Sesamia incerta ( Walker, 1856 )

Hévin, Noémie M. C., Kergoat, Gael J., Zilli, Alberto, Capdevielle-Dulac, Claire, Musyoka, Boaz K., Sezonlin, Michel, Conlong, Desmond, Van Den Berg, Johnnie, Ndemah, Rose, Le Gall, Philippe, Cugala, Domingos, Nyamukondiwa, Casper, Pallangyo, Beatrice, Njaku, Mohamedi, Goftishu, Muluken, Assefa, Yoseph, Kandonda, Onésime Mubenga, Bani, Grégoire, Molo, Richard, Chipabika, Gilson, Ong’amo, George, Clamens, Anne-Laure, Barbut, Jérôme & Le Ru, Bruno, 2024, Revisiting the taxonomy and molecular systematics of Sesamia stemborers (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Apameini: Sesamiina): updated classification and comparative evaluation of species delimitation methods, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 82, pp. 447-501 : 447-501

Sesamia incerta ( Walker, 1856)

Figures 5 F ; 7 I – L ; 8 C, N ; 9 C , 10

= Sesamia veronica Moyal, 2011 syn. nov.

Leucania incerta – Walker (1856: 103). Sesamia incerta – Tams and Bowden (1953: 676), Poole (1989: 907 [catalogue]). Sesamia veronica – ( Moyal (2011: 424).

Type material.

Holotype ♀, [ REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA], S, [outh] Africa, Sir A. Smith. 44–6, Agrotidae genitalia slide No. 1233, ( NHM).

Other material.

