Kuatunittia, Volynkin & Saldaitis, 2023

Volynkin, Anton V. & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2023, Two new genera, two new subgenera, and four new species of Lithosiina from China and northern Indochina (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Ecologica Montenegrina 68, pp. 140-154 : 149

Genus Kuatunittia gen. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8E7CF9C3-A15C-43EC-A251-F14016FD23E3

Type species: Systropha klapperichi Daniel, 1954 , by present designation.

Diagnosis. Species of the new genus ( Figs 7–10 , 23–26 ) are externally reminiscent of Fangeilema gen. n. ( Figs 1–6 , 19–22 ) but differ in the distally bilobate saccular process. In the female genitalia, Kuatunittia gen. n. ( Fig. 34 ) is distinguished from Fangeilema gen. n. ( Figs 31, 32 ) by the conical appendix bursae directed posteriorly (it is sack-like and directed laterally in Fangeilema gen. n.), and the presence of the band-like signum (whereas species of Fangeilema gen. n. have round signa or lack them).

The similar bilobate sacculus is found in two other Asiatic Lithosiina genera, Pseudoscaptia Hampson, 1914 ( Figs 13, 14 ) and Teuloma Volynkin & N. Singh, 2019 ( Figs 17, 18 ), but the former genus ( Fig. 28 ) differs from Kuatunittia gen. n. in the asymmetrical sacculi sparsely covered with tiny spikes (they are symmetrical and densely covered with setae in Kuatunittia gen. n.), the weakly sclerotised phallus carina (it is heavily sclerotised and bearing a cluster of setae in the new genus), and the vesica having a sclerotised and spinulose subbasal diverticulum. The female genitalia of Kuatunittia gen. n. differ clearly from Pseudoscaptia ( Fig. 36 ) in the symmetrical and smooth 7 th abdominal sternite lacking the antevaginal plate (it is asymmetrical and laterally rugose in Pseudoscaptia ), and the narrow and symmetrical ductus bursae, which is broad and strongly asymmetrical in Pseudoscaptia . Compared to Teuloma ( Fig. 30 ), the male genital capsule of Kuatunittia gen. n. has a markedly shorter and narrower vinculum, a juxta lacking the tubular and rugose dorsal extension (a feature characteristic of Teuloma ), and a markedly broader distal saccular process having a larger, setose and more proximally situated proximal lobe. The phallus of Kuatunittia gen. n. is shorter and narrower than in Teuloma and has a considerably longer coecum. The vesica of Kuatunittia gen. n. is substantially shorter than in Teuloma and bears a sclerotised serrulate plate distally whereas it is granulose without plates and cornuti in Teuloma . The female genitalia of Kuatunittia gen. n. are distinguished from Teuloma ( Fig. 38 ) by the lack of the antrum, the markedly narrower and straight ductus bursae (it is curved in Teuloma ), the larger and sack-like corpus bursae (it is more or less globular in Teuloma ), and the shorter and conical appendix bursae directed posteriorly whereas it is medially helicoid, distally dilated and directed distally in Teuloma .

Etymology. The genus name is an aggregate of the historical toponym Kuatun which is the type locality of the type species, and the genus-group name Wittia . Gender is feminine.

Figures

Figures 1–8. Fangeilema (1–6) and Kuatunittia (7, 8), adults. Depositories of the specimens: 1 and 2 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 3–6, and 8 in MWM/ZSM; 7 in ZFMK (photo by V. Zolotuhin, by courtesy of V. Dubatolov).

Figures 9–18. Adults of Kuatunittia (9, 10), and the type species of the corresponding genera: Wittia (11, 12), Pseudoscaptia (13, 14), Dolgoma (15, 16), and Teuloma (17, 18). Depositories of the specimens: 9 in WIGJ; 10 in MWM/ZSM; 11 and 12 in ANHRT; 13 and 14 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 15 and 16 in CKC; 17 and 18 in CAV.

Figures 23–26. Kuatunittia, male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 23, 25 and 26 in MWM/ZSM; 24 in WIGJ.

Figures 19–22. Fangeilema, male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 19 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 20–22 in MWM/ZSM.

Figures 31–34. Fangeilema (31–33) and Kuatunittia, female genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 31 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 32–34 in MWM/ZSM

Figures 27–30. Lithosiina spp., male genitalia of the type species of the corresponding genera: Wittia (27), Pseudoscaptia (28), Dolgoma (29), and Teuloma (30). Depositories of the specimens dissected: 27 in ANHRT; 28 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 29 in CKC; 30 in CAV.

Figures 35–38. Lithosiina spp., female genitalia of the type species of the corresponding genera: Wittia (35), Pseudoscaptia (36), Dolgoma (37), and Teuloma (38). Depositories of the specimens dissected: 35 in ANHRT; 36 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 37 in CKC; 38 in CAV.