Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis, 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

Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis sp. nov.

Figs 4g , 15 , 16C, E, F

Material examined.

Female, Holotype, " Madagascar C." [ Madagascar Central Region ], “Ampandrandava”, “12.XII-1954” [12th December 1954] Dr. E. Diehl [Eduard Diehl leg.]; on a second label: "Museum Paris Don de P. Thiaucourt ", genitalia slide number B09/102009 Dr. D. Stüning (MNHN).

Description.

Head: rough-scaled; long hair-like scales of brownish-olive mixed with light olive-cream on fronto-clypeus; eyes brownish-olive with small black spots; a pair of pits is present on lower fronto-clypeus, a pair of conical projections absent, pits behind labial palpi absent; lower fronto-clypeus is broad, as broad as half of eye-diameter (viewed anteriorly) and smooth, without any structures; labial palpi light olive-cream, very short and small, much less than half of eye diameter, narrow, consisting of three segments, basal, central and third segment are of almost equal length, 1st (basal) segment is very broad, 1.5 × broader than central segment, rectangular, third segment on top is triangular. Antennae bipectinate, narrow, long branches, 4 × longer than width of shaft, branches are slightly longer on lower half of antennae and are widely separated at base with 1.5 × width of branch, dorsal and lateral sides of branches not scaled, but with many setae in pairs ventrally and laterally, dorsal and lateral sides of flagellum scaled olive-buff.

Thorax: Densely covered with hair-like scales and broader scales of light brown, tip of all scales is light grey on patagia and on tegulae, some light brown scales at base of patagia and tegulae with a light lilac glint; scale crest on metathorax is pronounced with long olive-brown hair-like scales with a slightly broader tip of light cream. Fore and mid legs olive-cream with scales that have all light grey tips, some scales dorsally sepia, with long dense hair-like structures and a light lilac glint. Epiphyses present, 2.0 mm long, medium broad and flat. Hind legs with two pairs of long tibial spurs, upper pair narrow and longer, up to 2.1 mm long, spurs in lower pair slightly broader and shorter, up to 1.9 mm long, all spurs with a claw-like tip. Wingspan is 55.0 mm. Forewing length is 24.0 mm, forewing is large, broad with rounded apex, upperside without any geometric design, pale olive-buff mixed with light olive-cream and towards termen with a light golden glint, scales on inner half of forewing with light grey tips, a simple scale pattern is present, with a large rounded patch of sepia at center of forewing from base of M2 to base of CuA1, the patch is not edged inwards by any transparent spot, various terminal, sub-terminal and post-medial patches and bands of deep olive-buff, with a prominent broad Y-shaped band from apex and costa to near middle of CuA1, veins not distinctly marked, termen with weak triangular deep olive-buff lunules, a large sepia patch is present below 25% of length of 1A+2A. Hindwing rounded with prominent pointed apex, termen not bent inwards, largely with short scales of pale olive-buff and light olive-cream with a light lilac-golden glint, without any sepia patch near center of hindwing, but with a weak deep olive-buff terminal band. Underside with scales of deep olive-buff, all scales with light grey tips, with a light golden glint. Cilia are short, 2.0 mm long, deep olive-buff with a glint. Forewing venation with strongly sclerotized and broad veins, 1A+2A deeply forked at base, fork is 25% the length of 1A+2A; CuP absent, but still represented by a weak fold on its entire length; CuA2 originating from near hind margin of posterior cell; CuA1, M3 and M2 separated and initiating from apical angle of posterior cell; M1 originating from distal margin of median cell and is broadly separated from its anterior angle; R1+R2 originating from a long stalk (the stalk has the length of ca. 30% of R3) and initiating from near anterior angle of median cell; R3+R4+R5 are long stalked and originating from anterior angle of median cell, the basal point of this stalk is opposite of the basal point of the stalk of R1+R2; Sc more or less parallel to R1. Hindwing venation with three anal veins, 3A present, 1A+2A present but weak and with a fork at base, CuP present, also weak; CuA2 originating from near hind margin of posterior cell; CuA1, M3 and M2 originating from apical angle of posterior cell, separated, M2 broadly separated; M1 and Rs originating from anterior cell, broadly separated, with M1 at center of distal margin of anterior cell; a bar from Rs to Sc+R1 is absent, vein in discocellular cell on both fore- and hindwing is present but not forked distally in forewing. The discocellular cell on forewing and hindwing is small, only ca. 15% of wing size. The discocellular cell on the hindwing is similar in shape like a fish-tail, with the upper and lower tip in opposite position, and the upper tip is pointed and bent. Fringe scales short if compared to the large hindwing size, 2.0 mm long, deep olive-buff with a glint. Retinaculum and frenulum absent.

Abdomen: Long with hair-like scales of pale olive-buff and deep olive-buff, with light grey tips, and a strong light golden glint, upper part of abdomen broadly sepia, end of abdomen not broadly sepia, abdominal tuft short, deep olive-buff.