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: three ♂, two ♀, NorthWest Province, Potchefstroom, Boskop Dam , 26 ° 30 ′ 54 ″ S, 27 ° 07 ′ 25 ″ E, 1403 m a. s. l., II. 2006 – II. 2007, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , male gen. prep. MP 29, female gen. prep. MP 30, these two specimens were used to describe the holotype and the paratype of S. veronica Moyal, 2011 , however with wrong data for the GPS coordinates and dates of collection, (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; four ♂, four ♀, Western Cape Province, Olifants River , 33 ° 37 ′ 32 ″ S, 22 ° 13 ′ 15 ″ E, 302 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♂, one ♀, Western Cape Province, Swartberg , R 401- 15 km, 34 ° 09 ′ 02 ″ S, 19 ° 28 ′ 40 ″ E, 283 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♂, Free State Province, Kroonstad , 27 ° 27 ′ 33 ″ S, 27 ° 06 ′ 35 ″ E, 1329 m a. s. l., II. 2007, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, two ♀, Western Cape Province, Heidelberg , 34 ° 05 ′ 49 ″ S, 20 ° 57 ′ 54 ″ E, 80 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♂, five ♀, Western Cape Province, Melkbosstrand , 33 ° 42 ′ 16 ″ S, 18 ° 27 ′ 22 ″ E, 29 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♀, Mpumalanga Province, Dullstroom , 25 ° 25 ′ 18 ″ S, 30 ° 06 ′ 06 ″ E, 2013 m a. s. l., II. 2006, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Western Cape Province, Darling , 33 ° 22 ′ 31 ″ S, 18 ° 22 ′ 47 ″ E, 110 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♀, Free State Province, Winburg , 28 ° 31 ′ 01 ″ S, 27 ° 00 ′ 44 ″ E, 1420 m a. s. l., I. 2007, ex larvae in stems of P. australis , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, Western Cape Province, Velddrif , 32 ° 47 ′ 24 ″ S, 18 ° 11 ′ 24 ″ E, 10 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; five ♂, three ♀, Free State Province, RietVlei , 33 ° 50 ′ 13 ″ S, 18 ° 31 ′ 11 ″ E, 14 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , male gen. Prep. LE RU Bruno / 226, (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♂, Northern Cape Province, Kimberley , 28 ° 42 ′ 17 ″ S, 24 ° 46 ′ 22 ″ E, 1180 m a. s. l., II. 2011, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; three ♂, four ♀, Western Cape Province, George, N 12 x N 9, 33 ° 47 ′ 02 ″ S, 22 ° 20 ′ 04 ″ E, 493 m a. s. l., II. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , male gen. Prep. LE RU Bruno / 225, (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; five ♂, eight ♀, Eastern Cape Province, Queenstown , 31 ° 55 ′ 24 ″ S, 26 ° 49 ′ 46 ″ E, 1041 m a. s. l., XI. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Free State Province, Parys 2, 26 ° 53 ′ 45 ″ S, 27 ° 27 ′ 15 ″ E, 1369 m a. s. l., II. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , female gen. Prep. LE RU Bruno / 316, (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Free State Province, Stilfontein , 26 ° 54 ′ 15 ″ S, 26 ° 48 ′ 37 ″ E, 1395 m a. s. l., III. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, Free State Province, Bloemhof Dam , 29 ° 39 ′ 36 ″ S, 25 ° 40 ′ 06 ″ E, 1237 m a. s. l., II. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Free State Province, Oudedorp , 26 ° 35 ′ 03 ″ S, 27 ° 04 ′ 18 ″ E, 1373 m a. s. l., II. 2007, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, one ♀, Mpumalanga Province, Middelburg-N 4 , 25 ° 40 ′ 20 ″ S, 29 ° 43 ′ 10 ″ E, 1610 m a. s. l., XII. 2010, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, North West Province, Baberspan , 26 ° 34 ′ 02 ″ S, 25 ° 35 ′ 39 ″ E, 1357 m a. s. l., X. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; three ♂, four ♀, Western Cape Province, Wellington, Hauptfleisch , 33 ° 37 ′ 25 ″ S, 18 ° 58 ′ 18 ″ E, 100 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♂, Western Cape Province, Heuningnes River , 34 ° 41 ′ 24 ″ S, 20 ° 01 ′ 57 ″ E, 15 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Western Cape Province, Makassa , 34 ° 03 ′ 45 ″ S, 18 ° 45 ′ 20 ″ E, 12 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Western Cape Province, SoesRivier , 34 ° 20 ′ 38 ″ S, 20 ° 09 ′ 11 ″ E, 95 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, Western Cape Province, Hartenbos , 34 ° 07 ′ 02 ″ S, 22 ° 06 ′ 07 ″ E, 23 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♀, Northwest Province, Bar Baraka , 26 ° 49 ′ 43 ″ S, 27 ° 22 ′ 01 ″ E, 1365 m a. s. l., II. 2014, ex light trap, (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; five ♂, three ♀, Western Cape Province, Waboomskraal , 33 ° 50 ′ 36 ″ S, 22 ° 20 ′ 47 ″ E, 570 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; two ♀, Northwest Province, Harpington , 26 ° 52 ′ 03 ″ S, 27 ° 01 ′ 30 ″ E, 1318 m a. s. l., II. 2006, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, one ♀, Western Cape Province, Karsrivier , 34 ° 29 ′ 09 ″ S, 20 ° 05 ′ 28 ″ E, 40 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) ; one ♂, Western Cape Province, Hankey , 33 ° 50 ′ 18 ″ S, 24 ° 52 ′ 34 ″ E, 135 m a. s. l., XII. 2009, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) [ MNHN] ; four ♂, five ♀, Northern Cape Province, Upington , 28 ° 27 ′ 11 ″ S, 21 ° 15 ′ 54 ″ E, 802 m a. s. l., II. 2016, ex larvae in stems of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. , (B. Le Ru leg.) ( MNHN) .

Diagnosis.

