Austrosetia Felder & Felder, 1874

Bartsch, Daniel, 2013, Revisionary checklist of the Southern African Sesiini (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) with description of new species, Zootaxa 3741 (1), pp. 1-54 : 16-17

Austrosetia Felder & Felder, 1874

Type species: Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874: 2 , by monotypy.

Literature. Hampson 1919: 59; Dalla Torre & Strand 1925: 8; Naumann 1971: 12; Heppner & Duckworth 1981: 28; Fletcher & Nye 1982: 20; Vári, Kroon & Krüger 2002: 67; Pühringer & Kallies 2004: 43.

Redescription. Medium sized robust clearwing moths with distinct sexual dimorphism. Head rather small, width of frons somewhat less than 2× the diameter of the eye; haustellum strongly reduced non-functional; labial palpus proximally slightly upturned, otherwise straight, first palpomere half as long as second one, third one short, ventrally and laterally interspersed with bristle-like scales; frons rough, smooth, adjacent to eyes pure white; vertex with long, tousled, hair-like scales; pericephalic scales short and hair-like; male antenna bipectinate, rami extremely long, extending to tip, with minute ciliae (rami tightly fitted in pinned specimens) ( Figs 95 , 102 ); female antenna slightly clavate, without ciliae; scapus in both sexes ventrally with hair-like scales, which are more dense in male. Thorax and abdomen robust, scales predominantly smooth, at thorax, legs and abdominal tergites 1–3 densely mixed with long, hair-like scales, much more prominent in male, anal tuft well developed. Legs robust; male coxa, femur and tibia of all legs covered with long hair-like scales; fore coxa in male white, in female bright yellow. Male wings with transparent areas, forewing with anterior one having a longitudinal row of scales indicating the position of the reduced median stem; hindwing hyaline with narrow margins and discal spot. Wing venation ( Fig. 87 ) without distinct specializations; forewing R1 and R2 approximated, R4 and R5 stalked, R4 extends to wing apex, all veins from M1 to Cu1 arise equally spaced from crossvein; hindwing M3 and Cu1 shortstalked.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 115 ). Tegumen long and broad; gnathos reduced; uncus short, nearly as broad as tegumen, distal half of ventro-lateral margins with strong, thorn-like setae; valva broad, rectangular, sparsely covered with short hairs, dorso-distally with a dense patch of strong, thorn-like setae; juxta very broad, well sclerotized; valva and juxta partly fused; manica ventrally with a dense field of overlapping spines; processes vinculi narrow and dorsally fused with tegumen, ventrally with valva, forming a specialized, laterally flattened, pointed saccus; phallus narrow, slightly down curved, distally tapering, with short and pointed coecum penis; vesica membranous, proximally bulbous.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 126 ). Papillae anales rather long and narrow; segment eight broad, lamella postvaginalis very prominent, trapezoid; posterior apophyses about twice the length of anterior pair, which is nearly as long as the width of segment eight; ostium narrow; ductus bursae narrow, of medium length, with long and narrow, sclerotized antrum, gradually enlarged to form an oval bursa copulatrix without signum.

Diagnosis. The genus can be recognized by the combination of: (1) male without gnathos; (2) valva broad, rectangular, with dorso-distal patch of thorn-like setae; (3) juxta and valva as well as processes vinculi and valva partly fused; (4) manica with dense, overlapping spines; (5) saccus specialized, laterally flattened, pointed; (6) female with very prominent, trapezoid lamella postvaginalis. The modified saccus, the partly fused genitalia sclerites of the male, and the very prominent lamella postvaginalis of the female are presumed autapomorphies of Austrosetia . Due to similarities in life history and habitus Austrosetia appears closely related to Anaudia and Felderiola , but it differs distinctly in the structure of the male antenna and the genitalia of both sexes. For differentiation see diagnosis of Anaudia .

Remarks. For a long time Austrosetia was considered a junior synonym of Synanthedon Hübner, [1819] (e.g. Hampson 1919, Heppner & Duckworth 1981). It was resurrected from synonymy and listed unassigned to a tribe by Pühringer & Kallies (2004). Following Nässig & Speidel (2007), Cajetan and Rudolph Felder are the authors of “Heterocera” figured on plates 75–107 ( Felder & Felder 1874) and hence of Austrosetia .

Distribution and life history. The sole species is only known from the Cape region of South Africa. The larva is a root borer in Psoralea glabra (Fabaceae) .

Figures

FIGURES 92–98. Male antennae: (92) Alonina pyrocraspis (Hampson, 1910); (93) Alonina rygchiiformis Walker, 1856; (94) Anaudia felderi Wallengren, 1863; (95) Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874; (96) Felderiola candescens (Felder & Felder, 1874); (97) Monopetalotaxis doleriformis (Walker, 1856); (98) Hagnogyna bartschi (Freina, 2011).

FIGURES 99–106. Scanning electron microscope pictures of antennae: (99) Cicinnoscelis flavipes new sp., #f holotype; (100) Alonina rygchiiformis Walker, 1856; (101) Anaudia felderi Wallengren, 1863; (102) Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874; (103) Felderiola karooensis new sp.; (104) Monopetalotaxis doleriformis (Walker, 1856); (105) Hagnogyna bartschi (Freina, 2011); (106) Sesia bembeciformis (Hübner, 1803).

FIGURES 84–91. Wing venations: (84) Cicinnoscelis longipes Holland, 1893; (85) Alonina rygchiiformis Walker, 1856; (86) Anaudia felderi Wallengren, 1863, syntype; (87) Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874; (88) Felderiola candescens (Felder & Felder, 1874); (89) Monopetalotaxis doleriformis (Walker, 1856); (90) Hagnogyna sanguicosta (Hampson, 1919); (91) Vespanthedon cerceris Le Cerf, 1917, holotype.

FIGURES 115–116. Male genitalia: (115) Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874; (116) Vespanthedon cerceris Le Cerf, 1917, holotype.

FIGURES 124–126. Female genitalia of Anaudia Walker, 1856 and Austrosetia Felder & Felder, 1874: (124–125) Anaudia felderi Wallengren, 1863 (124 syntype); (126) Austrosetia semirufa Felder & Felder, 1874.