A new species of Aschistophleps from Thailand and Laos, with a new generic synonymy (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae)

Abstract

We here describe a new clearwing moth species, Aschistophleps ignisquamulata sp. nov., from northern Thailand and Laos. This striking new species differs from all other species of Osminiini in both external appearance and genitalia and displays characteristics that indicate that Pyrophleps Arita & Gorbunov is a junior subjective synonym of Aschistophleps (syn. nov.).

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Accepted by L. Kaila: 17 May 2018; published: 19 Jul. 2018
ZOOTAXA
ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition)
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Copyright © 2018 Magnolia Press
Zootaxa 4446 (4): 596
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600
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Article
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4446.4.11
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:99CFCEB8-338B-4D86-AFEA-07DBF9459948
A new species of Aschistophleps from Thailand and Laos,
with a new generic synonymy (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae)
AXEL KALLIES
1,3
& VLADIMÍR ŠTOLC
2
1
University of Melbourne, School of BioSciences, Parkville, 3010 Victoria, Australia. E-mail: axel.kallies@unimelb.edu.au
2
Skřivanská 484/6, 10800 Praha 10 Malešice, Czech Republic. E-mail: v.stolc@seznam.cz
3
Corresponding author
Abstract
We here describe a new clearwing moth species, Aschistophleps ignisquamulata sp. nov., from northern Thailand and
Laos. This striking new species differs from all other species of Osminiini in both external appearance and genitalia and
displays characteristics that indicate that Pyrophleps Arita & Gorbunov is a junior subjective synonym of Aschistophleps
(syn. nov.).
Key words: south-eastern Asia, clearwing moths, pheromones, Osminiini, ignisquamulata, Pyrophleps
Introduction
The Osminiini of South and South-East Asia have been the subject of several studies over the last two decades
(Arita & Gorbunov 1995; 2000a, b; 2002; Gorbunov 2015; Gorbunov & Arita 1995, 2002; Kallies 2003; Xu et al.
2015; Skowron et al. 2015; Skowron Volponi & Volponi 2017a–c, 2018). Overall, including the recently described
Pyrophleps ellawi Skowron Volponi, 2017 and Aschistophleps argentifasciata Skowron Volponi & Volponi, 2017,
there are 27 species in currently 5 genera known from this region (Pühringer & Kallies 2017). The most species-
rich genera are Aschistophleps Hampson, 1893 and Pyrophleps Arita & Gorbunov, 2000, together containing 14
often colorful species with very long and hairy hind legs.
Recently, the authors received a collection of Osminiini that were collected in northern Thailand and Laos.
This material contained an unusual species that by external appearance seemed to belong to Pyrophleps, but
differed from all of the known species in this genus externally and according to its genitalia morphology. The genus
Pyrophleps was erected by Arita & Gorbunov (2000a) to accommodate several species from south-east Asia, some
of them originally described in Aschistophleps. These species were separated from Aschistophleps based on
differences in the male genitalia and the constitution of the hind leg scales. The new species from Thailand and
Laos, however, does not fit the narrow definitions of either genus and displays a series of characteristics that show
that this group of Osminiini is morphologically more diverse than previously anticipated. We therefore propose that
Pyrophleps Arita & Gorbunov, 2000 is a junior subjective synonym of Aschistophleps Hampson, 1893 (syn. nov.).
The new species is described below.
Aschistophleps ignisquamulata spec. nov.
(Figs 1, 3)
Material examined. Holotype: ♂ (Fig. 1), North Thailand, Prov. Nan, 450 m, Nam Om (broken bridge),
18°56.060’N 100°27.335’E, 29.v.–3.vi.2013, leg. B. Vodrlind & Z. Weidenhoffer (coll. A. Kallies, will be
deposited in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany). Paratypes (3 ♂): 1 ♂, same data as holotype (coll.
Vladimír Štolc); 1 ♂, N Laos, Luang-Namtha, 4.v.1994, leg. T. Yoshida (National Science Museum Tokyo, Japan);

