Lukeniana tubiraensis 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 : 19-21

Lukeniana tubiraensis Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov.

Figs 3f , 9e , 13e urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:158874DE-1356-42D8-A039-F7A62D93F8AF

Type locality and repository: Tanzania, the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway ( NHMO) .

Material examined. Holotype male, Tanzania, Kigoma Region, Kigoma District, Tubira Forest , 0501′S, 3006′E, 1.100 m, 28 July 1989, label number 15802, A. Bjørnstad leg., genitalia slide number 16/012012 I. Lehmann ( NHMO) . Paratypes: one male, same data as holotype, label 15715, genitalia slide 21/022012 I. Lehmann ( NMK) ; one male, Tanzania, Mbeya Region, Mbeya District, Mbeya, June 1965, I. Robertson leg., genitalia slide number 23/042012 I. Lehmann ( NMK) .

Description. Male. Head: Ochre and sepia, shiny; long, dense hair-like scales between eyes; eyes black with a vinaceous glint; antennae 0.50 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6.0 width of shaft, branches and shaft covered with ochre scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, scaled, bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre and sepia dorsally.

Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with shiny and long hair-like scales of ochre mixed with sepia. A small crest of sepia on metathorax. Hind legs ochre with shiny, fine hair-like scales of sepia; a pair of narrow tibial spurs of unequal length, outer spur ca. 1.0 mm, inner spur ca. 0.8 mm. Forewing length of holotype 15.0 mm (wingspan 33.0 mm), Forewing upperside with a dark appearance, largely light sepia mixed with ochre; costal margin with four striae of sepia near base of forewing, striae on whole upperside not distinctly coloured, only faded striae towards termen; narrow band of faded sepia along termen, without spots at end of veins; CuA 2 broad, white, edged with a broad band of sepia above; remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia very long, 2.0 mm, ochre with sepia towards tips, shiny. Underside of forewing light ochre, glossy, costa ochre and sepia. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow; cilia and underside as in forewing.

Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow and sepia, glossy; abdominal tuft ca. 30% length of abdomen. Genitalia ( Fig. 13e ) with uncus subrectangular, outer edge slightly C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally; gnathos arms short, subequal o width of valva, not touching coastal margin of valva, bent towards uncus; valva narrow and long, rectangular, costa straight and without setae; sacculus with long setae near base of thorn-like process; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae and a broad rectangular tip, longer than the two thorn-like processes (cf. Fig. 15c for the two processes) below that extending beyond upper edge of weakly-sclerotized projection; thorn-like process strongly curved upward, hollow, acuminate, no dots with tiny setae, narrow at base without second thorn-like process (cf. Fig. 15c for the two processes); median sector of valva with rows comprising short setae on inner side; a short, broad, ovoid emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process for ca. 30% length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus smaller than juxta, finger-like, juxta broader with two acuminate points, a flag-like process at each tip, emargination between points very deep (90% of length of juxta). Phallus long, 1.2 length of valva, not trumpet-like, strongly bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at each end.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Lukeniana tubiraensis is most similar to L. obliqualinea on the basis of the rectangular uncus and the well-developed thorn-like process. Four characters separate L. tubiraensis from the latter species: the forewing upperside has a dark appearance and ground-colour of dark ochre intermixed with sepia (paratypes are slightly less sepia coloured); the thorn-like process is acuminate, strongly curved upward, extending well beyond the weaklysclerotized projection, hence, L. tubiraensis has the longest thorn-like process among species of Lukeniana ( L. obliqualinea has a shorter thorn-like process which does not extend beyond the weakly-sclerotized projection); the gnathos arms are broad and short, almost equal in length to the width of valva, but are longer than in L. obliqualinea ; and the saccus is narrowly finger-shaped in L. tubiraensis but broad with a rounded tip in L. obliqualinea .

Distribution. Lukeniana tubiraensis has a disjunct distribution, occurring in northwest and southwest Tanzania in areas linked to the EARS. It is known from Tubira Forest patches ca. 25 km east of Lake Tanganyika and the Tanganyika Rift. Mbeya, where one paratype was collected, is located within the Rukwa Rift Basin sensu Roberts et al. (2012), ca. 85 km southeast of Lake Rukwa and ca. 250 km east of Lake Tanganyika. Elevations of collecting localities range from 1,090 –1,835 m. The area between Tubira Forest and Mbeya represents a distance of ca. 580 km. Because of its disjunct distribution it is possible that L. tubiraensis occurs in various scattered forest patches located between both localities. Based on its geographic distribution, this species is considered an Afromontane linking species as defined herein.

Habitat. See Appendix 1.

Etymology. The new species is named for the Tubira Forest in northwest Tanzania.

Figures

FIGURE 3. a. Lukeniana enaiposha, holotype, male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, near Lake Naivasha; b. L. obliqualinea, male, Kenya, County Nairobi, Nairobi; c. L. obliqualinea, female, Kenya, County Nairobi, Loresho Ridge; d. L. raymondrevellii, holotype, male, Namibia, Otjozondjupa Region, Ozombanda; e. L. rajaeii, paratype, male, Ethiopia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’Region, Gidole; f. L. tubiraensis, holotype, male, Tanzania, Kigoma Region, Tubira Forest.

FIGURE 9. Wing venation of: a. Zambezia darrelplowesi, female, holotype (Zambezia = subgroup G1 in Lehmann 2019b); b. Lukeniana obliqualinea, female, Kenya, County Nairobi, Ngong (Lukeniana = subgroup G3 in Lehmann 2019b); c. Zambezia madambae, male, holotype; d. Z. diredaouaensis, male, paratype; e. Lukeniana tubiraensis, male, holotype; f. Metarbelodes umtaliana, male, holotype (Metarbelodes = subgroup G2 in Lehmann 2019b). The areole (blue arrows) is a possible plesiomorphy (in Lehmann 2019b, p. 24), the continuous CuP fold (red arrows), partly sclerotized, is a very rare apomorphy (in Lehmann 2019b, p. 25) among species of Metarbelidae. It has been found only in species close to or to the South of the Zambezi River. In the same areas an intact CuP on the forewing occurs only in basal species (as defined by Lehmann 2019b, pp. 24 and 25) of Metarbelidae (Lehmann 2019b). The complete loss of the CuP in the forewing is another apomorphy (Lehmann 2019b, p. 322) that occurs in the majority of species of Metarbelidae in theAfrotropical Region and Oriental Region (seeFigure 39).Drawings by I.L.

FIGURE 13. a. Lukeniana enaiposha, holotype, male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, near Lake Naivasha; b. L. obliqualinea, male, Kenya, County Nairobi, Nairobi; c. L. raymondrevellii, holotype, male, Namibia, Otjozondjupa Region, Ozombanda; d. L. rajaeii, paratype, male, Ethiopia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’Region, Gidole; e. L. tubiraensis, holotype, male, Tanzania, Kigoma Region, Tubira Forest; f. L. lutztoepferi, holotype, male, Kenya, County Nairobi, Ololua Forest.

FIGURE 15. Examples of male genitalia in lateral view: a. Zambezia madambae, paratype, with extremely small thorn-like process and small weakly-sclerotized projection (red arrows); b. Lukeniana timdavenporti, paratype, with strongly bent ventral edge of valva and well developed thorn-like process (red arrows); c. L. bergsteni, paratype, without strongly bent ventral edge of valva and two thorn-like processes (red arrows); d. L. butleri, paratype, with many long setae on valva that appear to be black in colour and one thorn-like process (red arrows).