Udea kirinyaga Mally, 2022

Mally, Richard, Aarvik, Leif, Karisch, Timm, Lees, David C. & Malm, Tobias, 2022, Revision of Afrotropical Udea Guenee in Duponchel, 1845, with description of five new species of the U. ferrugalis (Huebner, 1796) group (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Spilomelinae), Nota Lepidopterologica 45, pp. 315-353 : 315

Udea kirinyaga Mally sp. nov.

Figs 4 , 14 , 24

Type locality.

Kenya, Central Province, Mt. Kenya southern slope, Castle Forest Lodge, 0°22'51"S, 37°18'34"E, 2070 m.

Material examined.

Holotype: Kenya • 1 ♂; Central Province , Mt. Kenya southern slope, Castle Forest Lodge; 2070 m a. s. l.; 0°22.85'S, 37°18.5667'E; 5-7 Dec. 2010; L. Aarvik & D. Agassiz leg.; DNA voucher ZMBN Lep 135; Mally genitalia dissection no. 950; unique specimen identifier NHMO 612835; NHMO.

Diagnosis.

Udea kirinyaga is clearly distinct in maculation from U. ferrugalis (Fig. 2 ), U. delineatalis (Fig. 1 ) and U. meruensis (Fig. 7 ), most prominently so in the postmedial line, which runs from the costa inwards towards the distal discoidal stigma, whereas in the other species this part of the postmedial line softly bends towards the termen. Udea kirinyaga has a superficial resemblance to Achyra melanostictalis (Fig. 9 ), but the forewing ground colour is more yellowish, with a weak ante- and postmedial lines, and a broad diffuse subterminal band; the hindwings are pale cream-white apart from the outer margin and have a diffuse discal spot. In the male genitalia, U. kirinyaga (Fig. 24 ) is distinguished from U. meruensis (Fig. 26 ) in the rounder, U-shaped saccus, the more elongate juxta with straight sides, and the claw-shaped, pointed main cornutus in the phallus. It is distinguished from U. ferrugalis (Fig. 22 ) by the shape of the main cornutus, which is blunt and thumb-shaped in U. ferrugalis ; furthermore, U. ferrugalis exhibits strongly sclerotised “horns” on each side of the juxta apically. The species is distinguished from the Eurasian U. accolalis by the fibulae, which are shorter and straighter in U. accolalis (see e.g., Slamka 2013, pl. 21).

Description of adults.

Head: Brownish-beige; labial palps porrect, triangular, extending forward somewhat longer than eye diameter, dorsal and outer sides brown, darker at eye, ventral and inner sides as well as outer side’s base of first meron and a narrow ventral area on second meron beige; maxillary palps well developed but short, barely long enough to touch each other at apex, base dark brown, terminal meron with spatulate brush of beige scales; haustellum fully developed, basally with cream-coloured scales; frons beige, flatly rounded; compound eyes large, hemispherical; antennae ochre-brown, scapus short, pedicellus large, somewhat swollen, flagellum in male anteroventrally with dense ciliation about one third the flagellum width; vertex in centre and behind ocelli with tuft of long cream-coloured scales. Thorax: Prothorax and tegulae ochre-brown, meso- and metathorax as well as legs beige, fore- and midlegs with front of femur and tibia brownish. Midleg with outer tibial spur half as long as inner, hindlegs’ proximal spur pair with inner spur very long, outer spur minute, distal spur pair with outer spur 2/3 length of inner one. Wings: (Fig. 4 ) Forewing length of male 11 mm. Single frenulum bristle in male, condition unknown in female. Forewings with ochre to cream-brown ground colour. Faint brownish antemedian line leaving costa at 1/5 obliquely outward, after 1/3 abruptly directed straight towards anal margin. Discoidal stigmata dark brown, proximal one small, circular, distal one larger, roughly circular to short comma-shaped. Anal centre of wing with a slightly darker half-circle, slightly skewed towards - and almost reaching - proximal discoidal stigma. Postmedian line brown, only costal part clearly formed, where it leaves the costa at 2/3 straight inward towards distal end of distal discoidal stigma, then too faded to trace. Subterminal line a broad diffuse brown band slightly arching inwards from subapex to subtornus, on terminal side fading into subterminal area; subterminal area a lighter ochre than in proximal wing, suffused with brown scales; apical costa with two brown markings, one in apex and one slightly more proximal on costa. Veins on outer margin marked with brown dots. Brownish fringe. Hindwing ground colour cream; diffuse brown proximal discoidal stigma, indistinct distal discoidal stigma with a very faint postmedian line connecting it to the costa. Outer margin blurred light brown, broad at apex, narrowing towards tornus; veins on outer margin with dark markings; fringe a lighter brown than in forewing. Ventral wing sides like dorsal sides, but somewhat darker and maculation more contrasted, with area proximal of postmedian line dark brown versus lighter brown area distal of it, and subtornal area cream; postmedian line in hindwing continued below distal discoidal stigma as line of dark brown dots trailing off towards anal area. Abdomen: Ochre to cream-brown like forewing ground colour, first segment and posterior end of mid-segments cream-coloured like hindwings. Tympanal organs (Fig. 14 ) with lobulus well developed, almost as long as broad. Male genitalia: (Fig. 24 ) Ovate uncus head with stiff bifid, anteriad directed chaetae on dorsal surface, neck slender, elongate, base of uncus broadly attached to tegumen and each side with a small dorsolaterad protrusion, connection to tegumen laterally notched; tegumen roughly rectangular, ventrally somewhat widening; transtilla with wide rounded base and elongate triangular arms, dorsal margin folded over; vinculum large, together with saccus forming an oval; saccus broad U-shaped, with a sharp short ventrad keel and a transverse arch dorsal of keel; juxta large, plate-like, roughly hexagonal, with narrow longitudinal membranous “notch” in ventral half medially; valvae long, elongate, slender, narrowest at ca. 2/3 of costa from costa base; costa straight, apex obtusely rounded, ventral valva margin concave in apical half, at sacculus convex; sacculus broad elongate, with a broad triangular protuberance reaching base of costa and close to base of fibula; fibula emerging near costa base from a triangular base, forming a slender ventrad fang-like structure bending away from sacculus base, not reaching ventral valva margin. Phallus slender, thinnest in mid-section, anteriorly with very short coecum; vesica with short, claw-shaped cornutus emerging from a drop-shaped base, and with a broad field of numerous tiny cornuti posteriad of large cornutus (in uneverted vesica). Female genitalia: Unknown.

