Oligophlebia hibiscivora Yu, Kallies & Arita, 2022

Yu, Tiantian, Liu, Wenfang, Huang, Pengying, Kallies, Axel, Arita, Yutaka & Wang, Min, 2022, Oligophlebia hibiscivora sp. nov., a new species from south-eastern China (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae), Zootaxa 5222 (1), pp. 69-76 : 70-73

Oligophlebia hibiscivora Yu, Kallies & Arita sp. nov.

Type material. Holotype. 1Ô. China, Fujian Prov., Xiamen , 24.III.2021, Wenfang Liu leg. No. KIZ 0130330 ( KIZ) . Paratypes. 2Ô, 7♀, same locality as holotype, 24.III.2021, Wenfang Liu leg. No. KIZ0130331 – KIZ0130339 ( KIZ); 1Ô , 1♀, same locality as holotype, IV.2021, Wenfang Liu leg. No. KIZ0130340 – KIZ0130341 ( KIZ); 1Ô , 3♀, same locality as holotype, IV.2021, Wenfang Liu leg. ( CZC); 1Ô , 1♀, same locality as holotype, 24.III.2021, Wenfang Liu leg. ( SCAU) ; 1♀, Hongkong, Shek O Beach, N 22.229697, E 114.251183, April 2020, on Hibiscus tiliaceus, Wenda Cheng leg. ( CAK) .

Description. Holotype ( Figs 1,2 ).Alar expanse 14.1 mm;body length 5.8 mm; forewing 6.3 mm; antenna 3.4 mm.

Head: antenna setiform, black with yellowish ochre scales, with golden brown sheen, ciliate short; frons upper half black, lower half cream white; labial palpus white ventrally and yellowish white dorsally; vertex black with golden brown sheen; eyes with a row of white scales anteriorly; proboscis present; pericephalic scales black dorsally, white laterally and ventrally.

Thorax: black; patagia and tegula black with ochre sheen; metathorax with greyish white long hairs laterally.

Legs black, with fore femur and tibia cream white ventrally, fore tarsus white with a few black to dark brown scales dorsal-basically, apically four tarsomeres mixed with black scales distally; mid and hind coxae cream white, mid femur ventrally black in external half and yellowish white in interior half, mid tibia ventrally pale yellow in basal half and black in distal half, dorsally black with black and dark brown tuft with white hairs distally; mid tarsus dorsally pale yellow, mixed a few ochre scales, black apically, basal tarsomeres with black and ochre long scales; hind femur black, hind tibia with black and dark brown tuft; hind tarsus black basally and the rest pale cream white, mixed with black scales. Forewing black, scattered with a few blackish brown scales, cilia blackish brown; ETA consisting of three transparent cells, drop-shaped with the anterior cell being shortest, the posterior cell being the longest. Hindwing transparent, veins black; M 3 and CuA 1 short stalked; discal spot undeveloped; cilia long, greyish black.

Abdomen: black; tergite 2 covered with ochre scales; tergites 4 and 5 with ochre tufts in the middle, tergite 5 with a few white scales posteriorly; tergite 6 with a few white scales posterior-medially; anal tuft undeveloped, dorsally with a few white scales posteriorly; ventrally white, sternite 6 black.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 5 , genital preparation No. KIZ0130331). Uncus bilobed, relatively broad; tegumen slender; valva elongated and ovoid, densely covered with short and simple setae; saccus long and thin. Phallus simple, relatively short and broad, with blunt apex, almost twice as long as the valva, vesica with a few cornuti.

Female paratype ( Figs 3, 4 ). Alar expanse 18.5 mm; body length 8.5 mm; forewing 8 mm; antenna 4.1 mm.

Antenna yellowish ochre to black dorsally, basal half of antenna pale yellow ventrally. Thorax scattered with ochre scales; tegula black with ochre, narrow interior margin. Forewing scattered with ochre scales, bearing a centre spot; ETA with only one tiny transparent cell, apical area ochre. Abdomen with tergite 2 with cream white strip posteriorly, tergite 6 with a few of white scales posterior-medially; sternite 7 black.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 6 , genital preparation No. KIZ0130333).Papillae anales narrow and short, apophysis posteriores longer than apophysis anteriores; antrum tubular, strongly sclerotized; ductus bursae relatively short and broad; corpus bursae membranous, ovoid, twisted about 180°, with elongated, strongly sclerotized and screw-shaped signum.

