Teuloma bajawica, Spitsyn & Bolotov & N. & . & . & . & . & . & ., 2020

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Bolotov, Ivan N., N., ., ., ., ., .,. & ., ..., 2020, Teuloma bajawica sp. nov. from Flores Island, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Ecologica Montenegrina 31, pp. 35-39 : 35-38

Teuloma bajawica sp. nov.

Figs 1-2

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:78E7D109-FF1F-4C4C-B5CE-3DC12046A4E9

Holotype. INDONESIA: East Nusa Tenggara Islands, Flores Island, Bajawa , Wolokoro Ecolodge , 08º49'02"S, 120º56'03"E, altitude 1020 m, heavily disturbed monsoon forests and eucalyptus plantings, 28- 31.i.2020, 1♂, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. [ RMBH Sph0842].

Paratypes. INDONESIA: the type locality, the same date and collectors as for the holotype, 4♂ [ RMBH Sph0844 – Sph0847]; Flores Island , Bajawa, Manulalu Ecolodge, 8º51'45"S, 120º59'40"E, altitude 1100 m, eucalyptus plantation with fragmented areas of natural vegetation, 01-02.ii.2020, 1♂, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. ( RMBH Sph0843) .

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to T. nebulosa (Walker, 1862) [northeastern India, southern China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo], T. divisa (Walker, 1862) [Borneo], and T. setiniformis (Hampson, 1900) [Java] by having a dark-brown transverse line on the forewing. However, it can be distinguished from T. divisa and T. setiniformis by having a transverse line with a bend in the middle of this line towards the forewing termen (vs. an opposite bend towards the forewing base); from T. nebulosa by having a straighter transverse line on the forewing without an acute angle in the middle of this line; from T. setiniformis by the lack of black spots on the thorax and tegula; and from T. nebulosa and T. divisa by having shorter dark-gray longitudinal stripes between veins in the submarginal area of the forewing. The novel species can be distinguished from other species of the genus by having bright yellowish-orange ground color of the forewing. It also has differences from most other Teuloma species in the male genitalia structure, i.e. it shares an elongated valva expanding beyond the tegumen (vs not expanding beyond the tegumen). T. neooblitterans N. Singh, Joshi & Kirti, 2019 [ India; the type locality: Nagaland, Tuensang] shares the same elongated valve as the new species but the former species has a deep groove on the juxta.

Description. Male morphology: Wingspan 23−25 mm, forewing length 11−12 mm (N = 6). Eye black. Antenna brown. Head yellowish-orange with a black spot on the back. Labial palpus very short, yellowish-orange. Thorax, patagium, and tegula yellow-orange. Legs yellow. Upperside of the forewing: ground color yellowish-orange; transverse line dark-brown; an unclear black dot and three brown spots basally (those may absent in some specimens); a series of 5-7 longitudinal stripes of different length between veins in submarginal area. Upperside of the hindwing and underside of both wings light yellow. Abdomen grayishyellow. Male genitalia: Typical structure for the genus. Uncus long, robust, slightly curved, terminal spine present; tegumen v-shaped; saccus u-shaped; juxta with a slight indentation. Valva long, apex of distal saccular process typical for the genus. Aedeagus short, broad.

Female: Unknown.

Distribution. This species is known from two localities in the Ngada Regency on the Flores Island, Indonesia.

Etymology. The name of this species is derived from the town of Bajawa, near which it was collected.

Comments. To the best of our knowledge, Teuloma bajawica sp. nov. represents the first member of its genus discovered east of the Wallace Line. The Lepidoptera fauna of the East Nusa Tenggara Islands comprises taxa having affinities to the Oriental Realm and, in a much lesser degree, to Australia and New Guinea ( Zolotukhin 2009; Yakovlev 2015; Bolotov et al. 2017, 2018; Spitsyn et al. 2018, 2019; Volynkin et al. 2019; Spitsyn & Bolotov 2020; Spitsyn & Potapov 2020;). The novel species belongs to a genus originated in Southeast Asia ( Singh et al. 2019) as did most of the moth genera recorded on Flores ( Bolotov et al. 2018, 2019; Spitsyn & Bolotov 2018; Volynkin et al. 2019). There are a few reliable examples of Australian Lepidoptera taxa known to occur on this island and confirmed by means of a molecular approach ( Bolotov et al. 2017).

Figures

Figure 1. Teuloma spp.: A) Holotype male of T. bajawica sp. nov., Flores Island, Indonesia; B) male of T. nebulosa (Walker, 1862), Myanmar. Scale bar = 5 mm. Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn.

Figure 2. Male genitalia and aedeagus of Teuloma spp.: A-B Holotype of T. bajawica sp. nov., Flores Island, Indonesia: A) male genitalia; B) aedeagus; С-D T. nebulosa (Walker, 1862), Myanmar: C) male genitalia; D) aedeagus. Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn.