Udea ferrugalis ( Huebner , 1796)

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 ferrugalis ( Huebner, 1796)

Figs 2 , 12 , 22 , 29

Pyralis ferrugalis Hübner, 1796: 27-28, pl. 9 fig. 54. Type locality: Hungary.

Pyralis ferruginalis = Pyralis ferruginalis (Rossi, 1794) (misspell.).

Pyralis feruginalis = Pyralis feruginalis Taylor, 1951 (misspell.).

Phlyctaenia epicoena = Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyrick, 1937 syn. nov. Type locality: DR of the Congo [Belgian Congo], Lubumbashi [Elisabethville].

Pionea granjalis = Pionea granjalis Chrétien, 1925. Type locality: Spain.

Pionea maculata = Pionea maculata Costantini, 1923 (infrasubsp.). Type locality: Italy.

Pionea obsoleta = Pionea obsoleta Costantini, 1923. Type locality: Italy.

Scopula hypatialis = Scopula hypatialis Walker, 1859. Type locality: Sri Lanka [Ceylon].

Scopula martialis = Scopula martialis Guenée, 1854. Type locality: Ethiopia [Abyssinie].

Udea martialis fusca = Udea martialis f. fusca Dufrane, 1960. Type locality: France, Pyrénées, Lannemezan.

Udea martialis pallida = Udea martialis f. pallida Dufrane, 1960. Type locality: Morocco, Rabat.

Material examined.

Paralectotypes of Phlyctaenia epicoena , Meyrick , 1937: Democratic Republic Of The Congo • ♀; "Belgian Congo" [DR Congo], “Elisabethville” [Lubumbashi]; 18 Feb. 1835; "Meyrick Coll. B.M. 1838-290."; " Phlyctaenia epicoena 2/2 Meyrick E. Meyrick det. in Meyrick Coll.", " Paralectotype Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyr Det. K.Maes 1995"; NHMUK014047387; NHMUK • ♀; "Belgian Congo" [DR Congo], “Elisabethville” [Lubumbashi]; 5 Jan. 1835; "Meyrick Coll. B.M. 1938-290", " Phlyctaenia epicoena 1/2 Meyrick E. Meyrick det. in Meyrick Coll.", " Paralectotype Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyr. Det. K.Maes 1995."; " Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyr." [in Meyrick’s handwriting]; NHMUK010921399, genitalia dissection number NHMUK010316679; NHMUK . Additional material: Kenya • 1♂; Kenia [Kenya], Kabete; 1-20 Sep. 1972; H. Politzar leg.; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1179; ZSM • 1♂; same data as for preceding; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1183; ZSM • 1♀; same data as for preceding; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1180; ZSM • 1♀; same data as for preceding; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1186; ZSM • 1 ♂; Kenia [Kenya], Nairobi, Karura Forest ; 24-27 Apr. 1973; H. Politzar leg.; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1184; ZSM • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1185; ZSM. - SOUTH AFRICA • 1 ♀; Transvaal, Mooisplaats, Bronkhorstspruitlist; Sep. 1949; Koch leg.; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1176; ZSM • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; Mally genitalia dissection no. 1177; ZSM .

Distribution.

Afrotropical realm: Ascension Island, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Oman, Réunion, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe ( Butler 1894; Hampson 1898; Joannis 1927; Rebel 1930; Ghesquière 1942; Viette 1954, 1957, 1958; Martin 1956; Amsel 1963; Legrand 1966; Kopij 2006; Martiré and Rochat 2008; GBIF 2022; iNaturalist 2022; SDEI; summarised in De Prins and De Prins 2011-2022); the record from Saint Helena is doubtful ( Wollaston 1879). Palaearctic realm: Algeria, Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, all Europe, incl. Azores, Canary Islands, China, Iran, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Russia ( Amsel 1965, 1966; Speidel and Hassler 1989; Báez and Martín 2004; Borges et al. 2005; GBIF; iNaturalist). Oriental realm: China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam ( Toll 1948; Zhang and Li 2016; iNaturalist).

Biology.

