Eremothyris Walsingham, 1897

Huang, Si-Yao, Martin, Geoff & Espeland, Marianne, 2024, Resurrection of the genus Eremothyris Walsingham (Lepidoptera, Zygaenoidea, Lacturidae), Zootaxa 5519 (3), pp. 430-440 : 431-432

Eremothyris Walsingham, 1897 stat. rev.

( Figs 1–4 , 12 , 17, 20 , 22 )

Eremothyris Walsingham, 1897: 47 ;

type species: Eremothyris hollandi Walsingham, 1897: 48 , pl. II, fig. 8.

Checklist of Eremothyris

E. atmocycla ( Meyrick, 1918) comb. n.

E. candidella Viette, 1963

E. griveaudi Gibeaux, 1982

E. hollandi Walsingham, 1897

E. iambiodella Viette, 1958

E. luctuosa Gibeaux, 1982

E. luqueti Gibeaux, 1993

E. primoti Gibeaux, 1993

E. privata ( Meyrick, 1924) comb. n.

E. racemosa ( Meyrick, 1918) comb. n.

E. ratovosoni Gibeaux, 1982

E. sphaerobola ( Meyrick, 1924) comb. n.

E. tabulatrix ( Meyrick, 1930) comb. n.

E. toulgoeti Gibeaux, 1982

E. viettei Gibeaux, 1982

Diagnosis. Members of the genus Eremothyris stat. rev. can be readily distinguished from Gymnogramma species (figs 5–9, 13–15, 18, 23) superficially by the white or grey ground colours on both wings, while in Gymnogramma at least the hindwing is broadly suffused with reddish or pinkish colours. The abdomens of Eremothyris species are white or grey, while in Gymnogramma the abdomens are black dorsally and ochreous red laterally, or thoroughly covered with pinkish or reddish scales. In addition, in most Eremothyris species the forewing bears numerous black or grey dots or dark shades. In the abdominal exoskeleton, Eremothyris species bear a pair of piliform scale bunch, coremata-like, on intersegmental membrane between 3rd and 4th segment in male ( Figs 17, 20 ), whereas such piliform scale bunch are absent in Gymnogramma ( Fig. 18 ). In the male genitalia, the uncus is fused with the tegumen and forming an uncus-tegumen complex in Eremothyris ( Fig. 12 ), while the uncus is well-developed, elongated and separated from the tegumen in Gymnogramma ( Figs 13–15 ). In the female genitalia, in Eremothyris species the 9th and 10th segments are markedly elongated and forming an ovipositor similar to those found in the subfamily Chalcosiinae of the family Zygaenidae , the ductus bursae is narrower and straight (whereas it is broader and spiral in Gymnogramma ) and bears a strongly sclerotized antrum ( Fig. 22 ), which is absent in Gymnogramma ( Fig. 23 ). Eremothyris is similar to the lacturid genera Nosymna Walker, 1864 (type species Nosymna repletella , by monotypy) and Callithrinca Meyrick, 1913 (type species Psecadia evocatella Walker, 1863 , by original designation) in the following aspects: 1) forewing bears pale ground colours (white or grey) and usually, dark patterns in dots and shade as well; 2) abdominal exoskeleton bears piliform scale bunch; 3) uncus is fused with the tegumen in male genitalia and 4) female genitalia bear a narrow and straight ductus and an antrum, and it can distinguished from both genera by the combination of following characters: 1) abdominal exoskeleton bears only one pair of piliform scale bunch as in Callithrinca , while there are two pairs in Nosymna , 2) valvae are unilobate, the distal section of the valvae rodlike and scattered with denticle-like spinules, while in Callithrinca the distal section of the valvae is smoother and only bears two large spikes at the extreme distal end, and in Nosymna the valvae are trilobate, with the main lobe (ventral lobe) ornamented with different kinds of sclerotisation depending on the species examined, and 3) corpus bursae is thoroughly covered with spinules, while in Callithrinca it is covered with granulation and in Nosymna the corpus bursae is membranous and bears two large spiny signa.

Distribution. Across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Figures

FIGURES 1–11. Adults of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 1–4, 6–9 & 11 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 5 is deposited in SMNH (©SMNH catalogue No. NHRS-TOBI000005718); 10 is deposited in RMNH.

FIGURES 12–16. Male genitalia of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 12, 14 & 15 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 13 is deposited in SMNH (©SMNH catalogue No. NHRS-TOBI000005718); 16 is deposited in RMNH.

FIGURES 17–21. Abdominal exoskeleton of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 17 & 18 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 19 is deposited in RMNH. 20 = magnified piliform scale bunch of the fig. 17; 21= magnified piliform scale bunch of the fig. 19.

FIGURES 22–24. Female genitalia of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp.All specimens are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK). For figures 22 & 23: a=whole genitalia; b= magnified area from corpus bursae showing sclerotized structures.