Anaudia Wallengren, 1863

Bartsch, Daniel, 2013, Revisionary checklist of the Southern African Sesiini (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) with description of new species, Zootaxa 3741 (1), pp. 1-54 : 13-14

Anaudia Wallengren, 1863

Type species: Anaudia felderi Wallengren, 1863 , by monotypy.

Literature. Wallengren 1865: 9; Hampson 1919: 112; Dalla Torre & Strand 1925: 175; Gaede 1929: 535; Naumann 1971: 12; Fletcher & Nye 1982: 11; Heppner & Duckworth 1981: 42; Vári, Kroon & Krüger 2002: 67; Pühringer & Kallies 2004: 43.

Redescription. Head small, width of frons about 2× the diameter of the eye; haustellum strongly reduced; labial palpus slightly upturned, ventrally rough, first and third palpomere half the length of the second one, first and second palpomere ventrally and laterally with bristle-like scales; frons rough, in male medially with hair-like scales protruding; vertex with medium long hair-like scales; pericephalic scales short and hair-like; male antenna without pectination, entirely covered with scales and with short, flat lying ciliae ( Figs 94 , 101 ) or short bipectinate, rami with minute ciliae (in A. thyranthrena ); scapus ventrally in both sexes with hair-like scales. Thorax and abdomen covered with smooth scales, thorax and first two tergites of the male additionally with dense, hair-like scales; anal tuft well developed, but short. Legs, except for tarsus, with dense, hair-like scales, which are distinctly longer in male; all pairs of spurs with lateral one almost half as long as mesal one. Wings mainly opaque, male hindwing basally transparent. Wing venation ( Fig. 86 ) of the typical configuration of Sesiini ; forewing with crossvein reduced; veins R1–R3 approximated, R4 and R5 with common stalk of variable length, veins R5–M3 arise equally spaced; M3 and CuA1 of hindwing short stalked. As an exception, the common stalk of R4 and R5 is almost absent in the somewhat aberrant right forewing of the holotype of A. felderi , which is why these veins were described as arising from a common point by Wallengren (1863) and Gaede (1929).

Male genitalia ( Figs 113–114 ). Tegumen rather long and broad; gnathos absent; uncus short, narrower than tegumen, distal half of ventro-lateral margins with short rows of strong, thorn-like setae; valva short, ovoid, distally with long hairs, dorso-distally with a dense patch of strong, thorn-like setae; juxta broad, well sclerotized; manica densely covered with strong spines; vinculum with narrow processes vinculi that are dorsally fused with tegumen, ventrally forming a short and broad saccus; phallus straight, distally slightly narrowed, with well developed, rounded coecum penis; vesica simple, proximally bulbous and covered with short spines.

Female genitalia ( Figs 124–126 ). Papillae anales and segment eight short and broad; lamella postvaginalis simple, triangular; posterior apophyses apically broadened, about twice the length of anterior pair, which is nearly as long as segment eight; ostium located within a wide, membranous pouch between segments seven and eight; antrum and ductus bursae short and broad, membranous throughout; ductus bursae gradually enlarged to form an oval bursa copulatrix without signum, ductus seminalis diverges near the bursa copulatrix.

Diagnosis. The genus can be defined by: (1) male genitalia without gnathos; (2) valva short, ovoid, with dorsodistal patch of thorn-like setae; (3) manica with strong spines; (4) female with ostium located in a wide, membranous pouch anterior of segment eight.

Thorn-like setae of the valva, similar to those in Anaudia , are present in Austrosetia , Felderiola and Monopetalotaxis . The first two genera share further features of external appearance and life history with Anaudia , in particular the distinct sexual dimorphism and the preference for Fabaceae species as larval host plants. Despite these striking similarities, these genera differ significantly from each other in their genital structures of both sexes as well as in their DNA barcodes ( Anaudia – Austrosetia 9.84–10.01%; – Felderiola 9.33–9.75%; – Monopetalotaxis 11.47%) (tab. 1), which suggests closely related but distinct lineages. All three genera differ from Anaudia by the structure of the male antenna, which is short bipectinate or without pectination in Anaudia , bipectinate with extremely long rami in Austrosetia , unilaterally pectinate in Felderiola and Monopetalotaxis . Furthermore, males of Austrosetia and Felderiola differ by the well-developed transparent areas of the wings. The genitalia are most diagnostic. Males of Anaudia can be recognized by the ovoid shape of the valva, which is rectangular in Austrosetia , narrower, distally turned dorsad in Felderiola , and “mushroom-shaped” in Monopetalotaxis . The genera compared differ further by the arrangement of the thorn-like setae of the valva, which are dorso-distally located in Anaudia and Austrosetia , centrally to ventro-distally in Felderiola and distally in Monopetalotaxis . The vesica is membranous and without sclerotization in Anaudia , with short teeth in Austrosetia , and with a strong sclerotized, U-shaped structure in Felderiola and Monopetalotaxis . Females of Anaudia are well defined by the unique pouch-like shape of the ostium, further by the very short and broad, membranous antrum, which is rather similar, but longer in Felderiola , distinctly narrower and longer, partially sclerotized in Austrosetia and Monopetalotaxis . Further, the apophyses anteriores are half as long as the apophyses posteriores in Anaudia and Austrosetia , somewhat shorter in Monopetalotaxis , and of equal length in Felderiola .

Distribution and life history. Anaudia was described from northern Botswana and is here also recorded for the first time from the South African part of the Kalahari and from the Cape region. The larvae of A. felderi were found to bore in the rootstock of Sutherlandia frutescens (Fabaceae) . This resembles perfectly the behaviour of species in the Palaearctic genus Bembecia Hübner [1819] (Synanthedonini) , a remarkable case of convergence. A distinct difference to Bembecia is the absence of a silken membrane that closes the pupal chamber.

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 113–114. Male genitalia of Anaudia Walker, 1856: (113) A. felderi Wallengren, 1863; (114) A. thyranthrena new sp, 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.