Pyrausta delicatalis Caradja, 1916

Alipanah, Helen, Asselbergs, Jan, Malm, Tobias & Slamka, František, 2023, Taxonomic study of the subfamily Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Iran, Zootaxa 5289 (1), pp. 1-82 : 15-18

Pyrausta delicatalis Caradja, 1916

( Figs 4A‒D , 5A‒F )

Pyrausta delicatalis Caradja, 1916: 40 .

TL: Turkey, Mardin.

Material examined. HMIM: Fârs Prov.: 1 ♀, Kâzerun, Miân Kotal, 1900 m, 11.vi.1972, Ebert, Pâzuki leg. (gen. prep. HA-2514, HMIM); Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad Prov. : 1 ♂, Sisakht, 2100 m, 16.vi.1986, Mirzâyâns, Hâshemi leg. (gen. prep. HA-2515, HMIM) .

Coll. Jan Asselbergs: Iran, Esfahân Prov.: 1 ♂, Zagros, Fereydunshahr , 2200 m, 9.vii.1999, Hofmann, Meineke leg. (gen. prep. 4891 Asb.)

Description of the female ( Figs 4A‒D , 5A‒C ). Externally, essentially as in male. Head: vertex with slightly adpressed yellowish-creamy to pale ochreous scales; frons with smooth, yellowish-creamy scales except white scales at the junction with compound eyes; labial palpi porrect, first segment covered with white scales, second and third with ochreous-pale brown scales dorso-laterally, narrowly white at ventral side, with length nearly twice the horizontal diameter of compound eye; maxillary palpi small, covered with pale ochreous scales; antennae dirty-creamy to yellowish-grey, with short, dense ciliae ( Fig. 4C, D ).

Thorax: dirty-creamy, ochreous-creamy towards the collar and patagia, with scattered pink scales. Forewing ( Fig. 4A, B ) with length of 8.4 mm, nearly elongate, triangular, with almost rounded apex and straight costa slightly convex near the apex; upperside rose-gold with yellow tint, yellowish-pink towards the base and costal margin, postmedial line at three-fourths of the forewing length relatively broad, yellow, parallel to the termen, with irregular margin internally bearing a medial dent, giving the upper half a narrower appearance than the lower half; fringes dirty-creamy, with pinkish-grey basal half; underside paler than upperside, with pinkish-yellow scales at the lower half of the marginal area. Hindwing upperside pale yellowish-grey, darker towards the outer margin, with a lighter medial line and a pink tint along the termen, fringes dirty-creamy; underside paler than the upperside.

Abdomen: Yellowish-grey. Female genitalia ( Fig. 5A ‒ C ) with papillae anales having moderate lobes with long setae; ostium bursae relatively broad, less than half length of the width of segment at posterior end; anterior apophyses nearly as long as posterior apophyses; antrum cup-shaped, moderately sclerotized and densely covered with minute sclerotized spines at posterior half, membranous anteriorly, with a V-shaped folding at the posterior end of membranous area, the anterior half relatively shorter than the posterior half ( Fig. 5A, B ); colliculum short, weakly sclerotized, with stronger sclerotized lateral walls; ductus bursae short, membranous, regularly coiled; ductus seminalis emerging from posterior end of ductus bursae, near the junction with colliculum at dorsal side; bursa copulatrix membranous, spherical, with heavily sclerotized rhomboid signum having sclerotized thorns, appendix bursae nearly heart-shaped, emerging from bursa copulatrix opposite to signum ( Fig. 5C ).

Redescription of the male genitalia ( Fig. 5D‒F ). Uncus triangular at base and nearly finger-shaped with blunt tip distally; valvae at distal two-thirds slightly broader than at base, with obliquely rounded tip, fibulae nearly triangular with rounded apex having long setae at both distal and external sides; sacculus well-developed; juxta short, as an inverse V-shaped structure with broad arms; saccus nearly round anteriorly with anterio-medial keel; phallus straight, cornuti as two bunches of small thorns positioned distally.

Distribution. Turkey (Mardin and Sirvan) ( Caradja 1916; Kemal & Koçak 2017; Nuss et al. 2003 –2022).

Remarks 1. The two type specimens of P. delicatalis from Mardin ( Turkey) (coll. MGAB) have forewings with narrower postmedial yellow bands and less visible discoidal spots. Pyrausta delicatalis is somewhat similar to pink coloured Pyrausta spp. , but the basal and medial areas are normally entirely pink, while in similar species the basal area is yellow. The male genitalia are characterized by cornuti formed by two clusters of short spines in the apical part of the phallus. The shape of the cornuti of P. delicatalis is similar in brown coloured Pyrausta species, e.g. P. ferrealis , but the shape of the uncus is different, usually wider. Female genitalia are characterized by the shape of the antrum and colliculum (see below) and are unmistakable for this species.

Remarks 2. This species was described by Caradja (1916) based on two males collected from Mardin ( Turkey) and since then the female remained undescribed. During this study, one male and one female were found in HMIM from Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad (Sisakht) and Fars (Kazerun) Provinces, respectively. Externally, both male and female specimens were similar to each other and to that illustrated by Kemal & Koçak (2017), and their diagnostic features matched with the original description of the species ( Caradja 1916). Therefore, they are considered identical with P. delicatalis Caradja. The female specimen is herewith described and illustrated. Additionally, since no detailed description of the male genitalia was presented by Caradja (1916), a redescription of the male genitalia is also provided.

Length of the forewing in the single examined male deposited in HMIM, is 8.9 mm, ground colour of the forewing is light purple and of the hindwing slightly paler than that of the female. This species is newly reported for the fauna of Iran.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Pyrausta delicatalis Caradja. A, B) Female, upperside (A) and underside (B). D, E) Head of female in lateral (C) and frontal (D) views (scale bar in A, B = 10.0 mm).

FIGURE 5. Genitalia of Pyrausta delicatalis Caradja. A–C) Female genitalia in ventral view (A), antrum (B), bursa copulatrix and appendix bursae (C) (genitalia slide HA-2514, HMIM). D–F) Male genitalia and phallus in ventral and lateral views, respectively (D), distal half of phallus including cornuti (E), and cornuti (F) (genitalia slide for D, E, HA-2514, HMIM; for F 4891 Asb.).