Yponomeuta puncticornis Walsingham, 1891

Agassiz, David J. L., 2019, The Yponomeutidae of the Afrotropical region (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea), Zootaxa 4600 (1), pp. 1-69 : 7-8

2. Yponomeuta puncticornis Walsingham, 1891 comb. rev.

Hyponomeuta puncticornis Walsingham, 1891: 90

Teinoptila puncticornis (Walsingham, 1891) ; Gershenson & Ulenberg (1998: 101)

Type locality: Mozambique: Delagoa Bay .

Redescription of adult ( Plate 1 ). Wingspan 18–23 mm. Head and appendages pale grey, labial palpus segment 3 black basally above, scape with a black mark above. Thorax pale grey with 5 black spots, tegula pale grey with one black spot. Forewing uniform pale grey with 4–5 rows of black spots, terminal fringe concolorous with wing. Hindwing pale grey, terminal fringe concolorous. Abdomen pale grey, female with blackish scales above genitalia.

Male genitalia ( Plate 7). Uncus with central excavation, socius long curved and slender; tegumen with two lateral appendages; valva ovate, saccus over half of the length of valva, slightly swollen in middle. Aedeagus longer than distance from saccus to socius, narrow, with a weakly defined cornutus, and a few small spines appended to terminal quarter. Pleural lobes with one edge sclerotised.

Female genitalia ( Plate 17 ). Lamella postvaginalis evenly curved, ostium conical, ductus bursae long and scobinate for its whole length, corpus bursae ovoid, signum almost cruciform with spines arranged laterally.

Diagnosis. Distinguished by the uniform smooth ash grey ground colour of the forewings, in the male genitalia by the excavation of the uncus.

Biology. Larvae recorded as swarming on “Mhingi”, enquiries in Tanzania have failed to identify this crop. Also reared from Gymnosporia senegalensis ( Staude et al. 2016) . Adults recorded in Jan, Feb, March, April, July, August and November.

Distribution. Republic of South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Nigeria, The Gambia, Senegal.

Type material. Lectotype ♂ [ Mozambique] Delagoa Bay ii.1894, Druce . Paralectotype ♀ Delagoa Bay ii.1894, Druce ( NHMUK.)

Additional material examined: MOZAMBIQUE: 1 specimen without abdomen, Delagoa Bay /88 ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ Delagoa Bay , Genitalia slides BMNH Microlep 28362 and 28363 ; 1 ♂ Delagoa Bay , Monteiro ; 2 ♂ 1 ♀ and 3 speci- mens without abdomen, L. Marques, Sec. Ent. No. 49 ( TMSA) ; REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: 1 ♂ Barberton , 31.iii.1910, A.J.T. Janse ( TMSA) ; SWAZILAND: 1 ♂ Mlawula , 18.ii.1994, N.J. Duke ( TMSA) ; UGANDA: 2 ♀ Kampala, 6.iv.1936, Hargreaves ; 1 ♂ Kampala, 4.iii.1936, Hargreaves ; 1 ♂ Kampala 5.iv.1965, Chanter ; 1 specimen without abdomen, Mulango , B.E.A.; TANZANIA : 1 ♂ Morogoro, TT bred from Mhingi , 11.xi.1925 “Cater- pillars swarm”, A.H. Ritchie ( NHMUK) ; MALAWI: 1 ♂ Nkhurongo Mzuzu , Mzimba District, 1375 m. 11°23’’S 33°59’’E 2.iv.2009, R.J.Murphy ( TMSA) ; YEMEN: 4 ♂ 2 ♀ Al Hudaydah Prov., Jebel, Burra , 25 km SE of Hajil, 600 m, 23–24.iv.1998, M. Fibiger et al. Slide DA 1561 ♂ ( DJLA) ; KENYA: 5 ♀ Arabuko Sokoke Forest , 10.5 km W Gede 80 m 3°16’’S 38°58’’E 2.iv.2004 leg. J. De Prins MRAC 000006432 , same locality 6.iv.2004 MRAC 000006434 , 8.iv.2004, MRAC 000006430 , 000006429 , 000006433 . NIGERIA 3 ♂ Plateau State, Vom , 11.vii.1991, A.G. Parker ; 3 ♂ 3 ♀: Samaru 21–29.vii.1970, B.J. MacNulty ; 1 ♂ 29.vii.–6.viii.1970, BMNH Microlep 33638 ; 2 ♂ Plateau State, Vom , 11.vii.1991 A.G. Parker ; 1 ♀ N.W. State , Mokwa I.A.R.; SENEGAL : 1 ♀ Sédhiou, 1917, H. Castell, BMNH Microlep 33639 ; THE GAMBIA: 1 specimen without abdomen, Druce No. 96 ( NHMUK) .

Figures

PLATE 1. Yponomeuta species. The bar denotes wingspan.

PLATE 17. Female genitalia