Vespanthedon Le Cerf, 1917

Bartsch, Daniel, 2013, Revisionary checklist of the Southern African Sesiini (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) with description of new species, Zootaxa 3741 (1), pp. 1-54 : 27

Vespanthedon Le Cerf, 1917

Type species: Vespanthedon cerceris Le Cerf, 1917 , by monotypy.

Literature. Le Cerf 1917: 329; Hampson 1919: 77; Dalla Torre & Strand 1925: 119; Gaede 1929: 527; Naumann 1971: 31; Fletcher & Nye 1982: 168; Heppner & Duckworth 1981: 42; Vári, Kroon & Krüger 2002: 67; Pühringer & Kallies 2004: 45.

Redescription. Medium sized with wingspan 26–30 mm. Head with frons 1.5× the diameter of the eye; haustellum of medium length, weakly sclerotized; labial palpus upturned, reaching at least up to antenna base, second palpomere somewhat longer than other ones, first and second palpomere ventrally with long, hair-like scales; male antenna short, clavate, bipectinate, ciliate, rami short, distally tapering, lacking at tip; female antenna without pectination or ciliae. Thorax and abdomen slender, smooth scaled; abdominal segments 2 and 3 of the male somewhat constricted, forming a weak ‘wasp-waist’; anal tuft narrow, abdomen of the female spindle-shaped. Legs smooth scaled; hind leg as long as abdomen; all pairs of spurs with lateral ones half as long as mesal ones. Wings narrow, partially hyaline; forewing with costal area and costal parts of cell and apical area opaque; discal spots indistinct; that of hindwing very short and small. Wing venation ( Fig. 91 ) with forewing veins R1–R3 approximated, R4 and R5 stalked, veins from common stalk of R4/R5 to CuA2 arise equally spaced from cross vein; hindwing with common stalk of M3 and CuA1.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 116 ). Tegumen rather slender, medio-distally somewhat laterally constricted; gnathos of unique, triangular, mitre-like shape; uncus short, basally narrow, ventro-lateral margins densely covered with multifurcate, scale-like, basad pointing setae; valva rectangular, margins almost straight, dorsal one somewhat convex, ventral one slightly concave, inner surface of valva distally and dorsally with numerous broad, multifurcate, scale-like setae and medio-ventrally with short, distally with ventral margin connected crista sacculi, which has distally a distinct tooth-like protrusion; juxta broad, very short protruded, manica with numerous sclerotized spines; saccus long, very narrow, apically rounded; phallus straight, narrow with short coecum penis; bulbous dorso-proximal part of vesica with numerous fine spines.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Putative synapomorphies are: (1) antenna very short, bipectinate, rami lacking at tip; (2) gnathos present, with unique, mitre-like shape; (3) setae of valva large, multifurcate, scale-like; (4) wings very narrow, hindwing tornus and anal veins somewhat reduced; (6) costal part of cell opaque.

Similar, scale-like setae of the valva are only known in Sphecosesia Hampson, 1910 from Southeast Asia ( Kallies & Arita 2004). Species of this genus have also narrow wings and short antennas, but differ distinctly by the strongly wasp-waisted abdomen, the rough and short scales of the first and the smooth scales of the second palpomere rather than long, hair-like scales in Vespanthedon . The male genitalia of Sphecosesia have the uncus lobes very large (small in Vespanthedon ) and lack the crista sacculi of the valva (present in Vespanthedon ).

Distribution. Insufficiently known; Vespanthedon cerceris and V. chalciphora occur in Mozambique and Malawi, respectively.

Figures

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.