Lukeniana timdavenporti 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 : 30-31

Lukeniana timdavenporti Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov.

Figs 5d , 15b , 16f

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6C422A59-F8E9-4478-BEAB-7AE000115A24

Type locality and repository: Kenya, the Museum Witt , Munich, Germany ( MWM, collections are now housed in the ZSM) .

Material examined. Holotype male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, Trans-Nzoia District, Mount Elgon National Park, Chepnyalil Cave , 2,500 m, 24–28 January 1992, A. Lobmayer leg., genitalia slide number 27/082012 I. Lehmann ( MWM) . Paratypes: one male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province , same locality, date and collector, genitalia slide number 26/022012 I. Lehmann ( MWM) ; one male, Kenya Colony , Mount Elgon, eastern side (written as “ö.sid.” on the original label), 2,050 m, 05 March 1948, A. Holm leg., genitalia slide number 17/092012 I. Lehmann ( NRM) .

Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with cream; eyes black in holotype but brown with black patches in paratypes; antenna 0.5 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 5.5 width of shaft, branches and shaft with dense cream-coloured scales dorsally; tips of branches antennal bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre.

Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long hair-like scales of ochre, mixed with dark ochre, shiny. A short crest of ochre and cream-coloured scales on metathorax. Hindlegs ochre with fine, long hair-like scales, shiny; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur ca. 0.9 mm. Forewing length of holotype 13.0 mm (wingspan 29.0 mm). Forewing upperside mainly dark ochre with a broad band of ivory-yellow along termen; costal margin with small spots of sepia; lower median vein of discal cell sepia; entire forewing with striae of sepia and deep olive; a more or less visible broad terminal band of deep olive from near apex to end of CuA 2; striae of sepia along termen; CuA 2 ivory-yellow, edged sepia above; remaining veins are distinctly deep olive; cilia very long, 1.5 mm, ochre and cream-coloured, shiny. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, ochre, glossy, costal margin sepia with few slightly darker small spots. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow, glossy, cilia pure ivory-yellow, very long, 1.6 mm, glossy; underside light ochre, glossy, costal margin not darkened and without striae.

Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, shiny; abdominal tuft short, one-fourth of abdominal length. Genitalia ( Figs 15b ; 16f ) with uncus lobes rounded, outer edge strongly C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally, edge at base of uncus not bent at middle; gnathos arms short (as long as basal width of valva); entire valva broad, ovoid, costa slightly bent and with few setae; sacculus with few long setae; weakly-sclerotized projection setose with a rectangular tip, equal in length with one thick, short thorn-like process below; latter bent and well-developed, hollow, rounded at tip with few minute setae; median sector of valva with scattered setae on inner side; a short, narrow, rectangular emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, occupying 20% of length of valva; ventral side of valva strongly bent at middle. Saccus small, triangular, with slightly acuminate tip. Juxta narrow with acuminate tips and a thorn-like process at each tip. Phallus long, 1.2 length of valva, not trumpet-like, strongly bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at each end.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. The new species has at least three characters unique within the genus: (i) the uncus has the shortest and smallest emargination, i.e., only ca. 25% of the length of the uncus; (ii) the ventral side of the valva is strongly bent at middle; and (iii) the valvae have the most broadest elliptical shape of all species.

Distribution. Lukeniana timdavenporti is known from areas east of the summit of Mount Elgon in the Western Highlands of Kenya but probably also occurs on the western side of Mount Elgon, in Uganda ( Fig. 20b ). The species can be classified an Afromontane near-endemic species.

Habitat. See Appendix 1.

