Prasinocyma fusca, Hausmann, Axel, Sciarretta, Andrea & Parisi, Francesco, 2016

Hausmann, Axel, Sciarretta, Andrea & Parisi, Francesco, 2016, The Geometrinae of Ethiopia II: Tribus Hemistolini, genus Prasinocyma (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Geometrinae), Zootaxa 4065 (1), pp. 1-63 : 22-23

Prasinocyma fusca sp. n.

( Figs 20 , 61 , 92 )

Holotype. ♂, Ethiopia [Oromia], Bale mountains, Harenna Forest 1600m (lux) 21.II.2010, leg. F. Parisi, A. Sciarretta, coll. ZSM ( BC ZSM Lep 81820; gen.prp. DAEF GM1).

Paratypes. Oromia: 2♂ 1♀, id., coll. DAEF (gen.prp. DAEF GN1); 1♂, Ethiopia, Bale mountains, Harenna Forest 1600m (lux) 27.IX.2009, leg. Palladino, Parisi, Sciarretta (gen.prp. DAEF GP1); 4♂ 2♀, S. Ethiopia, Sidamo, 16 km, SW Kibre Mengist, 1700m, 5.8107°N 38.8880°E, 25 – 26.III.2009, leg. R. Beck, M. Dietl ( BC ZSM Lep 81821—failure, 81813, 45468; gen.prp. ZSM G 19462, 19464, 19456); 1♂, S. Ethiopia, Sidamo, 1700m, 25 – 26.III.2009, 16 km sw Kibremengist, leg. R. Beck. M. Dietl; 1♂ 2♀, Äthiopien [ Ethiopia], Sidamo/Oromaio, Kibre Mengist, 11,5km S, 1730m, 5°47.446' N 38°57.864' E, 15. – 16.V.2012, Dietl, M. + S. & R. Beck ( BC ZSM Lep 84766).— Southern Nations: 2♂, Äthiopien, Ostafrikanisches South Nation, Wushwush, 7.4 km W, 1910 m, 07°48’ 16.05“ N [07.304 N 36.057 E], 7.V.2013, Beck R. & R. Wanninger leg. ( BC ZSM Lep 81859, 84183; gen.prp. ZSM G 19587); 1♂, Äthiopien [ Ethiopia], Ostafrikanischer Graben, Provinz South Nations, Wushwush 16 km W Bonga, 1910m, 07° 18.184 N 36.03.520 E, 21.VI.2014, Riedel, G. & Beck R.; 1♂ 2♀, Äthiopien [ Ethiopia], Ostafrikanischer Graben, Provinz South Nations, Bonga Hotel, 1720m, 07° 16.444 N 36.14.769 E, 24.VI.2014, Beck, R. & G. Riedel; 4♀, Äthiopien [ Ethiopia], Ostafrikanischer Graben [East African Rift valley], Mago Nationalpark, 1217m, 06°47.365’ N, 36°27.475’O, 2.VII.2014, Beck, R. & G. Riedel ( BC ZSM Lep 84758; gen.prp. ZSM G 16218).

Description. Adult ( Fig. 20 ). Wingspan. Male and female 27 – 32 mm. Ground colour dark bluish green, slightly irrorated with white scales. Forewing usually without spot at the inner termen. Fore- and hindwings with black discal dot, finely whitish encircled, terminal dots absent. Hindwing termen slightly angled at M3. Length of male palpi 1.3 – 1.7 times diameter of eye, tip brownish. Female palpi 2.0 times diameter of eye. Frons brown, in some specimens with greenish scales. Antennae bipectinate in male, filiform in female. Male antennal branches pale ochre. Male frenulum present. Male hindtibia with weak pencil, four spurs and terminal process covering 1/3 of first tarsomere.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 61 ). Uncus narrow. Socii very small, almost invisible. Costa of valva at base with long, setose process. Subapical ventral lobe of valva conspicuous, ventral part of valva separated from the rest by a spinulose ridge. Sacculus strongly bent at tip with a few long bristles. Aedeagus (length 1.8 – 2.0 mm) broad, with short basal stalk and with a long lateral process. Sternum A8 posteriorly slightly sclerotized, flat and smooth without projections or lobes.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 92 ). Sterigma weakly sclerotized. Lamella antevaginalis narrow, half-ring-shaped around antrum. Antrum stronger sclerotized, dilated and corrugate posteriorly. Ductus bursae sclerotized, short. corpus bursae large, pyriform. Signum conspicuous, developed as a curved, sclerotized, transverse ridge.

Differential diagnosis. In habitus similar to P. corrugata , but differing in smaller size, darker ground colour, longer palpi, brown frons, male genitalia with different shape of harpe, uncus longer, valva with dorsal projection, aedeagus with lateral process, sternum A8 without projections. In male genitalia P. fusca sp. n. is reminiscent of P. inconspicuata Fletcher, 1958 from SW. Uganda especially in the shape of the harpe, but in the latter the uncus is longer, spinose ridge of valva absent, aedeagus with longer basal stalk and without lateral process, sternum A8 with conspicuous, sclerotized, paired posterior processes. Dorsobasal process of valva reminiscent of equivalent in genus Celidomphax but these structures probably are not homologous, since in Celidomphax the process is not setose. The round and short dorsobasal process in P. leveneorum sp. n., however, appears to be homologous.

Genetic data. BIN: BOLD:AAH6150. Intraspecific variation low (0%; n=3). Allied and probably conspecific populations barcoded from Ghana: Distance 0.5%, and identic when excluding the 3rd codon position from analysis. Nearest neighbour in Ethiopia: P. monikae sp. n. (5.7%).

Etymology. The name refers to the darker ground colour; latin fuscus, -a, -um = dark.

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 24. Adults of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar— 1 cm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides, and / or DNA barcoding, and / or nomenclatural status of the illustrated specimen are given. 19. Prasinocyma corrugata Fletcher, 1958 (gen. prp. ZSM G 19653); 20. Prasinocyma fusca sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 81820; Holotype); 21. Prasinocyma leveneorum sp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 85808 - 84634; Holotype); 22. Prasinocyma germinaria (Guenée, 1858) (BC ZSM Lep 83222); 23. Prasinocyma magica sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16065; Paratype); 24. Prasinocyma batesi distans subsp. n. (BC ZSM Lep 85806 - 83224).

FIGURES 60 – 63. Male genitalia of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar (s) — 1 mm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides are given. 60. Prasinocyma corrugata Fletcher, 1958 (gen. prp. DAEF GO 1); 61. Prasinocyma fusca sp. n. (gen. prp. DAEF GP 1); 62. Prasinocyma leveneorum sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19652); 63. Prasinocyma germinaria (Guenée, 1858) (gen. prp. ZSM G 19400).

FIGURES 92 – 97. Female genitalia of Ethiopian Prasinocyma species. Scale Bar (s) — 1 mm. In parantheses the ID-numbers of genitalia slides are given. 92. Prasinocyma fusca sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16218); 93. Prasinocyma germinaria (Guenée, 1858) (ex NHM); 94. Prasinocyma aquamarina sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19455); 95. Prasinocyma lutulenta sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 16040); 96. Prasinocyma septentrionalis sp. n. (gen. prp. ZSM G 19408); 97. Prasinocyma neglecta Prout, 1921 (gen. prp. ZSM G 16057).