Katha volynkini Joshi & Singh, 2018

Joshi, Rahul, Singh, Navneet & Singh, Jagbir, 2018, Description of a new Katha species from India, with a key to the Oriental species (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4407 (3), pp. 435-442 : 436

Katha volynkini Joshi & Singh , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 , 13–14 )

Type locality: Garampani , Meghalaya, India.

Type material: Holotype, ♂, INDIA, Meghalaya, Garampani , 09.IX.09 (Coll. R Joshi; Reg. no. PUP /RJ/135). One paratype: INDIA, Mizoram, Champhai , 27.IX.09 – 1♂.(Coll. R. Joshi; Reg. no. PUP/RJ/135a).

Description: Adult ( Fig. 1 ). Forewing length 14mm.Head with frons brown; vertex yellow. Antennae simple, brown. Labial palpi yellow, black at tips. Thorax with patagia and tegulae dark yellow; pectus pale yellow. Forewing creamish yellow with velvety texture; apex with more tinge of yellow; a deep groove from base of cell to tornus; underside minutely suffused with fuscous, termen pale; inner margin excurved at subbasal area. Hindwing concolourous. Legs black, suffused with some yellow on forelegs. Abdomen yellowish with some white at base. Male genitalia( Fig. 13 ) with uncus broad, sparsely setose, apically hooked; tegumen smaller than the very long vinculum; saccus deep v-shaped, with knob-like tip. Valvae typical of the genus, distal saccular process ending in a small spine. Juxta rectangular. Aedeagus ( Fig. 14 ) moderately short and broad; vesica four lobed, apical lobe with female shoe shaped spine and basal lobe with a stout, blade-like spine; one lateral lobe with a dentate sclerotized plate, another with a field of minute spines.

Diagnosis: Externally, the species of Katha are very similar to each other and are better diagnosed on the basis of male genitalia. Due to the absence of apical spine in aedeagus, and presence of two spines and a dentate plate in vesica, K. volynkini sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 13–14 ) is closely similar to K. conformis ( Figs. 2 , 15–16 ) but can be distinguished from it in the following attributes: a field of minute spines on a lobe opposite to the dentate plate is present; apical lobe of vesica is short with a female shoe shaped apical spine, vinculum broad “v”-shaped and saccus knobbed. Whereas, K. conformis lacks the field of minute spines, characteristic for the new species; the apical lobe of vesica is tubular with a nail like apical spine; the vinculum is narrow, “v”-shaped and the saccus is simple. Other closely related species is K. suffusa , which differs from the new species in the presence of single spine in vesica.

Etymology: The species name is dedicated to Dr. Anton Volynkin, Arctiinae specialist from Tomsk, Russia.

Figures

FIGURES 1–12. Katha spp.: Adults. 1, K. volynkini, holotype, male; 2, K. conformis, male; 3, K. brevivalva (Male) (From Holloway 2001); 4, K. brevivalva (Female) (From Holloway 2001); 5, K. pulverola (Male) (From Holloway 2001); 6, K. pseudobrevivalva (From Dubatolov & Bucsek 2016); 7, K. spinoapex (From Kirti & Singh 2016); 8, 9, K. magnata (From Dubatolovet al.2012); 10, K.montana(Male) (FromDr KarolBucsek); 11, K.montana(Female)(From Dr KarolBucsek), 12, K.nankunshanica (From Dubatolov etal.2012).

FIGURES 13–24. Katha spp.: Male genitalia. 13,14, K. volynkini, holotype, male, Garampani, Meghalaya, NE India; 15, 16, K. conformis, male, Champhai, Mizoram, NE India; 17,18, K. brevivalva (From Holloway 2001); 19,20, K. pulverola (From Holloway 2001);21,22, K. pseudobrevivalva (From Dubatolov & Bucsek 2016); 23,24, K. spinoapex (From Kirti & Singh 2016)