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A NEW ASCHISTOPHLEPS FROM THAILAND & LAOS
1♂, N Laos, Luang Prabang, Kiew Mak Nao, 900 m, 27.ii.2016, local collector / genitalia examined by A. Kallies,
slide AK859 (Fig. 3, coll. A. Kallies).
Description. Male (holotype): wingspan 17 mm; forewing length 7 mm; body length 9 mm. Most parts of the
body, wing margins and veins and legs bright deep crimson red.
Head. Frons black in dorsal half, white in ventral portion; labial palps white, third segment with some brown
scales dorsally; antennae black to dark brown dorsally, light brown ventrally; pericephalic scales white.
Thorax. Patagia black; tegula red; metathorax red, ventrally black. Legs: black, coxae white, each tarsomere
white in basal portion, hind tibia red dorsally, with a blade of long red scales internally and a ridge of red scales
dorsally, mixed with a few white scales.
Forewing. All veins, costal and anal margins red in basal half and black in distal half, discal spot wide and
black; external transparent area large, consisting of 5 large transparent cells, each with a well-defined line running
from the outer margin through most of the cell, and a vestigial transparent cell between Cu1 and Cu2.
Hindwing. Most veins red in basal third, except first anal vein mostly black, outer 2/3 of wing with a smoky
appearance, with broad black outer margin, very wide and distinctive black discal spot.
Abdomen. Dorsally covered by a layer of crimson red scales, black scales underneath, tergite 1 with a black
posterior margin, terga 2 to 7 with silver-white bands along the posterior margins that show a bluish reflection;
sterna 1+2 covered with white scales, sterna 2 to 7 black with broad and bright white posterior margins; anal tuft
red with a black tip.
Male genitalia (Fig. 3). Distal margin of uncus with a row of short well-sclerotized setae, lateral margins with
short and soft setae; gnathos wide and rounded; valva relatively long and of equal width over its entire length,
subapically distinctively inward folded and with a short row of short well-sclerotized setae, inner surface of the
valva with a large field of soft setae in the dorsal portion and a small area of such setae in the ventral section near
the apex; saccus triangular, blunt ending; phallus simple, shorter than valva.
Diagnosis. This species cannot be confused with any of the known species in Aschistophleps, including the
species formerly assigned to Pyrophleps. It is somewhat similar and probably most closely related to
Aschistophleps cruentata (Swinhoe, 1896) comb. rev. from north-eastern India (figured in Arita & Gorbunov,
1995). However, this species can be differentiated by the color of the hindwing discal spot (largely red in A.
cruentata, completely black in A. ignisquamulata) and hind legs (dorsal portion of the scale tufts black in A.
cruentata, completely red in A. ignisquamulata). It also shows some similarities with Aschistophleps
cucphuonganae (Arita & Gorbunov, 2000) comb. nov. (Fig. 2) from Northern Vietnam and the closely related
Aschistophleps bicella (Xu & Arita, 2015) comb. nov. from southern China. However, in both species the discal
spots are fused to the outer margins, leaving only two or three transparent cells in the distal portion of the hindwing
and three large and one narrow transparent cells in the basal portion of the hindwing. The new species differs from
all other species of the genus Aschistophleps, including A. lampropoda Hampson, [1893], A. longipoda Arita &
Gorbunov, 2000, A. metachryseis Hampson, 1895, A. murzini Gorbunov & Arita, 2002, A. xanthocrista Gorbunov
& Arita, 1995, A. haematochrodes Le Cerf, 1912 comb. rev., A. nigripennis (Arita & Gorbunov, 2000) comb. nov.,
A. ruficrista (Rothschild, 1912), A. vitripennis (Arita & Gorbunov, 2000) comb. nov., A. ellawi (Skowron Volponi,
2017) comb. nov. and A. argentifasciata Skowron Volponi & Volponi, 2017 by external appearance (very large
discal spot in hindwing that is not linked to the outer margins) and its distinctly different genitalia (very short well-
sclerotized setae along margins of the uncus and distinct inwards folded apical margin of the valva with well-
sclerotized setae).
Variability. One of the specimen from Laos is somewhat smaller and has a slightly larger transparent cell
between forewing Cu1 and Cu2. It also lacks the lines of scales extending from the outer margin of the forewing
termen into each of the cells. However, we believe that these small differences reflect intraspecific variation.
Habitat and Biology. The holotype and one paratype were collected on the banks of a small river surrounded
by secondary tropical rainforest (Fig. 4). One specimen was attracted to artificial pheromone lures between 9 and
11.30 am. Another specimen was found sucking moisture from damp sand near the river. This ‘mud-puddling’
behaviour has been described for several species of the genera Aschistophleps, Heterospecia Le Cerf, 1916 and
Akaisphecia Gorbunov & Arita, 1995 (Gorbunov 2015, Skowron 2015, Skowron Volponi & Volponi 2017a–c,
2018) and may be a trait typical of Oriental Osminiini. The hostplant of A. ignisquamulata is unknown.
Etymology. The name is derived from the Latin ignis (fire) and squamula (scale).

