Lukeniana andreashempi Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann, 2023

Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, Revision of the Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 genus-group (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) with descriptions of two new genera and 33 new species from high elevations of eastern and southern Africa, Zootaxa 5267 (1), pp. 1-106 : 45

Lukeniana andreashempi Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov.

Figs 7e , 17d

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:65E1D339-BAEA-43F9-BADC-006DBB1E7618

Type locality and repository: Tazania , the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi ( NMK) .

Material examined. Holotype male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Arumeru District, Mount Meru , 03°14′48″S, 36°50′37″E, 1,677 m (corrected elevation based on label data is 1,715 m), 31 January 2010, S.C. Collins leg., genitalia slide number 28/012012 I. Lehmann ( NMK).

Description. Male. Head: ochre; eyes brown with small black patches; antenna 0.55× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6× width of shaft, covered with ivory-yellow scales laterally, shaft covered with ivoryyellow scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, and with two slightly longer scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre.

Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long shiny hair-like ochre scales. Small ivory-yellow metathoracic crest. Hindlegs ochre with fine shiny hair-like scales; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur 0.9 mm. Forewing length 11.0 mm (wingspan 24.0 mm). Forewing upperside largely pale orange-yellow mixed with ochraceous-orange towards base; very few ochre striae present near termen; costal margin sepia with very few ochre striae; termen without lunules, glossy; CuA 2 very broad, pure white, edged sepia band above 1/3 width of white band; 1A+2A sepia near base; remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia very long, 1.7 mm, ivory-yellow, shiny; underside ivory-yellow and ochre along costa, glossy. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow with pure white, glossy; cilia concolorous with forewing, very long, 1.7 mm; underside as in forewing.

Abdomen: Mainly ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, shiny; abdominal tuft short, ca. one-fifth abdominal length. Genitalia ( Fig. 17d ) with rounded uncus lobes, outer edge C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with both short and long setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus not bent at middle; gnathos arms long, ca. 1.3× basal width of valva, and almost touching coastal margin of valva, slightly bent towards uncus; valva very broad at base, ovoid, costa without setae; sacculus with few short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae and broad rectangular tip, slightly shorter than single thick, short thorn-like process below, latter only slightly bent, hollow, with rounded tip and no dots with tiny setae, base broad with a second thorn-like process, ventral edge not S-shaped near base; median sector of inner valva with scattered short setae; a long, broad, ovoid emargination extending ca. 40% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus finger-shaped, shorter than length of juxta, latter broad with two acuminate tips, each bearing a thorn-like process, emargination between tips 90% length of juxta. Opposite saccus a rectangular plate. Phallus long, 1.2× length of valva, slightly trumpet-like, bent near middle, bilobate with a cleft at each end.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Lukeniana andreashempi is most similar to L. bergsteni and L. utaheidenreichae ; the three share a similarly rounded shape of the uncus lobes and ovoid, broad-based valvae. Lukeniana andreashempi can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: (i) the forewing upperside largely pale orange-yellow mixed with ochraceous-orange (such colours are unique among Lukeniana species treated here); (ii) the valva lacking a S-shaped ventral edge near the base of the broad, thorn-like process, unlike the S-shaped ventral side near the base of the thorn-like process in L. bergsteni and L. michaelgrzimeki ; (iii) the costal margin of the valva more strongly bent downwards (like a deep “C”) in L. andreashempi ; (iv) the uncus with the widest emargination among all three species, three times broader than the tip of uncus; and (v) the basal edge of the uncus strongly bent at the middle in L. bergsteni , but straight in L. andreashempi

Distribution. Lukeniana andreashempi is known from Mount Meru ( Tanzania), the southeastern foothills and slopes of which support Dry transitional montane forest (sensu White 1983). This species can be classified as an Afromontane near-endemic species.

Habitat. See Appendix 1.

Etymology. The new species is named in honour of Dr. Andreas Julius Hemp, University of Bayreuth, a botanist whose research on the Chagga home gardens on Mount Kilimanjaro documented both high biodiversity and an ancient and sustainable form of agroforestry where degradation of the native biota is rare, despite rapid population growth. We are very grateful to Andreas and to his wife Claudia for providing information on the vegetation of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, and for several photographs presented herein.

Figures

FIGURE 7. a. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni, holotype, male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Game Ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft, 1.5 km west from the Lukenia Hills; b. L. mikerobertsi, holotype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy, “Kambi ya Simba”; c. L. mikerobertsi, paratype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Mpala Research Centre, Site 1; d. L. mikerobertsi, paratype, female,

FIGURE 17. a. Lukeniana utaheidenreichae, holotype, male, Mozambique, Manica Province, Barr De Chikamba Real; b. L. georgeadamsoni, holotype, male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Game Ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft, 1.5 km west from the Lukenia Hills; c. L. mikerobertsi, holotype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy, “Kambi ya Simba”; d. L. andreashempi, holotype, male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Mount Meru; e. L. kakamegaensis, holotype, male, Kenya, Western Province, Kakamega; f. L. jankiellandi, holotype, male, Tanzania, Katavi Region, Luega village.