(See also the identification key of incerta subgroup, section 3.4. 2.). This species can be distinguished from the other known members of the incerta subgroup by the combination of the following characters of the male and female genitalia: tegumen with medium-sized, ovoid peniculi; vinculum u-shaped at the outer margin with a large sized saccus, quadrangular; juxta large and conical, the inferior plate shaped like a rounded triangle produced into a sharp point, the sides blunted, the superior plate broad and short, shortly bifid terminally; phallus short and thick, strongly curved in the middle; vesica with a small mushroom-shaped cornutus; ventrolateral plates of female segment A 8 large, sclerotized, lozenge-shaped, the anterior side rounded, at least 1.6 times longer than wide; ostium bursae large, funnel-shaped, weakly sclerotized, with pointed tip on each side, the posterior side shaped like a narrow wavy band; ductus bursae with barely visible slightly more sclerotized elongated areas, at least 10 times longer than wide.

Redescription.

(Fig. 7 I – L ). The species that was described as S. veronica Moyal et al. from the holotype female by Walker (1856) and from a male and a female collected in 2005 (see Moyal et al. 2011) is clearly a synonym of S. incerta . Since 2005, we have collected many S. incerta specimens in the Republic of South Africa and we are redescribing this species with additional material since the male described in Moyal et al. (2011) is atypical. The general shape of the female forewing is more elongated than that of the male; wing patterns similar in both sexes, but males are generally darker. Antenna ochraceous, serrate in the male, filiform in the female, flagellum adorned dorsally with ochraceous scales in both sexes; palpus light brown; eyes brown. Head and thorax covered with long light ochraceous hairs. Abdomen light buff suffused with fuscous scales. Legs ochraceous suffused with fuscous scales. Forewing ochraceous suffused with brown scales, much more in males; three more or less distinct dark brown spots, one antemedial, one at apex of cell and one postmedial; a more or less distinct longitudinal fuscous fascia along lower margin of cell, partly within, partly without cell from base of cell to the subterminal line; one subterminal line with brown elongated markings on the veins; outer margin adorned with more or less visible brown spots between the veins, fringe ochraceous heavily suffused with brown and fuscous scales, basal line of fringe light ochraceous. Hindwing white extensively suffused with fuscous scales over its entire area, particularly in males, veins suffused with brown scales, four brown elongated markings on the veins, fringe concolor (white), basal line of fringe buff. Underside of forewing ochraceous, heavily suffused with brown scales over its entire area but more heavily in the medial area, one elongated brown marking at apex of the cell, another one below the cell, fringe ochraceous heavily suffused with brown and fuscous scales, in males; underside of forewing pale ochraceous slightly suffused with brown scales, fringe ochraceous suffused with fuscous scales, in females. Underside of hindwing white heavily suffused with brown scales, particularly in costa, apex and termen, outer margin adorned with more or less visible brown spots between the veins, fringe concolor (white), in males; underside of hindwing white slightly suffused with fuscous scales in costal and apical areas, outer margin adorned with more or less visible brown spots between the veins, fringe concolor (white), in females. — Forewing length: male 31–36 mm (x ̅ = 33.5 mm, N = 13); female 38–42 mm (x ̅ = 40.1 mm, N = 13). — Male genitalia (Fig. 8 C, N ). Tegumen with medium-sized, ovoid peniculi; vinculum u-shaped at the outer margin and v-shaped at the inner margin without indentation, with a large sized saccus, quadrangular. Valve with sacculus and cucullus separate; costa short and narrow, heavily sclerotized, ending with a stout and short straight spine, sometimes with two small apical teeth; sacculus heavily sclerotized rounded at base, a broad and short apical extension, curved inwards, strongly club-shaped, bearing numerous short and stout spines; cucullus longer than sacculus, weakly sclerotized, slightly clavate at apex, with scattered and papillated hairs; juxta large and conical, the inferior plate shaped like a rounded triangle produced into a sharp point, the sides blunted, the superior plate broad and short, shortly bifid terminally; uncus angled and stout at base, narrowed in distal part, pointed at apex, tufted with long hairs on upper side; phallus short and thick, strongly curved in the middle; lamina ventralis with an elongate carinal crest, produced into paired lateral lobes; vesica with a small mushroom-shaped cornutus. — Female genitalia (Fig. 9 C ). Apophyses anteriores with spatulate tips; ventrolateral plates of female segment A 8 large, sclerotized, lozenge-shaped, the anterior side rounded, at least 1.6 times longer than wide; ostium bursae large, funnel-shaped, weakly sclerotized, with pointed tip on each side, the posterior side shaped like a narrow wavy band; ductus bursae long and narrow, very slightly sclerotized posteriorly, with barely visible slightly more sclerotized elongated areas, at least 10 times longer than wide; corpus bursae elongate, without signa; ovipositor lobes at least 2.1 times longer than wide with dorsal surface bearing numerous short and stout setae, the ventral side of each lobe slightly curved; apophyses posteriores more slender than apophyses anteriores. — L 5 instar larva (Fig. 5 F ). Length 35–40 mm, width 4.0 mm; head smooth, orange brown, prothoracic shield light brown, body with ground colour dark salmon, pinacula and caudal plate light brown. Young larvae are similar in appearance to mature ones.

