Paranthrenopsis sichuanensis, Gorbunov, 2022

Gorbunov, O. G., 2022, A new species of the genus Paranthrenopsis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) from China with a catalogue of the genus, Zoosystematica Rossica (Zoosyst. Rossica) 31 (1), pp. 55-65 : 56-60

Paranthrenopsis sichuanensis sp.nov.

( Figs 1–9 )

Holotype. Female, with labels: “ China, Sichuan, / Qingcheng Hou Shan Mts. , / 70 km W Chengdu, 1500 m, / 25.VI.2005, / S. & V. Murzin leg.”; “ SESIIDAE / Pictures №№ / 0527-0528–2021 / Photo by O. Gorbunov ”; “HOLOTYPUS ♀ / Paranthrenopsis sichuanensis / O. Gorbunov, 2022 / O. Gorbunov des., 2021” ( COGM).

Paratypes. 1 male, 1 female, with same locality and date as in holotype, S. & V. Murzin leg. ( COGM) .

Description. Female (holotype) ( Figs 1–2 , 9 ). Alar expanse 15.8 mm; body length 6.7 mm; forewing length 7.0 mm; antenna length 3.0 mm.

Head. Antenna dorsally brown with dark violet sheen in basal two-thirds and pale yellowish in distal third, ventrally brown with bronze sheen. Scapus brown with dark violet sheen. Frons brown with violet sheen. Labial palpus smooth-scaled, pale yellow to yellow with a few brown scales apically. Vertex brown with greenish violet sheen and a few yellowish scales anteriorly. Pericephalic hairs yellow, with a few dark brown scales dorsally. Neck plate yellow with golden sheen.

Thorax. Patagia brown with violet sheen and a few yellow scales laterally. Tegula brown with violet sheen and a few yellow scales both at inner margin and distally. Mesothorax brown with violet sheen throughout. Metathorax brown with violet sheen and a few yellow scales laterally. Thorax laterally dark grey-brown with bright violet sheen and a large yellow spot with golden sheen medially. Posteriorly both metepimeron and metameron smooth-scaled, pale yellow with golden sheen.

Legs. Fore coxa yellow with golden sheen throughout. Fore femur yellow with golden sheen and admixture of individual grey-brown scales with violet sheen externally. Fore tibia dorsally brown with violet sheen and a few yellow scales both medially and distally, ventrally yellow with golden sheen. Basal and apical tarsomeres of fore tarsus dorsally brown with violet sheen and a few yellow scales both medially and distally; remaining tarsomeres dorsally yellow with admixture of brown scales with violet sheen; fore tarsus ventrally yellow with golden sheen throughout. Mid coxa yellow with golden sheen. Mid femur brown with violet sheen and narrow yellow posterior margin. Mid tibia brown with violet sheen and dense admixture of yellow scales with golden sheen externally; spurs yellow with golden sheen externally and grey-brown internally. Mid basal tarsomere brown with violet sheen and dense admixture of yellow scales with golden sheen externally; remaining tarsomeres yellow with golden sheen and a few grey-brown scales on each tarsomere dorsally. Hind coxa brown with violet sheen and narrow yellow posterior margin. Hind femur brown with violet sheen and narrow yellow posterior margin. Hind tibia externally brown with violet sheen, internally yellow with golden sheen, dorsally with a few longitudinal, pointed apically, dark yellow scales both medially and distally; spurs yellow with golden sheen externally and grey-brown internally. Hind basal tarsomere externally brown with violet sheen, internally yellow with golden sheen; remaining tarsomeres yellow with golden sheen and a few grey-brown scales dorsally on each tarsomere.

