 1904) , comb. nov.

S. sobrina ( Mell, 1923) , comb. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Adult males of the type species of the riodinid genera in the present study. 1, Spitosa fylla, Sikkim, India, ZFMK Lep105376 (ZFMK); 2, ditto, underside; 3, Sibosia burnii, Zhejiang, China, ZFMK Lep105628 (ZFMK); 4, ditto, underside; 5, Abisara kausambi, Yala, Thailand, G02 (CYI); 6, ditto, underside.

FIGURES 7–9. Male genitalia of the type species of the riodinid genera in this study. 7, Spitosa fylla, prep. No. ZFMK Lep105376 (ZFMK); 8, Sibosia burnii, prep. No. ZFMK Lep105628 (ZFMK); 9, Abisara kausambi, prep. No. G02 (CYI).