Distribution.

So far only known from the type locality, Mount Kenya in Kenya.

Etymology.

The species is named after Kirinyaga, the Kikuyu name for Mount Kenya.

Genetic data.

The DNA of the holotype was extracted and is stored as Lepidoptera DNA sample no. 135 in the DNA collection of the ZMBN. 1,459 base pairs of the mitochondrial COI gene (GenBank accession number ON206730) and 363 base pairs of the nuclear wingless gene (GenBank accession number ON206634) have been sequenced from that DNA sample to be included in the phylogenetic analysis. A search against the COI full database on BOLD resulted in two closest matches of 97.22% similarity of two unidentified Udea specimens, one from Gauteng, South Africa (Sample ID BIOUG08930-B05) and the other from W-Bulgaria (Sample ID BIOUG15079-B07). The next-closest matches are of U. ferrugalis at 96.19-96.3%, of U. delineatalis at 96.25% and of U. stellata (Butler, 1883) at 96.19%.

Remarks.

The species is placed in the U. ferrugalis species group (sensu Mally and Nuss 2011) based on the males exhibiting one of the two apomorphies for the group: the presence of a cluster of small cornuti on the vesica. The second apomorphy concerns female genitalia, which are not available for study at this time.

Figures

Figures 1 - 5. Adults of Afrotropical Udea species. 1. U. delineatalis (Walker in Melliss 1875); a. ♂ (SDEI); b. cotype ♀ (NHMUK); 2. Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyrick, 1937 syn. nov. of U. ferrugalis (Huebner, 1796), paralectotype ♀ (NHMUK); 3. U. hageni Viette, 1952, ♂ (NHMO); 4. U. kirinyaga Mally, sp. nov., holotype ♂ (NHMO); 5. U. momella Mally, sp. nov., holotype ♂, abdomen removed (ZSM). Scale bar represents 5 mm, all specimens to scale.

Figures 11 - 20. Tympanal organs of Afrotropical Udea species and species removed from Udea. 11. U. delineatalis (Walker in Melliss 1875), ♂; 12. U. ferrugalis (Huebner, 1796), ♂; 13. U. hageni Viette, 1952, ♂; 14. U. kirinyaga Mally, sp. nov., ♂; 15. U. momella Mally, sp. nov., ♂; 16. U. nicholsae Mally, sp. nov., ♀; 17. U. meruensis Mally, sp. nov., ♂; 18. U. namaquana Karisch & Mally, sp. nov., ♂; 19. Achyra melanostictalis (Hampson in Poulton 1916), ♀; 20. Lirabotys infuscalis (Zeller, 1852), ♂. Scale bar represents 500 μm, all figures to scale.

Figures 24 - 26. Male genitalia of Udea species, with male genitalia (a), phallus (b), and posterior phallus with cornutus (c). 24. U. kirinyaga Mally, sp. nov.; 25. U. momella Mally, sp. nov.; 26. U. meruensis Mally, sp. nov. Scale bars: 500 μm (24 a, b- 26 a, b); 200 μm (24 c- 26 c).

Figures 6 - 10. Adults of Afrotropical Udea species and species removed from Udea. 6. U. nicholsae Mally, sp. nov., a. holotype ♀ (ZSM); b. paratype ♀ (ZSM); 7. U. meruensis Mally, sp. nov., holotype ♂ (NHMO); 8. U. namaquana Karisch & Mally, sp. nov., a) holotype ♂ (SDEI), b) paratype ♀ (SDEI); 9. Achyra melanostictalis (Hampson in Poulton 1916), lectotype ♀ (OUMNH); 10. Lirabotys infuscalis (Zeller, 1852), holotype ♂ (NHRS). Scale bar represents 5 mm, all specimens to scale.

Figures 21 - 23. Male genitalia of Udea species, with male genitalia (a), phallus (b), and posterior phallus with cornutus (c). 21. U. delineatalis (Walker in Melliss 1875); 22. U. ferrugalis (Huebner, 1796); 23. U. hageni Viette, 1852. Scale bars: 500 μm (21 a, b- 23 a, b); 100 μm (21 c- 23 c).