Distribution.

Republic of South Africa. Known from many localities in different vegetation mosaics (‘ Cape shrubland (Fynbos) ’ (Mosaic # 50), ‘ bushy Karoo-Namib shrubland’ (Mosaic # 51), ‘ grassy shrubland transition from Karoo shrubland to Highveld’ (Mosaic # 57 b), ‘ Highveld grassland’ (Mosaic # 58 )) ( White 1983) (Fig. 10 ) belonging to the Southern African bioregion (sensu Linder et al. 2012).

Ecology.

Larvae were collected from young stems and shoots of Phragmites australis Trin. Ex Steud. growing along rivers or in wetlands inhabited by various Poales belonging to the following genera: Cyperus L., Echinochloa , Miscanthus , Sporobolus and Typha L.

Figures

Figure 5. Last instar larvae of members of the calamistis, incerta and nonagrioides subgroups. A S. calamistis; B S. mapalense sp. nov.; C S. oriaula; D S. epunctifera; E S. firmata; F S. incerta; G S. kamba sp. nov.; H S. penniseti; I S. roumeti. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Figure 7. Adults of the incerta subgroup (S. epunctifera, S. firmata, S. incerta and S. kamba sp. nov.). S. epunctifera: A male upper side; B male underside; C female upper side; D female underside; S. firmata: E male upper side; F male underside; G female upper side; H female underside; S. incerta: I male upper side; J male underside; K female upper side; L female underside; S. kamba sp. nov.: M male upper side; N male underside; O female upper side; P female underside. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Figure 8. Male genitalia of members of the incerta subgroup (dorsal view for apparatus and lateral view for phalli). S. epunctifera: A apparatus; L phallus; S. firmata: B apparatus; M phallus; S. incerta: C apparatus; N phallus; S. kamba sp. nov.: D apparatus; O phallus; S. lalaci sp. nov.: E apparatus; P phallus; S. lusese sp. nov.: F apparatus; Q phallus; S. msowero sp. nov.: G apparatus; R phallus; S. pennipuncta: H apparatus; S phallus; S. penniseti: I apparatus; T phallus; S. poephaga: J apparatus; U phallus; S. simplaria: K apparatus; V phallus. Scale bar = 1 mm for apparatus and 0.5 for phalli.

Figure 9. Female genitalia from members of the incerta subgroup (ventral view). A S. epunctifera; B S. firmata; C S. incerta; D S. kamba sp. nov.; E S. msowero sp. nov.; F S. pennipuncta; G S. penniseti; H S. poephaga; I S. simplaria. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Figure 10. Distribution map of sampled specimens of the incerta subgroup: S. epunctifera, S. incerta, S. kamba sp. nov., S. lusese sp. nov., S. msowero sp. nov.