Shimbania kerstinhempae, Lehmann & Dalsgaard, 2023

Lehmann, Ingo & Dalsgaard, Thure, 2023, Revision of Saalmulleria Mabille, 1891 (Lepidoptera, Metarbelidae) from Madagascar with the description of three new genera and fifteen new species, Evolutionary Systematics 7 (1), pp. 133-182 : 133

Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov.

Figs 2e , 6a , 7c

Material examined.

Holotype female, Tanzania, [Arusha Region], Arumeru District, Usa River [Danish Volunteer Training Centre], 1.170 m [altitude at this site is 1.198-1.225 m], 06 February 1992, L. Aarvik [leg.], genitalia slide number 27/062009 I. Lehmann (NHMO).

Description.

Female. Head: deep olive-buff, short hair-like scales with cream tips; eyes light olive-brown; a pair of tiny pits is present on lower fronto-clypeus; pits behind labial palpi are small oval; antenna short, 0.28 length of forewing, bipectinate, branches shorter than in males, 2.5 × width of shaft, narrow, not scaled, widely separated at base, 1.5 × width of branch; shaft densely covered with olive-buff scales dorsally; labial palpi deep olive-buff.

Thorax: Patagia deep olive-buff, forming a collar ring, scales with light grey tips, but without a glint; tegulae with long hair-like sepia scales without a glint. Metathorax has a small scale-crest of olive-buff and cream and sepia at center. Hind legs olive-buff with fine hair-like scales with light grey tips mixed with cream scales, on lower part of tarsus only deep olive-buff dorsally; two pairs of long tibial spurs of unequal width and length, upper pair long ca. 2.0 mm and 1.6 mm, lower pair broader ca. 1.2 mm and 1.0 mm long. Forewing length 21.5 mm and wingspan 48.0 mm in holotype. Forewing upperside largely olive-buff and on outer half with a light golden glint; below first 2/3 of 1A+2A a large sepia patch with a weak lilac glint; forewing with many narrow deep olive-buff lines, CuA2 narrowly sepia and extending as sepia streak into discal cell; a deep olive subterminal patch, Y-shaped, from below costal margin to near end of CuA2; costa and termen without striae or lunules; cilia very long, 2.0 mm, deep-olive buff with cream tips. Underside of forewing olive-buff with a golden glint. Hindwing upperside is olive-buff with a light golden glint and with weak deep olive lines; cilia as in forewing; underside as in forewing.

Abdomen: Mainly olive-buff mixed with cream, glossy; abdominal tuft olive-buff, medium long, 1/4 length of abdomen. Postabdominal structure with a medium large, narrow papillae anales, with many short setae, lobes of papillae anales narrow, small for such a large species, 35% the size of papillae anales with some long setae towards the tip of each lobe; segment 8 rectangular with a broader dorsal edge, posterior margin with long setae, ventral part narrower with many long setae; an oblique row of long setae from the posterior dorsal part of segment 8 towards near its ventral part; attached to the ventral end of segment 8 is a narrow sclerotized band that is connected with the base of the anterior apophysis; anterior apophysis narrow, almost twice as long as posterior apophysis, broader at base, almost knee-like; posterior apophysis narrow with a long, broad tip, resembling a spoon-like shape if not pressed, the extremely large sclerotized base of the posterior apophysis is 40% the size of the papillae anales in lateral view. Corpus bursae and ductus bursae are unknown.

Male. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov. can be separated from all other congeners by the very broad dorsal part of segment 8 (almost as broad as the length of anterior apophysis) and the oblique row of long setae that occurs from the posterior dorsal part of segment 8 towards near its anterior ventral part. The lobes of the papillae anales are larger if compared to S. durbanica and S. nigeriaensis sp. nov. One common character of all females in the three species is the large sclerotized base of the posterior apophysis.

Distribution.

Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov. is only known from Usa River. The collecting site is located in the transition zone of the Somalia-Masai regional centre of endemism and the Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism comprising an Afromontane forest patch, stands with trees of Acacia MILL. ( Leguminosae - Mimosoideae ) and some ornamental and fruit trees, e.g., Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Don. ( Bignoniaceae ) and Kigelia africana Benth. ( Bignoniaceae ) (Leif Aarvik pers. comm. to I.L. 2013). Due to the transitional character of the habitat with forest as well as woodland patches, S. kerstinhempae sp. nov. most probably occurs also in other similar habitats near Mount Meru and extends its range towards the montane areas of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Etymology.

Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov. is named for Kerstin Hemp, a young botanist, who published recently the first book on the medicinal plants of Mount Kilimanjaro ( Hemp et al. 2020) based on her own field studies during her stay at the United World College Moshi (Tanzania) in collaboration with Haika Mkunde and Eliasi Maruchu from the Chagga tribe.

The gender of the new species name is feminine.

Figures

Figure 2. a. Shimbania pwaniensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Tanzania, Pwani Region, road from Dar es-Salaam to Chalinze, near the railway crossing, ca. 2 km from Ruvu River; b. S. puguensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Tanzania, Pwani Region, Pugu Forest; c. S. kaguruensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Tanzania, Morogoro Region, Kaguru Mountains; d. S. mbarikaensis sp. nov., holotype, male, Tanzania, Morogoro Region, Mbarika Mountains, south of Mahenge Forest; e. S. kerstinhempae sp. nov., holotype, female, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Usa River, Danish Volunteer Training Centre.

Figure 6. Wing venation: a. Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov., holotype, female; b. S. wichgrafi (Gruenberg, 1910), " Type ", male (all drawings by I. L.).

Figure 7. Female postabdominal structures and male genitalia in a not pressed condition: a. Eberhardfischeria husemanni sp. nov., paratype, female; b. Saalmulleria stumpffi (Saalmueller, 1884), " Type ", female; c. Shimbania kerstinhempae sp. nov., holotype, female; d. Morondavania mineti sp. nov., paratype, male, with aedeagus below; e. S. wichgrafi (Gruenberg, 1910), " Type ", male, with aedeagus below (all drawings by I. L.).