Sesamia nonagrioides

Kergoat, Gael J., Toussaint, Emmanuel F. A., Capdevielle-Dulac, Claire, Clamens, Anne-Laure, Ong, George, Amo, Conlong, Desmond, Berg, Johnnie Van Den, Cugala, Domingos, Pallangyo, Beatrice, Mubenga, Onesime, Chipabika, Gilson, Ndemah, Rose, Sezonlin, Michel, Bani, Gregoire, Molo, Richard, Ali, Abdalla, Calatayud, Paul-Andre, Kaiser, Laure, Silvain, Jean-Francois & Ru, Bruno Le, 2015, Integrative taxonomy reveals six new species related to the Mediterranean corn stalk borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Sesamiina), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (2), pp. 244-270 : 261-262

SESAMIA NONAGRIOIDES SPECIES COMPLEX

This study reveals an unexpected diversity of species related to S. nonagrioides , one of the most studied noctuid stem borers in Africa and Europe. It confirms the current lack of knowledge regarding the diversity of the subtribe Sesamiina in sub-Saharan Africa, a consequence of less intensive collection effort in wild habitats both on plants and with light traps, and of the rather unclear systematics of the group. In the past, hundreds of Sesamia specimens related to S. nonagrioides have been collected and identified as nonagrioides . Nye (1960) recorded from Uganda and Kenya and bred out from Cyperus papyrus , a form of S. nonagrioides ‘consistently chocolate brown in colour over the entire fore and hind wing’. Although none of these specimens was found in Sesamiina museum collections, this description could correspond to the newly described species S. luyaensis . In the same way, many ‘ S. nonagrioides ’ specimens collected in Austral Africa and preserved in the Ditsong Museum (Pretoria)

KEY TO THE SESAMIA NONAGRIOIDES SPECIES GROUP BASED ON INTERNAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE ADULT MALES

(A) AND FEMALES (B)

(A)

1. tegumen with large peniculi ( Fig. 7A–E)................................................................................................2 tegumen with small peniculi ( Fig. 7F)................................................................................................ typhae 2. juxta with short neck ( Fig. 7A–C).........................................................................................................3 juxta with long neck ( Fig. 7D,E)...............................................................................................................4 3. juxta with short wide neck, shortly bifid ( Fig. 7B) Central Africa................................................... congoensis juxta with short wide neck, shortly bifid ( Fig. 7A) Austral Africa.......................................................... capensis juxta with short narrow neck, longly bifid ( Fig. 7C) Central Africa ...................................................... luyaensis 4. juxta with long narrow neck, shortly bifid ( Fig. 7D); Austral Africa ................................................ natalensis juxta with long narrow neck, shortly bifid ( Fig. 7E); Central, East and West Africa........................... nonagrioides

(B)

1. valves more than 3 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8C,D)............................................................................2 valves less than 3 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8B,D,E,F)............................................................................ 3 2. valves 4 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8C); lateral plates medium sized, rounded ........................... kouilouensis valves less than 4 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8C), lateral plates medium sized, not rounded................. luyaensis 3. lateral plates large ( Fig. 8B,F)............................................................................................................. 4 lateral plates small or medium sized ( Fig. 8A,E,G)......................................................................................5 4. lateral plates rounded at the apex ( Fig. 8B)............................................................................... congoensis lateral plates rounded from the bottom ( Fig. 8F).......................................................................... nonagrioides 5. lateral plates small ( Fig. 8A)...................................................................................................... capensis lateral plates medium sized ( Fig. 8E,G).....................................................................................................6 6. valves 2 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8E) .................................................................................. natalensis valves 2.5 times longer than wide ( Fig. 8E)......................................................................................... typhae probably belong to one or several of the new species ( S. capensis , S. natalensis and S. typhae ) described in this paper. The integrative taxonomic approach developed in this study, combining morphology, ecology and molecular species delimitation analyses, clearly supports the existence of seven species in the S. nonagrioides group, including six new species. With the exception of S. kouilouensis and S. luyaensis , easily separated from the remaining five species by their respective ochraceous hindwing and camel forewing, the remaining five species require the examination of genitalia from both sexes, by comparing the juxta morphology for males and the lateral plates of the ostial segment for females. Interestingly, with the exception of S. luyaensis restricted to western Kenya, the five other new species described in this study were all collected from countries where ‘S esamia nonagrioides ’ had never been reported before: Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo for Central Africa and South Africa and Mozambique in Austral Africa.