The species is polyphagous, i.e., feeding on plants of various plant families. Robinson et al. (2010) list host genera from nine families, although records from the Oriental region might be misidentifications of U. testacea (see "Genetic data" below and Discussion). Palaearctic records comprise Beta vulgaris ( Amaranthaceae ), Cichorium intybus ( Asteraceae ), Capsicum , Solanum lycopersicum and S. melongena ( Solanaceae ) as well as Cucurbita ( Cucurbitaceae ). In South Africa, the caterpillars feed on Lepidium capense Thunb. ( Brassicaceae ) according to Taylor (1951) and on Erigeron ( Asteraceae ) according to Robinson et al. (2010). More information about the biology of U. ferrugalis can be found in Gaedike (1980) for Central Europe, and in Lee et al. (1999, 2002) for East Asia. The species is known to be an occasional migrant ( Lempke 1967).

Genetic data.

Numerous DNA Barcode (COI-5P) sequences (n=41 with DNA Barcodes) are publicly available for U. ferrugalis on BOLD Systems. A genetic distance analysis of the data with Kimura 2-paramater model results in an intraspecific variation ranging from 0% to 2.42%. The relatively large maximum distance is most likely due to several species that appear to be misidentified as U. ferrugalis :

Two specimens with specimen IDs BC MTD 01830 (collected in Nankai, China) and NIBGE MOT-03061 (collected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) appear to be misidentifications of U. testacea , as both DNA Barcode sequences are a 99.69-100% match with the COI sequence of U. testacea published by Matsui and Naka (2021).

Another specimen with the specimen ID BIOUG25981-C06, collected in Laikipia, Kenya (see “?” in Fig. 35 ), has a maximum of 98.27% sequence similarity with other barcoded Udea specimens. It can currently not be associated with any known Udea species and may represent an undescribed species that should be further investigated. Unfortunately, the (female) specimen was caught in a Malaise trap, resulting in the complete loss of its wing maculation. Additional material, ideally including males, will be necessary to determine its identity.

Udea ferrugalis shares its BOLD BIN (BOLD:AAC3729) with U. delineatalis and the Asian U. testacea . Mutuura (1954) considered U. testacea a bona species based on genitalia morphology and removed it from synonymy ( Shibuya 1928) with U. ferrugalis . Only one DNA Barcode is available for U. testacea (published by Matsui and Naka 2021), and one for U. delineatalis (published by Mally and Nuss 2011). More data is needed to make a more conclusive statement on the species boundaries based on DNA Barcode data ( Meier et al. 2021).

Remarks.

Externally, the paralectotype of Phlyctaenia epicoena is indistinguishable from U. ferrugalis . Investigation of the female genitalia (prep. no. NHMUK010316679) indicates that the specimen furthermore agrees with U. ferrugalis in the typical calyx-shaped antrum, with the anterior fourth marked-off as a short, thinner stalk, in the sclerotised tubular colliculum, twice as long as broad and with the sclerotisation leaving out a longitudinal band of membranous wall, in the short, thin ductus bursae with a small round projection near its posterior end (one of the two synapomorphies for the U. ferrugalis genus group sensu Mally and Nuss 2011), and in the shape, size and position of the ediacaroid signum (sensu Mally et al. 2019). We thus consider Udea epicoena (Meyrick, 1937) conspecific with U. ferrugalis and synonymise it: Phlyctaenia epicoena Meyrick, 1937 syn. nov. of Udea ferrugalis ( Hübner, 1796). Consequently, we did not include Ph. epicoena in the phylogenetic analyses, as U. ferrugalis is already present among the data.

Figures

Figure 35. Elevation map of the southern part of the Gregory Rift with the collection sites of Udea kirinyaga (red dot) at Mount Kenya, and U. meruensis (green triangle) as well as U. nicholsae and U. momella (yellow square; same collection site) at Mount Meru; the "? " represents the collection site of a DNA-barcoded specimen that might represent an additional species (see section " Genetic data " under U. ferrugalis); elevations ≥ 500 m are marked in increasingly darker grey shades every 500 m.

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 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).

Figures 28 - 32. Female genitalia of Udea species and species removed from Udea. 28. U. delineatalis; 29. U. ferrugalis; 30. U. nicholsae Mally, sp. nov.; 31. U. namaquana Karisch & Mally, sp. nov., including 7 th abdominal segment; 32. Achyra melanostictalis. Scale bar represents 500 μm, all figures to scale.