Eremothyris viettei, Gibeaux, 1982

Huang, Si-Yao, Martin, Geoff & Espeland, Marianne, 2024, Resurrection of the genus Eremothyris Walsingham (Lepidoptera, Zygaenoidea, Lacturidae), Zootaxa 5519 (3), pp. 430-440 : 438

E. viettei Gibeaux, 1982

Material examined. Holotype: female, printed label “ Madagascar Est | Baie d'Antongil | Presqu'île Masoala | Hiaraka 1000 m | 18/ 21-X-1968 | P. Griveaud, A. Peyrieras | et P. Viette ” / printed and handwritten label “ Chr. Gibeaux det. | prep. gen. n° 892♀ | Eremothyris | viettei n. sp. ” / printed label “HOLOTYPE” / printed label with unique QR-code “MNHN Paris | EL84063 ” ( MNHN).

Note. Both E. luqueti and E. primoti were not examined in this study, but the original descriptions of both species leave no doubt about the correct placement of both species within Eremothyris .

Discussion. We found that within Lacturidae , Eremothyris stat. rev. is more closely related to the Oriental genera Nosymna ( Figs 10, 11 , 16 , 19, 21 , 24 ) and Callithrinca in sharing the characters mentioned in the diagnosis. These three genera are very probably phylogenetically closer to each other than the remaining genera of Lacturidae . Typical members of the family Lacturidae , e.g., species of the genus Lactura , Gymnogramma and Anticrates Meyrick, 1905 (type species Anticrates chrysantha Meyrick, 1905 , by monotypy), bear the following characters: 1) coloration and patterns on both wings usually reddish or yellowish; 2) abdomen without a bunch of piliform scales likely used for pheromone signalling on intersegmental membrane; 3) male genitalia with a well-developed uncus and simple valvae without any additional sclerotisation in its distal section; 4) female genitalia with the 9th and 10th segments not elongated, ductus bursae spiral and without an antrum. These characters are in fact, very close to those of the members of the family Phaudidae , a small zygaenoid family with three genera and less than 30 described species confined to the Oriental region ( Hering 1925; Farooqui et al. 2023). Regarding the characters stated above, it is possible that Lacturidae sensu Heppner (1995) is not a monophyletic group, and therefore should be divided into at least two clades: the Eremothyris , Nosymna and Callithrinca clade should be erected into a different family and the rest of the Lacturidae should be combined under Phaudidae , resulting in Lacturidae either a synonym or a subfamily of Phaudidae . The possibility of merging Lacturidae and Phaudidae has already been put forward by Yen et al. (2005) and later repeated by Holloway (2011), but neither study took Eremothyris , Nosymna and Callithrinca into account. Last but not least, such assumption still requires the evidence from molecular approaches, pending future study.

The diversity of Eremothyris is underestimated. More than half of the known Eremothyris are recorded from Madagascar, and the fauna in mainland Africa is still lack of study, resulting a number of new species waiting to be described.

Figures

FIGURES 1–11. Adults of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 1–4, 6–9 & 11 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 5 is deposited in SMNH (©SMNH catalogue No. NHRS-TOBI000005718); 10 is deposited in RMNH.

FIGURES 12–16. Male genitalia of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 12, 14 & 15 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 13 is deposited in SMNH (©SMNH catalogue No. NHRS-TOBI000005718); 16 is deposited in RMNH.

FIGURES 17–21. Abdominal exoskeleton of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp. The specimens: 17 & 18 are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 19 is deposited in RMNH. 20 = magnified piliform scale bunch of the fig. 17; 21= magnified piliform scale bunch of the fig. 19.

FIGURES 22–24. Female genitalia of Eremothyris, Gymnogramma and Nosymna spp.All specimens are deposited in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK). For figures 22 & 23: a=whole genitalia; b= magnified area from corpus bursae showing sclerotized structures.