Honveda schintlmeisteri, Joshi & Ahmad & Singh, 2023

Joshi, Rahul, Ahmad, Jalil & Singh, Navneet, 2023, A new species of Honveda Kiriakoff (Notodontidae, Lepidoptera) from India, Zootaxa 5263 (1), pp. 148-150 : 148-149

Honveda schintlmeisteri sp. nov.

( Figs 1–8 )

Type material. Holotype, male, INDIA. Maharashtra, Panhala , 750m, 16°81′N 74°13′E, 07.ix.2007, Ratesh Kumar leg. (NZCZSI) . Paratypes, INDIA. Maharashtra, Panhala , male, 07.ix.2007, Ratesh Kumar leg. (NZCZSI); S . India, Tamil Nadu, Nilhiri Hills, Kotagiri , male, 900m, 11°23′N 76°55′E, 16.iv.1997, Schintlmeister & Siniarv leg.

Diagnosis. Honveda schintlmeisteri sp. nov. is the smallest member of the genus (forewing length male 21mm). Externally, all the members of Honveda are similar looking and thus difficult to differentiate. They are reliably identified on the basis of genitalia. In male genitalia, H. schintlmeisteri sp. nov. ( Figs 2, 3 ) is reminiscent of H. fasciata ( Schintlmeister 2008: 105, fig. 420) and H. brachyrami ( Kobayashi 2021: 269, fig. 16) but is distinct by the presence of hammer shaped apex of socii (Figs 4,5) (in H. fasciata the apex of socii is rounded and in H. brachyrami the apex of socii is rounded with a proximal triangular flap). Furthermore, H. schintlmeisteri sp. nov. has a smooth dorsal apical region of the uncus ( Fig. 6 ); valva with finger-like basal costal processes, the sacculus broad and evenly curved being serrated on both edges, and a small tooth at the apex ( Fig. 7 ). Honveda brachyrami on the other hand has the dorsal apical part of the uncus has a groove, the valva with the coastal process thumb like, the sacculus slender and linear with the distal ventral edge serrate, and the apical tooth absent. Honveda schintlmeisteri sp. nov. is further distinct from H. fasciata by the valva with saccular process broader and dentate, aedeagus being strongly angled at the apex and by the rounded apical projection, in H. fasciata the saccular process narrower and smooth, aedeagus is evenly curved apically and the apical projection pointed. Due to the presence of a single long process on the juxta ( Fig. 8 ), H. schintlmeisteri sp. nov., is distinct from some of its congeners: H. niisatoi and H. nepalina have the juxta with a single short process ( Kobayashi 2021: 267, 272, figs 14, 19), H. latifasciata and H. rallifasciata have the juxta with two processes ( Schintlmeister 2008: 105, Fig. 419, 421), but H. fasciata also has a single juxtal process.

Distribution. The new species is known from South India: Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Etymology. The new species is named after Dr. Alexander Schintlmeister ( Germany) for his contribution to the taxonomy of global Notodontidae .

Figures

FIGURES. 1–8. Honveda schintlmeisteri sp. nov. 1, Adult, holotype, male (NZCZSI); 2, Male genitalia; 3, Aedeagus; 4, Dorsal view of uncus & socii; 5, Ventral view of uncus & socii; 6, Lateral view; 7, Sacculus enlarged; 8 Juxta enlarged.