Lamellisphecia minwangi Arita & Kallies, 2019

Arita, Yutaka, Kallies, Axel & Yata, Naoki, 2019, A large hornet mimic clearwing moth of the genus Lamellisphecia Kallies & Arita 2004 (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae) from Nanling, Guangdong, southern China, Zootaxa 4706 (3), pp. 477-482 : 478-480

Lamellisphecia minwangi Arita & Kallies , sp. nov.

Figs 1–2 , 9

Material examined. Holotype: ♂ ( Figs 1–2 ), China, Guangdong, Shaoguan, Nanling , alt. 600 m, 22.vii.2014 ( SCAU) (genitalia examined, prep. AK872, Fig. 9 ).

Description. ♂ ( Figs 1–2 ). Alar expanse 40.0 mm, forewing length 17.5 mm, body length 22.5 mm.

Head black; frons orange-yellow, dark grey in center; vertex mixed with some orange; antenna reddish brown; labial palpus orange-yellow, long beard-like scales of the first and second segment mixed with black. Thorax black; pericephalic scales mixed with few yellow scales dorsally, orange-yellow laterally; patagia with some orange laterally; tegula with a small yellow patch in the central part; neckplate orange-yellow, black in center. Forewing transparent, veins black, apical 1/3 brownish smoky; discal narrow spot blackish brown; membrane of external transparent area smoky blackish brown; posterior transparent area smoky blackish brown in the most distal section, with a narrow scaled streak along the hind margin in the distal section; outer margin and fringe black. Hindwing transparent, membrane in the terminal 1/3 smoky blackish brown; discal spot undeveloped. Abdomen black, tergite 2 with a broad yellow posterior margin, tergite 3 dark orange, tergites 4 and 5 light orange, sternites 2 and 3 orange along posterior margins, sternites 4 and 5 orange throughout. Legs black dorsally, fore coxa with an orange patch basally; fore femur and tibia orange ventrally; mid and hind coxae black; mid femur orange along dorsal edge, black towards ventral edge; mid tibia orange-yellow ventrally; remainder of midleg black; mid femur black; hind tibia and tarsus orange-yellow medially and ventrally; hind tibia with bright, pale yellow patch laterally at the level of the first pair of spurs; spurs black.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 9 ). Uncus with short setae along ventral margin; gnathos bilobed; valva with long thornlike crista sacculi, inner surface of valva with simple, pointed setae; saccus well-developed, pointed; aedeagus with apical plate, vesica with minute spinules.

Diagnosis. L. minwangi sp. nov. is similar to L. champaensis from central Vietnam and Laos and L. wiangensis from northern Thailand. Both species differ by their smaller size, by the color of the abdomen, the extensively brownish smoky appearance of the outer third of fore- and hindwing, and the narrower forewings. Specifically, in L. champaensis the abdominal segment 5 is black, the smoky parts of the wings less extensive and less dark, forewing discal spot less distinct and partially covered with dirty yellow scales (in particularly on the ventral side), the scales in the distal part of the posterior transparent area and along the hind margin of the forewing dirty orange-yellow, tegulae orange in basal half, outer margins and fringes of wings dirty yellow. In L. wiangensis the external transparent area of the forewing is partially scaled, the discal spot shows a scaled extension reaching into the anterior transparent area, and the anal tuft is yellow-orange. The constitution of the forewing discal spot, the scales in the distal part of the posterior transparent area and along the hind margin of the forewing, the tegulae margins and fringes of wings similar to L. champaensis . L. wiangensis differs from L. minwangi sp. nov. by lacking the smoky fore and hindwing membranes. L. minwangi sp. nov. is similar in body shape to L. haematinea from northern Thailand; however, the latter has a completely black abdomen and extensive reddish scaling on the wings.

Finally, L. minwangi sp. nov. is also similar to Aegerosphecia fumoptera Kallies & Arita, 2004 , from northern Vietnam. However, it differs from A. fumoptera , by the generic characters, ie antennal segments with each a long and a short ramus (rami of equal length in Aegerosphecia ), basal segment of the labial palpus with very long beardlike scales (short scales in Aegerosphecia ), the shorter scales on the hind tibia (long in Aegerosphecia ), and the fundamentally different genitalia (compare Kallies & Arita 2004). The new species differs from A. fumoptera also by the largely black head and collar (yellow head and collar in A. fumoptera ), the orange-yellow color of the posterior section of tergites 2 and fully orange tergites 3–5 (fully orange on tergites 2–4 in A. fumoptera ), and by the partially smoky hindwing membrane (clear, lacks any smoky appearance in A. fumoptera ).

Bionomics. The specimen was collected at the edge of forest with the help of artificial sex pheromone lures at about 600 m altitude around noon.

Distribution. South China (Nanling, Guangdong).

Etymology. This wonderful new species is dedicated to our research collaborator and lepidopterist Prof. Min Wang.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Lamellisphecia minwangi Arita & Kallies, sp. nov., male genitalia, holotype.

FIGURES 1–8. South-east Asian Sesiini. 1–2. Lamellisphecia minwangi Arita & Kallies, sp. nov., male, holotype, China. 1. dorsal aspect. 2. ventral aspect. 3–4. Lamellisphecia champaensis, Vietnam. 3. male, holotype. 4. male. 5. Lamellisphecia wiangensis, male, holotype, Thailand. 6. Lamellisphecia haematinea, male, holotype, Thailand. 7. Aegerosphecia fumoptera, male, holotype, Vietnam. 8. A. fumoptera, female, paratype, Vietnam.