Forewing dorsally brown, with admixture of individual yellow scales and with bronze-violet sheen at costal margin and bronze sheen on remaining surface; transparent areas poorly developed, anterior transparent area small triangular, posterior transparent area undeveloped, external transparent area consists from two small cells between veins M 1 and M 3; cilia dorsally brown with bronze sheen. Forewing ventrally brown to dark brown, with bronze-purple sheen and yellow scales both at costal and anal margins; cilia ventrally brown with bronze sheen. Hind wing transparent but densely covered with transparent scales with purple-violet sheen; dorsally veins narrowly brown to dark brown with violet sheen; discal spot undeveloped; outer margin narrow, about half as broad as cilia, brown to dark brown with bronze sheen; ventrally veins and outer margin brown to dark brown with purple sheen, vein CuP yellow basally; cilia dorsally and ventrally brown with bronze sheen.

Abdomen dorsally dark brown with dark violet sheen; tergites 1 and 2 yellow laterally; tergites 4–6 each with admixture of individual yellow scales; abdomen ventrally yellow with golden-purple sheen throughout; anal tuft dark brown with purple-violet sheen and admixture of yellow-orange and yellow scales.

Female genitalia (paratype; genital preparation No. OG–002-2022; Fig. 9 ). Papillae anales broad, well-sclerotised but membranous ventrally, with numerous short and long setae on membranous parts. Apophysis posterioris about 0.8 times as long as apophysis anterioris. Tergite 8 relatively narrow, well-sclerotised, with numerous long setae at distal margin. Ostium bursae opening near posterior margin of sternite 7, broad, membranous. Antrum short, well-sclerotised. Ductus bursae broad and long. Corpus bursae ovoid, with two rounded groups of minute pointed spines.

Male (paratype) ( Figs 3–8 ). Alar expanse 16.0 mm; body length 7.4 mm; forewing length 7.5 mm; antenna length 3.5 mm.

Different from female as follows: Antenna dorsally only with a few pale yellow scales in distal third. Labial palpus with more numerous brown scales apically. Legs with fore coxa yellow with golden sheen and dense admixture of brown scales with violet sheen, and other parts of legs with more numerous dark-coloured scales. Forewing dorsally with noticeably fewer yellow scales. Abdomen dorsally dark brown with dark greenish violet sheen and a few thin yellow-orange scales on tergite 6; abdomen ventrally entirely pale yellow with golden sheen; anal tuft entirely dark brown with greenish sheen.

Male genitalia (paratype; genital preparation No. OG–001-2022; Figs 5–8 ). Uncus narrow, covered with rather long setae. Tegumen short, without gnathos ( Fig. 5 ). Valva ( Fig. 6 ) broad, ovoid, relatively short, covered with long and short setae on inner surface. Saccus ( Fig. 7 ) broad, short, rounded basally. Aedeagus ( Fig. 8 ) rather broad, about as long as valva, with extremely long coecum penis. Vesica membranous.

Individual variability. Unknown for males. Females display no variation in the coloration of various parts of the body but slightly vary in the individual size: alar expanse 15.8–16.0 mm, body length 6.7–7.0 mm, forewing length 7.0– 7.2 mm, antenna length 3.0– 3.1 mm.