Etymology. Lukeniana timdavenporti is named in honour of Tim Davenport, the Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Tanzania, where he has lived and worked since 1999. Tim has raised over US $ 15 million for conservation, is responsible for the planting of over 1.5 million forest trees in Tanzania, and was recipient of the prestigious Parker-Gentry Award for Conservation in 2008 (Tim Davenport pers. com. to I.L. in 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 5. a. Lukeniana chapmani, holotype, male, Malawi, Southern Region, Mount Mulanje, Likabula; b. L. michaelgrzimeki, holotype, male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Mount Meru, Momella; c. L. michaelgrzimeki, paratype, female, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Mount Meru, Momella; d. L. timdavenporti, holotype, male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, Mount Elgon National Park, Chepnyalil Cave; e. L. mzuzuensis, holotype, male, Malawi, Northern Region, Mzuzu, Nkhorongo; f. L. mzuzuensis, paratype, female, Malawi, Northern Region, Mzuzu, Nkhorongo.

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).

FIGURE 16. a. Lukeniana madrandelei, paratype, male, DRC, Katanga Province, Lubumbashi; b. L. friederikebauerae, paratype, male, Zambia, Lusaka Province, Lusaka; c. L. chapmani, holotype, male, Malawi, Southern Region, Mount Mulanje, Likabula; d. L. michaelgrzimeki, holotype, male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Mount Meru, Momella; e. L. kammeri, holotype, male, Kenya, County Kiambu, Thika; f. L. timdavenporti, holotype, male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, Mount Elgon National Park, Chepnyalil Cave.

FIGURE 20. a. Habitat of Lukeniana enaiposha with Rothschild’s Giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi Lydekker (1903) graze in a woodland site at 1.786 m elevation within Lake Nakuru National Park (Kenya) ca. 1 km south of the lake dominated by tall (> 15 m) and young trees of Acacia xanthophloea Benth. (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) mixed with shrubs of Rhus natalensis Bernh. (Anacardiaceae) (right) and Solanum incanum L. (Solanaceae) (foreground). Picture taken by Shimoni Lehmann in March 2016. b. Between 1600 and 2000 m Lower montane Cassipourea forest sensu Hemp (2006b) covers the slopes of Mount Meru (4.566 m). The picture shows an undisturbed forest of this type comprising trees of Ficus thonningii Blume (Moraceae), Olea capensis L. (Oleaceae) and Ekebergia capensis Sparrm. (Meliaceae) with smaller trees of Vepris simplicifolia (Verd.) Mziray (Rutaceae) and Casearia battiscombei R.E. Fries (Flacourtiaceae). Ferns are present on the ground indicating a wetter site with species of Pteris dentata Forssk. (Pteridaceae) and Asplenium aethiopicum (Burm. f.) Bech. (Aspleniaceae). Note that Lukeniana timdavenporti occurs in a similar habitat on Mount Elgon (Kenya/Uganda), but is not closely related to L. andreashempi and L. michaelgrzimeki, that both occur on Mount Meru. Picture by Dr. Andreas Hemp. c. Habitat of Lukeniana mzuzuensis: wetter, ca. 50 years old Zambezian miombo woodland sensu White (1983) at Nkhorongo (Malawi) with diverse structure, high species diversity, e.g. leguminous trees. The treelet with broad leaves in the bottom right corner is Uapaca nitida Müll. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae); in the centre left is U. kirkiana Müll. Arg.; background trees are Brachystegia utilis Burtt Davy & Hutch., B. floribunda Benth., B. spiciformis Benth. (Fabaceae: Caesalpiniaceae), Uapaca sansibarica Pax., Julbernardia paniculata (Benth.) Troupin (Caesalpiniaceae), Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. & Perr. (Papilionaceae). In the top right centre is Cussonia arborea Hochst. (Araliaceae) with light green leaves. Picture by Raymond Murphy (Nkhorongo), May 2016. d. Road ca. 23 km southeast Mbala (Zambia), close to the habitat of Lukeniana hausmanni, on the Southern African Plateau with northern wet miombo sensu Chidumayo (1997); Brachystegia-Isoberlinia-Julbernardia association mixed with Albizia antunesiana Harms (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae). Picture by Jürgen Lenz (Leipzig), October 2009.