Diagnosis. This species externally resembles the New Guinean species Oligophlebia insurgia Kallies, 2020 but can be easily separated by the external features (frons grey, abdomen with tergite 2 black, tergites 4 white posteriorly, sternites 1+2 with white spot posteriorly in O. insurgia ; frons with upper half black, lower half cream white, abdomen with tergite 2 covered with ochre scales, tergites 4 and 5 with ochre tuft in the middle, tergite 5 with a few white scales posteriorly, tergite 6 with a few white scales posterior-medially, anal tuft not developed, dorsally with a few white scales posteriorly, ventrally white and sternite 6 black in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.) and the male genitalia characters (uncus, saccus and phallus in O. insurgia narrower than those of O. hibiscivora sp. nov.; valva long and towards the acute apex in O. insurgia , with apex in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.). Besides that, Oligiphlebia hibiscivora sp. nov. is similar to Oligophlebia minor Xu & Arita, 2014 but can be distinguished by the features of the forewing (apical area ochre, ETA triangular, much smaller than that of O. hibiscivora sp. nov. in O. minor , while apical area black, ETA drop-shaped in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.), the coloration of the abdomen (tergite 2 black, tergites 4 and 5 without ochre tuft in O. minor ; tergites 2 ochre, tergites 4 and 5 with ochre tuft in the middle in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.) the male genitalia characters (valva in O. minor triangular, tegumen shorter and broader than that of O. hibiscivora sp. nov.; phallus with the pointed and slender apex in O. minor , valva ovoid and elongated, with a blunt distal apex, phallus blunt apically in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.) as well as the female genitalia characters ( O. minor with ductus bursae much more slender than that of O. hibiscivora sp. nov., corpus bursae oval with a patch of small signum but not screwshaped while ductus bursae short and broad, corpus bursae relatively slender with a long, screw-shaped signum in O. hibiscivora sp. nov.) ( Fig. 7 ).

Pupa ( Figs 8a–d ). Length 8.9–10.8 mm. Width 2.4–2.9 mm (n=10). Frontal process rounded in lateral view. Tenth abdominal segment with six pairs of spines; one pair on dorsal side, three pairs on lateral side, two pairs on ventral side.

Variability. The adults are somewhat variable in size. Males (n=3): alar expanse 14.1–14.9 mm; body length 5.7–5.9 forewing 6.2–6.8 mm, antenna 3.4–3.7 mm; females (n=7): alar expanse 15.7–18.5 mm; body length 6.3– 8.5 mm; forewing 7.0–8.0 mm; antenna 3.9–4.1 mm. Besides this, the anterior transparent cells of ETA are slightly variable in size in the forewing of males. The ETA of forewing with one or two transparent cells in the females.

Distribution. Currently the new species is only known from China (Fujian Prov. and Hongkong). However, its hostplant, Hibiscus tiliaceus , has a pantropical distribution and is widely distributed in tropical Asia. Thus, it is likely that O. hibiscivora sp. nov. will be found elsewhere. Specimens that are likely to b el ong to O. hibiscivora sp. nov. have been photographed in Hongkong (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/110082595) and Taiwan (https://twmoth.tesri.gov.tw/peo/FBMothInfo/53821).

Biology. The larvae of this species bore into the bark and trunks of Hibiscus tiliaceus L. ( Malvaceae ). This species is probably bivoltine. Adults emerge from March to May ( Figs 9, 10 ) but have also been observed in September to the middle of October. As the host plant is widely distributed in the urban landscape in southern China and commercially used in various applications.The damage potentially caused by Oligophlebia hibiscivora sp. nov. needs more attention.

Etymology. This new species is named after the host genus Hibiscus L. ( Malvaceae ).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Pupa of Oligophlebia hibiscivora Yu, Kallies & Arita sp. nov., Male. a–b. Total aspect. a. ventral view; b. lateral view; c–d. Spines of tenth abdominal segment. c. lateral view; d. ventral view. Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURES 1–4. Adults of Oligophlebia hibiscivora Yu, Kallies & Arita sp. nov. 1–2. Holotype, Ô, Xiamen, Fujian. 1. dorsal side, 2. ventral side; 3–4. Paratype, ♀, Xiamen, Fujian. 3. dorsal side, 4. ventral side.

FIGURES 5–7. Genitalia of Oligophlebia. 5–6. Oligophlebia hibiscivoraYu, Kallies &Arita sp. nov. 5. Male genitalia.Paratype. Xiamen, Fujian. Gen. prep. KIZ0130331 (KIZ); 6. Female genitalia. Paratype. Xiamen, Fujian. Gen. prep. KIZ0130333 (KIZ). 7. Female genitalia of Oligophlebia minor Xu & Arita, 2014�(SCAU).

FIGURES 9–10. Adults of Oligophlebia hibiscivora Yu, Kallies & Arita sp. nov. 9. Female adults, III. 2021. Xiamen, Photo by Wenfang Liu; 10. Female adult, III. 2021. Xiamen, Photo by Pengying Huang.