Lolibaia polythyris, Bartsch & Sáfián, 2019

Bartsch, Daniel & Sáfián, Szabolcs, 2019, Further information on Lolibaia Gorbunov & Gurko, 2017 (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae: Synanthedonini) with description of three new species from tropical Africa, Zootaxa 4559 (2), pp. 339-348 : 345-346

Lolibaia polythyris sp. nov.

Figs 5–6 , 9

Holotype ♀: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, near Drummond 45 km west of Durban , 1 June 1954, L. Vári leg. ( TMSA).

Paratype: 1♀, South Africa, Eastern Cape, East London, Beacon Bay , 21.October 1979 , N.J. Duke (Bartsch gen. slide No. 2018–25) ( TMSA) .

Description. Alar expanse 38 mm, forewing 17 mm, antenna 14 mm and body length 20 mm.

Head: labial palpus dark brown; frons anthracite grey with pearly gloss, some whitish scales laterally; vertex and pericephalic scales dark brown; antenna dark brown, dorso-distal half black, except for a rather short white stripe subdistally.

Thorax and legs: black with steel-blue gloss; patagia dark reddish-brown; tarsus of hind leg distally and all pairs of spurs ventrally white. Wings black, with distinct pattern of opaque and transparent areas; forewing with anterior and longitudinal transparent area short, approximately one third of total wing length, external transparent area ovate rounded, somewhat pointed towards tornus, consisting of 4–5 sub-cells, discal spot and opaque distal half of discal cell fused together form an extremely broad medial spot, apical area present, somewhat translucent, as broad as external transparent area; hindwing with discal spot and distal margin broad, the latter with basad pointing projection between veins CuA2 and CuP.

Abdomen: black, sternites 1 and 2 laterally white.

Female genitalia: Apophysis posterior about one quarter longer than apophysis anterior, the latter twice as long as segment eight; ductus bursae somewhat enlarged, with numerous knobbly, longitudinal folds; corpus bursae round.

Variation. The two specimens vary minimally in size, with alar expanses 37 mm and 38 mm respectively. The paratype has further longitudinal and anterior transparent areas of forewing somewhat longer; external transparent area smaller, not pointing; discal spots of both wings narrower; and basal pointing projection of distal margin of hindwing short and blunt.

Diagnosis. Lolibaia polythyris appears very distinctive, but a confusion with other Lolibaia species cannot be ruled out keeping in mind the fact that females of the congeneric species remain unknown. The main character easily diagnosing this species from its congeners is the entirely black labial palpus, which is red ventrally in all congeners.

Etymology. The name of this species is derived from the ancient Greek polys = many and thyris = window.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Lolibaia polythyris sp. nov., paratype ♀, genitalia. Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURES 5–6. Lolibaia polythyris sp. nov., holotype ♀. Scale = 10 mm.