Dinometa maputuana ( Wichgraf, 1906 )

Prozorov, Alexey M., Prozorova, Tatiana A., Yakovlev, Roman V., Volkova, Julia S., Saldaitis, Aidas, Sulak, Harald, Revay, Edita E. & Müller, Günter C., 2024, Description of two new species of Dinometa from East Africa with remarks on D. maputuana (Lepidoptera, Lasiocampidae, Lasiocampinae), Zootaxa 5397 (4), pp. 486-496 : 489

Dinometa maputuana ( Wichgraf, 1906)

( Figs 1–8 , 16–18 , 23, 25 )

Gastroplakaeis maputuana Wichgraf, 1906 , Insektenbörse, 23 (21), 83. Type locality follows from the article title “Hinterlande der Delagoa-Bay” [ Mozambique, hinterland of Delagoa Bay , somewhere near Maputo, 25.96924S, 32.57317E]. LT ♁ (NHML), here designated.

Male ( Figs 1, 4–7 ) with generic characters. Forewing length: 30–45 mm; wingspan: 62–103 mm. Genitalia ( Figs 16–18 , 20–22 ) with generic characters. Female ( Figs 2–3, 8 ) with generic characters. Forewing length: 50–62 mm; wingspan: 108–132 mm. Genitalia were not studied.

Variability. Both sexes have black discal spots varying from large ( Figs 5, 8 ) to small ( Figs 2, 4 ) or nonexisting ( Figs 3, 7 ). Shape of saccus vary in male genitalia ( Figs 16–18 ).

Diagnosis. Morphologically undistinguishable from the Tanzanian sister species D. ethani sp. n., but both have a p -distance of 2.43–2.74% and they are allopatric, they are separated by at least 1200 km between Moatize, Mozambique (see Goldbach, 1992) and the type locality of D. ethani sp. n. Dinometa maputuana lacks the reddish spots on the hindwings which are present in D. abigailae sp. n.

Distribution ( Fig. 23 ).Angolan mopane woodlands and Kalahari xeric savanna in Namibia, highveld grasslands and central bushveld in RSA, Zambezian coastal flooded savanna, Zambezian mopane woodlands and dry miombo woodlands in Mozambique. The species is recorded here for the first time in Namibia. Thirteen males and three females collected in Zimbabwe are deposited in NHMZ, but the exact collecting localities are not known to us.

Biology. Adults were collected in March, April, and December from an altitude up to 1650 meters a.s.l. The caterpillar is only known to be large, spiny and it feeds on Acacia sp. ( Ringler, 1906).

Taxonomical note. 1. Wichgraf described D. maputuana from an unstated number of adults ( Wichgraf, 1906), while a pair labelled as syntypes is deposited in NHML. There may be many more, since the species was bred and traded by Paul Ringler from May to September 1906 ( Ringler, 1906). To have an actual type specimen to refer to, we designate here a LT male from NHML ( Fig. 1 ) bearing the following labels: 1. Red rectangle with black frame and handwritten “Type;” 2. White round with blue frame and printed “ SYN- / TYPE;” 3. Yellowish rectangle with black frame and handwritten “Maputoland;” 4. Yellowish rectangle with black frame and handwritten “Insecten Börse / XXIII Jahrg. 1906;” 5. Yellowish rectangle with typed “Joicey Coll. / Brit. Mus. / 1925–157.” Other specimens, like the female in NHML bearing a syntype label, become PLT.

2. Two specimens collected the same day in Thabazimbi, RSA showed a p -distance of 1.52% (compare LBEOW945-11, LBEOW946-11; Fig. 25 ). Both lack any differences in genitalia but have a discal spot of a different size ( Figs 4–5 ). Each of the two specimens is closer to the Mozambican (0.76 and 1.06%) or Namibian specimens (0.61 and 1.22%) than to each other, while Mozambican one is only 0.15% away genetically from the Namibian specimen. Further genetic studies would be interesting.

Type material examined: LT ♁, “Maputoland,” slide 1335 ( NHML) ; PLT ♀, “Maputoland” ( NHML) . Additional material examined. Mozambique: ♀, “Sikumba,” Maputo Bay , 25.96924S, 32.57317E ( NHML) ; ♁, “ Sikumba ” ( MfNB) ; ♁, Manica Province, Chicamba Dam , 19.025S, 33.035E, 557 m, 8.XII.2010, leg. V. Anikin, LBEOA097-11 ( CJV / CVZ) . Namibia: 2♁, ♀, Erongo Region, Eileen Farm , 21.60041S, 15.69919E, 1310 m, 15– 16.III.2005, leg. W. Mey, LBEOW1188-11 ( MfNB) ; ♁, “S. W.Africa,” slide 1336 ( NHML); ♁, ♀, Khomas Region, Windhoek , 1650 m, leg. V. Zobrys ( MfNB) ; 2♁, ♀, Otjozondjupa Region, Okahandja , 21.97188S, 16.90634E, 1350 m, 10.III.1908 ( MfNB) . RSA: 2♁, Limpopo Province, Thabazimbi , 24.58284S, 27.40277E, 1000 m, 12.XII.2008, leg. Snizek, LBEOW945-11, LBEOW946-11, GS 0305, 0306 ( CGM / USTTB) ; ♀, Eastern Cape Province, Roisaand , 1475 m, 13.IV.1908 ( MfNB) .

Figures

FIGURES 1–10. Adults. 1–8. Dinometa maputuana. 1–2. Mozambique, near Maputo (NHML). 1. LT ♁, GS 1335. 2. ♀. 3–5. RSA. 3. ♀, Rooisand (MfNB). 4–5. ♁, Thabazimbi, LBEOW945-11, LBEOW946-11, GS 0305, 0306 (CGM/USTTB). 6–8. Namibia. 6. ♁, Windhoek (MfNB). 7. ♁, unknown location, GS 1336 (NHML). 8. ♀, Eileen Farm, LBEOW 1188-11 (MfNB). 9–10. Gastroplakaeis meridionalis. 9. ♀, Zambia, Kashitu (NHML). 10. ♁, Zimbabwe, Mutare (NHML). Scale bar – 1 cm.

FIGURES 16–19. ♁ genitalia.16–18.Dinometa maputuana.16.LT,Mozambique, nearMaputo GS 1335 (NHML). 17. Namibia, GS 1336 (NHML). 18. RSA, Thabazimbi, LBEOW945-11, GS 0305 (CGM/USTTB). 19. Gastroplakaeis meridionalis, DRC, Lubumbashi, GS 2010-60 (CGM/USTTB). Scale bar – 1 mm.

FIGURES 23–25. Collecting sites of Dinometa maputuana (23), D. abigailae, and D. ethani (24) (for details visit bit.ly/ twonewdinometa), and NJ tree (25; K2P, bootstrap 1000, built with MEGA X) based on sequence variation at COI and pairwise distances (%). Circles with stars are for the collecting localities of primary types, other tags are for additional material.

FIGURES 20–22. ♁ genitalia of Dinometa spp. 20. D. ethani, HT, Tanzania, road Dar-es-Salaam – Chalinze, LBEOW722-10, GS 0304 (CGM/USTTB). 21–22. D. abigailae. 21. PT, Kenya, Kibwezi, GS 0303 (CGM/USTTB). 22. HT, Banagi Hill, GS 1337 (NHML). Scale bar – 1 mm.