Marcopoloia Yakovlev & Zolotuhin, 2021

Yakovlev, Roman V. & Zolotuhin, Vadim V., 2021, Revision of the family Metarbelidae (Lepidoptera) of the Oriental Region. V. Genus Marcopoloia Yakovlev & Zolotuhin gen. nov. from the Taiwan Island and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, Ecologica Montenegrina 44, pp. 44-52 : 45-46

Marcopoloia Yakovlev & Zolotuhin gen. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:146D6420-7A74-43BB-880B-4F7D7AC22744

Type species (designated here) Arbela discipuncta Wileman, 1915 .

Description. Male. Size small (wingspan not exceeding 30 mm), gracile type. Antenna bipectinate, setae twice longer than antenna rod diameter. Tip of abdomen with bundle of long modified scales. Color dark. Fore wing with poorly expressed pattern. Hind wing without pattern.

Male genitalia. Uncus long, with parallel edges, apically rounded, not extended, with shallow notch on top; subscaphium long, funnel-like; gnathos arms thin, gnathos poorly expressed; valve short, rounded, with two harpes on saccular edge; juxta robust with short slightly acute lateral processes; saccus tiny with poorly expressed notch on top; phallus shorter than valve, thin, with very robust semicircular cup-like basal process and small (sometimes, spiky) cornutus.

Female (known only for the type species of the genus) slightly bigger than male, color lighter. Antenna bipectinate, setae shorter than in male. Fore wing brown with rounded discal spot, postdiscally with poorly expressed bands. Hind wing without pattern.

Female genitalia. Ovipositor very short, posterior apophyses twice shorter than anterior apophyses, ostium wide, funnel-like, ductus short, membranous, bursa bag-like, without signa.

Diagnosis. The new genus differs from the known genera of Oriental Metarbelidae in the following characters:

- the expressed sexual dimorphism (in this characteristic, it is close to Orgyarbela Yakovlev & Zolotuhin, 2020 );

- the narrow long uncus without expressed extension on top (in this, it is close to Squamura Heylaerts, 1890 ); - the very extended cup-like basal process on the phallus, which is an apomorphic feature of the new genus.

Composition. The genus includes five species: Marcopoloia discipuncta ( Wileman, 1915) comb. nov., M. leloi Yakovlev & Zolotuhin , sp. nov., M. nangmai Yakovlev & Zolotuhin , sp. nov., M. siniaevi Yakovlev & Zolotuhin , sp. nov., and M. thaica Yakovlev & Zolotuhin , sp. nov.

Distribution. Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. South-Easter China and Southern Korea?

Etymology. The new genus is named after Marco Polo (1254− 1324), a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who traveled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, a book that described to Europeans the mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China in the Yuan

Dynasty, giving the first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan and other Asian cities and countries.