Rhodambulyx davidi Mell, 1939

Xu, Zhen-Bang, Melichar, Tomáš, He, Ji-Bai, Zhang, Chao, Zhang, Xin-Yu, Feng, Du & Hu, Shao-Ji, 2022, A new species of Rhodambulyx Mell, 1939 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from Southwest Chongqing, China, Zootaxa 5105 (1), pp. 48-62 : 56

Rhodambulyx davidi Mell, 1939

Male ( Figure 3 I–J ). Forewing length 42–54 mm, ochre. Body brownish. Antenna about one-third of forewing length, beige with brownish pectinations. Forewing upperside: Ground colour reddish-beige with three transverse light brown bands overlain by a clear silvery sheen. Discal spot creamy yellow. Postdiscal band wavy, running from costa to inner margin. Terminal band inwardly wavy with strongly silvery sheen. Brownish apical patch distinct. Forewing underside: Light buff-brown peppered with darker scales, basal half covered with faintly brownish-beige hair forming a patch. Discal band obscure, running from costa into the basal brownish-beige patch. Submarginal line thin, Y-shaped running from apex and costa, gradually disappearing to cell CuA 1, bifurcating in cell M 1. Faintly black terminal band slightly disappeared to basal. Hindwing upperside: Ochre-beige with narrow black outer margin. Darker postdiscal line rather disappeared. Hindwing underside: Postdiscal and submarginal bands ochre, slightly indistinct. Cilia reddish beige.

Male genitalia. In total, seven genitalia were dissected. Overall sclerotized. Tegumen and vinculum broad, the latter with a short saccus ( Figure 3C and D ); uncus broad at base, elongate, triangular shaped with blunt tip ( Figure 7M ). Valve broad in basal half, nearly oval, elongate and more membranous in the distal half, covered with dense setae, harpe triangular, broad at base and gradually narrowed, then abruptly upturned into hooked tip ( Figure 7N ). Juxta thin, rising from base to valve. Phallus straight, basal half and distal half approximately of equal width; distal half gradually narrowed with teardrop-shaped tip ( Figure 7O ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Rhodambulyx xinyuae Xu, Melichar & He sp. nov. (A–D) and three similar taxa, R. kitchingi Brechlin, 2015 (E–H) R. davidi Mell, 1939 (I–J), and R. davidi ‘namvui’ (K–L).A–B: ♂, HOLOTYPE, Simianshan, Chongqing, China; C–D: ♂, PARA- TYPE, same locality as holotype; E–F: ♂, Da Nang, Lam Dong, Vietnam; G–H: ♂, Bach Ma, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam; I–J: ♂, Dayao shan, Guangxi China; K–L: ♂, HOLOTYPE, Phia Den, Cao Bang, Vietnam, © Ulf Eitschberger. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 7. Enlarged uncus, valve, and phallus of male genitalia of Rhodambulyx xinyuae Xu, Melichar & He sp. nov., Simianshan, Chongqing, China (A–F); R. kitchingi Brechlin, 2015, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam (G–L); and R. davidi Mell, 1939, Dayao Shan, Guangxi, China (M–O). A, D, G, J, and M: ventral-lateral view of uncus; B, E, H, K, and N: posterior view of valve and harpe; C, F, I, L, and O: lateral view of phallus.