Chlorosphecia Bartsch & Sáfián, 2022

Sáfián, Szabolcs & Bartsch, Daniel, 2022, Two new genera and species of Synanthedonini from the Nimba Mountains Liberia, West Africa (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), Zootaxa 5141 (1), pp. 87-93 : 90-92

Chlorosphecia Bartsch & Sáfián gen. nov.

Type species: Chlorosphecia bele sp. nov., designated here.

Description. Head: haustellum well developed and surely functional; labial palpus long and thin, upward curved, with tip protruding over base of antenna; first palpomere short, second and third palpomeres very long, smoothly scaled, second palpomere ventrally and distally slightly rough with some bristle-like scales distally; frons smooth and glossy; vertex glossy, scales predominantly broad and smooth, laterally and occipitally narrow, but not hair-like, with strong shine; antenna clavate, middle part slightly narrowed, extending just distal of discal spot of forewing, ciliate, ciliae longest at flagellum base, tapering distally. Thorax: narrow, smoothly scaled, without hair-like scales. Legs: strong, mostly smoothly scaled; tibiae partially with long, rough scales, especially on middle and distal parts of hind tibia; hindleg somewhat elongated, protruding beyond abdomen. Wings: hyaline; forewing apical area present, with short basad-pointing protrusions between medius veins; discal spots well developed; forewing veins R 1 to R 3 as well as CuA 1 and CuA 2 running very close, R 4 and R 5 with short common stalk; hindwing vein M 2 arising from caudal part of discocellular vein, CuA 1 and CuA 2 arising from common point. Abdomen: strongly tapered distally, shorter than hindlegs, with laterally flattened anal tuft. Female unknown.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 4 ). Tegumen slender, somewhat shorter than uncus, with short, pointed gnathos basally, almost completely fused with uncus forming a narrow, long segment; uncus long, distally pointed, ventro-lateral edges densely covered with long, bifurcate, basad-pointing setae. Juxta extremely short, forming a narrow, transverse band. Valva elongate, narrow, dorsal margin slightly rounded and ventral margin straight, apically broadly rounded, crista sacculi short, densely covered with strongly sclerotised setae, inner surface in dorso-distal half covered with long, strong, bifurcate setae that become distinctly smaller dorso-distally; an area of very long and strong setae dorsal to crista sacculi, distal half of ventral margin with dense simple setae. Saccus short. Phallus straight, basally broad, largely membranous, distally very narrow, without thorns.

Diagnosis. Chlorosphecia gen. nov. is defined as follows: (1) labial palpus long, upturned; (2) hindwing vein M 2 arising from caudal part of discocellular vein, CuA 1 and CuA 2 arising from common point; (3) uncus with ventro-lateral rows of setae instead of scopula androconialis; (4) gnathos at base of tegumen, short, pointed; (5) valva narrow, distally rounded, with small crista sacculi; (6) juxta extremely short; (7) phallus basally broad, distally very slender. We consider characters (2), (4) and (5) to be diagnostic characters for the genus.

Based on the structure of the male genitalia, Chlorosphecia gen. nov. appears to be related to a group of genera which have scopula androconialis undeveloped, gnathos large and shifted down to base of tegumen, and valva with weakly sclerotised distal part, namely Lepidopoda Hampson, 1900 , Macrotarsipodes Le Cerf, 1916 and Macrotarsipus Hampson, [1893] (Synanthedonini) . Externally, all these genera clearly differ from Chlorosphecia gen. nov. by the venation of the hindwing, with M 2 arising from the costal one third of the discocellular vein and a short common stalk of CuA 1 and CuA 2. The latter two genera further differ by the elongated hindlegs. In the male genitalia, the three genera we are here comparing to the new genus have gnathos much larger, valva broader without crista sacculi and a dense, dorsal area of setae, and phallus basally narrower and distally wider.

Superficially, Chlorosphecia gen. nov. can be confused with Episannina Aurivillius, 1905 (Synanthedonini) . However, it clearly differs from Episannina by the longer labial palpus, the broader forewing discal spot, the longer hindwing discal spot, the hindwing venation (M 2 arising from costal one third of discocellular vein and CuA 1 and CuA 2 with common stalk in Episannina ), the shape of the hindleg scale tufts (larger, broad and flat, extending over entire length of hind tibia in Episannina ), and the completely different structure of the male genitalia (egg. scopula androconialis well developed, gnathos small, distally located, valva broader, without crista sacculi and bald areas in Episannina ; see also Bartsch & Berg 2012).

Derivatio nominis. From the ancient Greek χλωρός (“chloros” = light green) and σφηξ (“Sphex” = wasp); - sphecia is a commonly used ending of genera within the Sesiidae . The gender is feminine.

Figures

FIGURES 3–4. Genitalia structure and segment eight of Synanthedonini. 3. Nimbamina blei Sáfián & Bartsch sp. nov., holotype ♂ (vesica double the size). 4. Chlorosphecia bele Bartsch & Sáfián sp. nov., holotype ♂. Scales: 1 mm.