Siccia punctigera ( Leech, 1899 )

Volynkin, Anton V., 2023, Eight new species of the genus Siccia Walker from the Oriental realm (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Ecologica Montenegrina 66, pp. 36-57 : 44-50

Siccia punctigera ( Leech, 1899)

( Figs 23, 24 , 47 , 61 )

Aemene punctigera Leech, 1899 , Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1899: 188 (Type locality (fixed by lectotype designation): [ China, Sichuan] “ Wa-shan ”)

Type material examined. Lectotype ( Fig. 23 ) (hereby designated): male, “Washan, | 6000 ft. | Pratt coll. | July 1889 ” / “ Aemene | punctigera | sp. n. | Type ♂ ” / “Leech Coll. | 1900–64.” / red ring “ Type ” label / QRcode label with unique ID “ NHMUK010598089 ” ( NHMUK).

Additional material examined. CHINA: Series of specimens of both sexes from Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hubei Provinces ( MWM / ZSM; NHMUK) .

Remarks. (1) The species was described from seven specimens originating from four localities (“Wa-shan, Pu-tsu-fong, Chia-ting-fu, and Ichang”) without their sex being mentioned ( Leech 1899). Subsequently, Hampson (1900) listed only the specimen(s) from Wa-shan as “type † in Coll. Leech” while three other localities were listed after this statement. However, this sentence cannot be treated as a lectotype designation as Hampson has not explicitly indicated he was selecting from the type series that particular specimen, and the number of specimens from “Wa-shan” was not specified by him as well (see the Article 74.5 of ICZN (1999)), therefore all the Leech’s specimens should still be considered as syntypes. In order to stabilise the nomenclature, the male syntype from “Washan” labelled as “Type” and preserved in NHMUK is hereby designated as the lectotype. Following the Article 73.2.3 of ICZN (1999), the place of origin of the lectotype, Washan becomes the type locality of the species. (2) The status of Hyposiccia punctigera f. kusukusuana Matsumura, 1930 described from Taiwan remains unclear as no type specimen was found in the Matsumura collection preserved in Entomological Institute, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan (the late V. Zolotuhin, pers. comm.). The current study also failed to find any specimen similar to the original Matsumura’s drawing. Judging by the latter, this taxon is externally dissimilar to both, S. punctigera and S. pectinata , and has a broad forewing, which makes possible it’s belonging to the family Geometridae than Siccia , and the problem of its identity requires further investigation. (3) Siccia punctigera was reported from Thailand by Černý & Pinratana (2009) and from South China (Guangdong) by Dubatolov et al. (2012). These records belong in fact to S. punctata Fang, 2000 and S. pectinata Fang, 2000 , respectively (see below).

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 10.5–15.0 mm in males and 12.0– 14.5 mm in females. Siccia punctigera is externally reminiscent of S. pectinata but differs from it in the ciliate male antenna (it is shortly bipectinate in S. pectinata ), the broader forewing with a paler ground colour and smaller spots of the pattern, and the markedly paler hindwing. In the male genital capsule, the species differs from the similar congener in the shorter uncus, the considerably narrower saccus, the apically longer juxta, the broader proximal section of the valva, the substantially narrower and longer distal section of the valva having an apically pointed tip (it is rounded in S. pectinata ), and the remarkably shorter distal saccular process. The phallus of S. punctigera is narrow and medially upcurved whereas it is broad and almost straight in S. pectinata . Unlike in S. pectinata , the vesica of S. punctigera lacks the lateral cluster of spines, has a shorter distal diverticulum bearing a cluster of spines (vs. a needle-shaped cornutus in the congener), and a lateral diverticulum bearing a spike-like cornutus (absent in S. pectinata ). The female genitalia of S. punctigera differ from S. pectinata in the longer ductus bursae, and the markedly shorter corpus bursae with a broad and short posterior section bearing lateral sclerotised plates latero-posteriorly on the left side and latero-anteriorly on the right side, whereas the posterior section of the corpus bursae of S. pectinata is elongate, tubular, and has a globular gelatinous protrusion anterio-laterally on the right side. Additionally, the anterior section of the corpus bursae of S. punctigera bears a relatively large elliptical signum ventrally whereas S. pectinata has a tiny, round signum anteriorly.

Distribution. China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hubei Provinces) ( Leech 1899).

Figures

Figures 17–24. Siccia spp.: adults. Depositories of the specimens: 17–19 in MWM/ZSM; 20 in CKC; 21 in ASV; 22 in SZMN; 23 and 24 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK).

Figures 45–48. Siccia spp.: male genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 45 in ASV; 46 in CKC; 47 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 48 in CAV.

Figures 61–64. Siccia spp.: female genitalia. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 61 in NHMUK (©The Trustees of NHMUK); 62 in CAV; 63 and 64 in MWM/ZSM.