Comparison. The new species seems to be closest to P. flavitaenia Wang et Yang, 2002 , but it clearly differs from the latter in the coloration of the abdomen [“dark brown dorsally with a pale yellow belt in the base of the fourth segment, anal tuft developed, blackish brown. Ventral surface of abdomen dark brown with a broad longitudinal yellow belt in the centre” ( Wang & Yang, 2002: 24) in P. flavitaenia , vs. abdomen dorsally dark brown with dark greenish violet sheen and with a few thin yellow-orange scales on tergite 6, ventrally entirely pale yellow with golden sheen in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.; cf. Figs 1–4 in this article with figs 2, 3, 5 and 7 in Arita et al., 2021a]. From P. flaviventris Kallies et Arita, 2001 , the new species can be distinguished by the coloration of the labial palpus (orange-yellow in P. flaviventris , vs. pale yellow to yellow with a few brown scales apically in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.), neck plate (entirely orange-yellow in P. flaviventris , vs. entirely yellow with golden sheen in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.), hind tibia and tarsus (orange-yellow, laterally party mixed with yellow in P. flaviventris , vs. hind tibia externally brown with violet sheen and internally yellow with golden sheen, basal hind tarsomere externally brown with violet sheen and internally yellow with golden sheen, remaining tarsomeres yellow with golden sheen and a few grey-brown scales dorsally on each tarsomere in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.) and abdomen (all tergites orange-yellow laterally, with coloration particularly intense on tergite 1, tergite 1 with narrow whitish posterior margin, tergite 4 orange-yellow in anterior half, tergite 5 with some orange-yellow scales in anterior half and tergite 6 with such scales in posterior half, all tergites ventrally bright orange-yellow throughout in P. flaviventris , vs. tergites 1 and 2 yellow laterally, tergites 4–6 each with admixture of individual yellow scales, all tergites ventrally yellow with golden-purple sheen throughout in P. sichuanensis sp.nov.; cf. Figs 1 and 3 in this article with fig. 4 in Kallies & Arita, 2001). In addition, these two species are very different in size (alar expanse 22.0– 24.5 mm in P. flaviventris , vs. 15.8–16.0 mm in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.). From P. siniaevi Gorbunov et Arita, 2000 , the new species is clearly separable by the distinctly smaller size (alar expanse 29.6 mm in P. siniaevi , vs. 15.8–16.0 mm in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.) and by the coloration of labial palpus and vertex (labial palpus dirty yellow-orange throughout and vertex dirty yellow-orange with an admixture of brown scales in P. siniaevi , vs. pale yellow to yellow with a few brown scales apically and vertex brown with a few yellowish scales anteriorly in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.), hind tibia and hind tarsus (hind tibia externally dirty yellow-orange with strong golden-bronze sheen, in basal half exterior-dorsally with admixture of brown to dark brown scales with purple sheen, and hind tarsus dirty yellow-orange with golden sheen throughout in P. siniaevi , vs. hind tibia externally brown with violet sheen, internally yellow with golden sheen, and basal hind tarsomere externally brown with violet sheen, internally yellow with golden sheen, remaining tarsomeres yellow with golden sheen and a few grey-brown scales dorsally on each tarsomere in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.) and abdomen (dorsally dark brown with greenish sheen and admixture of thin light brown scales, tergite 1 laterally narrowly dirty yellow-orange, ventrally dirty yellow-orange to yellow-orange with golden sheen and with a few brown scales on sternite 1+ 2 in P. siniaevi , vs. dorsally dark brown with dark violet sheen, tergites 1 and 2 yellow laterally, tergites 4–6 each with admixture of individual yellow scales, ventrally yellow with golden-purple sheen throughout in P. sichuanensis sp. nov.; cf. Figs 1 and 2 in this article with fig. 1 in Gorbunov & Arita, 2000). In addition, the new species differs from all congeners in the smallest size and colour details of various parts of the body.

Etymology. The name sichuanensis is a Latin adjective derived from the name of the Chinese province of Sichuan, where the new species was collected.

Distribution. The new species is known only from the type locality in Sichuan, China.

Bionomics. The larval host plant is unknown. The specimens of the type series were collected sitting on leaves of undetermined shrubs, in the second half of June, using an entomological net.

Habitat. The type series was collected in a deep mountain valley in a degraded rather humid secondary forest.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Paranthrenopsis sichuanensis sp. nov. 1–2, female (holotype; alar expanse 15.8 mm; Sesiidae picture No.0527-0528–2021); 3–4, male (paratype; alar expanse 16.0 mm; Sesiidae picture No. 0529-0530–2021). Dorsal view (1, 3) and ventral view (2, 4).

Figs 5–9. Genitalia of Paranthrenopsis sichuanensis sp. nov. 5–8, male (paratype; genital preparation No. OG– 001-2022): tegumen–uncus complex (5), valva (6), saccus (7), aedeagus (8); 9, female (paratype; genital preparation No. OG–002-2022). Scale bar: 0.5 mm (5–8), 1.0 mm (9).