Female postabdominal structure and genitalia with very large, pear-shaped lobes of papillae anales in horizontal position, one lobe 45% the size of papillae anales, lobes ventrally with long setae and few long setae along the edge, each lobe with a long and deep oblique graben-like structure that has no setae at center; papillae anales covered with many short and many long setae. Segment 8 represents a narrow rectangular sclerotized band, more narrow ventrally, setose along its posterior margin with very long setae, a narrow band is attached ventrally extending to the base of anterior apophysis; anterior apophyses slightly bent downwards, 3.0 × as long as segment 8 dorsally, on basal part at 1/3 of length 2.5 × as broad as at tip, within the first 30% of their length knee-like shaped, on almost the whole length with a deep horizontal graben-like structure; posterior apophyses narrow but with 4.5 × broader base, this large sclerotized base is 40% the size of papillae anales in lateral view, posterior apophyses slightly longer than dorsal part of segment 8 but only 30% as long as anterior apophyses; ductus bursae is short with ca. 50% length of corpus bursae, broad, membranous, without any broad pear-shaped structure near its base and the base is not broader and not sclerotized; corpus bursae is very large, 4 × as large as segment 8 in lateral view, membranous, not sclerotized at any part, without any structures, elongated, oval.

Male: unknown.

Diagnosis.

Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis sp. nov. is the smallest species of Saalmulleria presented herein. The forewing and hindwing colour is largely pale olive-buff and many pale olive-buff scales on upper- and underside of head, thorax, abdomen as well as large parts of wings have cream or light grey tips. Hence, S. ampandrandavaensis sp. nov. represents a lighter coloured species if compared to both other species. The forewing venation has the shortest stalk of R1+R2 among Saalmulleria , with a length of ca. 30% of R3, but is with 40% much longer in the other species. In regard to the female postabdominal structure, it is most similar to S. stumpffi. Various differences exist: first, the very long setae that occur along the entire posterior margin of segment 8 are a common character shared only with S. analameranaensis sp. nov. Second, the base of the posterior apophyses is more narrow and elongated, pointing also more upwards than in S. stumpffi. Third, the posterior apophyses are only 30% as long as the anterior apophyses in S. ampandrandavaensis sp. nov. but half as long as the anterior apohyses in S. stumpffi.

Distribution.

Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis sp. nov. is only known from Ampandrandava, located in a submontane area ca. 100 km to the Southwest of Betroka and ca. 50 km to the Northeast of Bekily (cf. Viette 1962), at ca. 820-1.006 m (24°05'S, 45°42'E) in the "Central Region". To some extent the type locality coincides with the southwestern limit of the central highlands and possibly with the "Madagascar Subhumid Forests" ecoregion. According to Burgess et al. (2004) Ampandrandava might be adjacent to or partly within the "Madagascar Succulent Woodlands" ecoregion. The latter is similar to the Madagascar dry forests but comprises more xerophytic plant species. The authors view about the type locality is supported by a comment of Lees et al. (2003), who noted that Diehl’s collecting site at Ampandrandava is located in the "subarid bioclimatic zone". The average annual rainfall in this area is only ca. 575-1330 mm. The patches of dry forest and woodlands at Ampandrandava almost certainly have a high diversity of woody Leguminosae , e.g. Dalbergia pervillei Vatke ( Papilionoideae ) ( Labat and Moat 2003) with species such as Croton boiteaui Leandri and C. menarandrae Leandri ( Euphorbiaceae ) ( Berry et al. 2017).

Etymology.

The species is named for the type locality Ampandrandava on Madagascar ("Central Region").

Figures

Figure 4. a. Morondavania mineti sp. nov., holotype, male, Madagascar, Western Region, north of Morondava, Marofandilia Forest; b. M. mineti sp. nov., paratype, male, Madagascar, Western Region, north of Morondava, western part of Marofandilia Forest; c. Eberhardfischeria husemanni sp. nov., holotype, female, Madagascar, Western Region, Diego Suarez (today Antsira ṅana) or areas nearby; d. E. husemanni sp. nov., paratype, female, Madagascar, Western Region, Diego Suarez (today Antsira ṅana) or areas nearby; e. Saalmulleria stumpffi (Saalmueller, 1884), " Type ", female, Madagascar, Sambirano Region, Nosy Be Island, Lokobe; f. S. analameranaensis sp. nov., holotype, female, Madagascar, Western Region, Analamerana Forest, ca. 10 km to 40 km west of the Indian Ocean coastline; g. S. ampandrandavaensis sp. nov., holotype, female, Madagascar, Central Region, Ampandrandava, ca. 50 km northeast of Bekily.

Figure 15. Genitalia of Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis sp. nov., holotype, female, Madagascar, Central Region, Ampandrandava, ca. 50 km northeast of Bekily, with a thinly membranous and long ductus bursae (a) and a thinly membranous elongated oval-shaped corpus bursae (b), both without any structures. The two lobes of the papillae anales (c) are in horizontal position, an autapomorphy of species of Saalmulleria, and represent the largest lobes among Metarbelidae, with one lobe at least 45 % the size of the papillae anales.

Figure 16. SEM pictures of diagnostic head structures of Metarbelidae from Madagascar: A. The lower fronto-clypeus of Morondavania mineti sp. nov., holotype, male, is narrow and without a pair of pits as well as without a pair of projections; B, D. The lower fronto-clypeus of Eberhardfischeria husemanni sp. nov., paratype, female, is broad with a strongly sclerotized plate-like structure (a) with a well-defined dorsal ridge (b) and a pair of rudimentary pits (c); C, E, F. The very broad and smooth lower fronto-clypeus of Saalmulleria ampandrandavaensis sp. nov., holotype, female, is without any plate-like structure, but with a pair of well-developed pits (d), a variable character in species of Saalmulleria that is sometimes entirely absent. A pair of pits on the lower fronto-clypeus is a homoplasy among Metarbelidae in both sexes (cf. Lehmann 2019 b) and it is in species of various genera a variable character (SEM pictures taken by Karin Ulmen, ZFMK, Bonn 2013).