Archedontia, Hausmann & Pototski & Viidalepp, 2020

Hausmann, Axel, Pototski, Aleksander & Viidalepp, Jaan, 2020, Archedontia agnesae gen. n., sp. n., a new sterrhine species from Tadjikistan (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Sterrhinae), Zootaxa 4743 (2), pp. 275-279 : 276

Archedontia gen. n.

Type species. Archedontia agnesae gen. n., sp. n. ( Fig. 1 , description see below)

Description. Venation: Forewing with double areole, R2 diverging far below cell apex, R1 leaving the second areole shortly below tip, R2 anastomosing with R 3–5 in one point, then fused with R3–4 up to shortly below wing apex, R5 arising from tip of second areole connate with R2–4; M1 arising separately from secondary cell. Hindwing with Sc+R1 appressed to (or fused with?) Rs in one point; Rs arising from cell apex connate with M1; origin of M3 and CuA1 distinctly separate; M2 tubular. Hence, venation of the new taxon is reminiscent of that of Rhodostrophia Hübner , but forewing R5 and R1 arising separately (not connate), hindwing Rs and M1 connate (not stalked). It is reminiscent also of the venation in Ochodontia but hindwing Sc+R1 and Rs is touching in one point (not fused over a large distance); Rs and M1 connate (not stalked). Shape of wing termen: Forewing apex strongly pointed, concave between apex and ending of vein M3 (hence M1 and M2 shorter than M3, differential feature to Rhodostrophia ). Hindwing pointed at ending of Rs (differential feature to Ochodontia ) and M3, distinctly concave between and with M1 and M2 shorter than M3. Further details see species description of Archedontia agnesae gen. n., sp. n.

Diagnosis. COI barcodes strongly diverging from any other sterrhine genus worldwide (>10%). From all other Palaearctic Sterrhinae distinguished by the shape of wing margins showing a strongly pointed forewing apex, subapically concave termen of all wings with a short double projection on the ending of the veins M3 and CuA1 (on all wings). Similar wing margins in genus Ochodontia but with single projection of wing margins on the ending of vein CuA1 only and hindwing margin not pointed at ending of Rs. Large “socii” flaps ( Fig. 2 ) are present in some species of Synegiodes Swinhoe. However , the generic characters listed for Synegiodes by Le Cui et al. (2019) do not allow the combination of our taxon with it. The discal spots do not have white pupillae, an antemedian line is present on wings, not matching any species lineage of this genus. The presence of a double accessory cell in forewing, the small oval ovipositor lobes surrounded at base with a ring-shaped sclerite (as a “collar”, Fig. 3 ), the absence of apophyses anteriores, the absence of a signum pocket and the very large sterigma are singular characters of this species, requiring a new genus and a species name.

Tribal assignment. Within the Sterrhinae, the species of the tribe Idaeini share a noctuoid type of male genitalia with uncus, compact valvae and gnathos present, and a richly ornamented female corpus bursae. Scopulini have distinctly modified male genitalia with a specialised eighth sternite of male abdomen with mappa and cerata, with sacculus separated from valva. The uncus and gnathos are lost. Rhodostrophini have both the uncus and gnathos present, weakly sclerotised and setose, possibly owing a tactile function, male adults have quadripectinate antennae. Cosymbiini have a distinctive wing pattern, shape of saccus is deeply emarginated, as in Scopulini, valva is bipartite and gnathos lost. The Timandrini have a single areole in the venation of forewing and the uncus+socii complexly fused together ( Sterneck, 1941). Holloway (1993: 19) stressed the male antennae being bipectinate with long rami, and the structure of signum in female genitalia, consisting of a triangular pouch with a linear ridge from it. Timandrini are characterised by absence of the gnathos and by the presence of a straight red line traversing the wings from forewing apex to hind margin of hindwing (cf. Hausmann 2004). Archedontia gen. n. shares with Timandrini the voluminous, broad vinculum, reduced uncus and lost gnathos, the position of the genital capsule in permanent slide, combined with the presence of long pectinations of male antennae. However, genetic data, similarity of wing margin, venation with double areole and apparent sister-group relationship to genus Ochodontia suggest a tentative assignation to the tribe Rhodometrini ( Fig. 4 ).

Etymology. The name refers to the name of the supposed sister genus Ochodontia , combined with the word stem Arche - (greek ‘ arche ’ = origin) because of the supposed basal position in the phylogeny of Sterrhinae.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Maximum likelihood tree of COI data (bootstrap method, 50 replications, uniform rates) of representants of the genera Archedontia, gen. n., Ochodontia, Rhodostrophia, Casilda, Timandra and Synegiodes (data from BOLS dataset DS- ARCHEDON).

FIGURES 1–3. Archedontia agnesae, gen. n., sp. n., moth and genital morphology. 1. Archedontia agnesae, gen. n., sp. n. (Paratype). 2. Archedontia agnesae, gen. n., sp. n., male genitalia (Holotype). 3. Female genitalia of Archedontia agnesae (Paratype).