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FIGURES 1–4. Aschistophleps species and habitat. 1. A. ignisquamulata spec. nov., holotype, Thailand. 2. A. cucphuonganae
comb. nov., Vietnam. 3. A. ignisquamulata spec. nov., paratype, male genitalia. 4. Type locality of A. ignisquamulata spec.
nov. in Thailand.

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Discussion
The genus Pyrophleps was separated from Aschistophleps by Arita & Gorbunov (2000a) based on small
differences in the genitalia (rounded gnathos and distal portion of valva in Aschistophleps; pointed gnathos and
tapering valva in Pyrophleps) and the organization of the hind leg scales (distal half of hind tibia with a narrow
blade of elongated scales dorsally and a blade of elongated scales internally in in Pyrophleps, with tufts of scales
along the tibia and basal tarsomer in Aschistophleps). We here consider the taxa Pyrophleps and Aschistophleps
synonymous for the following reasons. Firstly, separating Pyrophleps and Aschistophleps based on the organization
of the hind leg scales is problematic as this character appears developed in a quantitative fashion across different
species, with some species displaying small scale tufts (such as A. metachryseis and A. xanthocrista) and others
showing larger tufts of such scales (such as A. longipoda), while species in Pyrophleps show scale tufts that are
‘fused’ to form blades along the inner and the dorsal side of the hind leg tibia. Secondly, the characteristcs of
genitalia of Pyrophleps as given by Arita & Gorbunov (2000a) do not accommodate all species that display scale
blades along the hind tibia, as shown here for A. ignisquamulata. It does not display the narrow pointed gnathos or
valva morphology of typical Pyrophleps. Therefore, only a species group consisting of Pyrophleps and
Aschistophleps would appear to be monophyletic and would be supported by a strong autapomorphy (legs longer
than abdomen). In contrast, separating Pyrophleps would leave Aschistophleps without any apomorphic character
and likely render it paraphyletic.
South-east Asian Osminiini are often very attractive clearwing moths that display brightly coloured bodies and
wings and often long and conspicuously hairy legs. Therefore, the material available in collections has been studied
relatively well. However, little is known about the hostplants of Osminiini, although some African taxa have been
associated with plants of the families Malvaceae and Convolvulaceae (Bartsch 2016). Thus, many new species are
likely yet to be discovered. Overall, more field work, including application of different methods of collecting and
the search for Osminiini hostplants are required to fill in the gaps of our knowledge.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our friends Zdeněk Weidenhoffer, Bohumil Vodrlind, Yutaka Arita and Bernard Mollet who
collected or made accessible the specimens used in this study.
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