Eupithecia brandti Ratzel & Mironov

Mironov, Vladimir & Ratzel, Ulrich, 2012, New species of the genus Eupithecia Curtis (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) from Iran, Zootaxa 3580, pp. 56-68 : 57

Eupithecia brandti Ratzel & Mironov , sp. n.

( Figs. 1, 2 )

Material Examined. Holotype: Ƥ, Iran, Fars, Umgebung von Chiraz, ca 1600 m, 10. Apr. 1937, coll. Brandt; 92/ 57; spec.?; R.M. prep. 4902; 7466 E94+; Eup. ssaadiata Schü. Präp. Nr. S 1220Ƥ det. E. Schütze, Kassel; Holotypus Ƥ Eupith. ssaadiata Schü. E. Schütze, Kassel, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm Loan no 368/06. Paratype: 1 Ƥ, Iran, Fars, Straße Kazeroun-Bouchir, Tchoureum, ca 1000 m, 18. März— 6. April 1937, coll. Brandt, spec.?, Paratypus Ƥ Eupith. ssaadiata Schü. E. Schütze, Kassel, Loan Hung. NHM (the material was loaned in former times by A. Vojnits, TTM) to SMNK 2009, the types will be returned to NHRS.

Diagnosis. This species belongs to the graphata group. It is externally similar to another small Iranian species E. frontosa Brandt, 1941 , but can be distinguished from that species by the lighter colour and less distinct pattern on the wings on the whole; transverse lines on the fore wing less wavy, antemedial line not sharply curved onto costa, terminal area broader, hind wing with narrower basal area, less distinct postmedial line and lighter and broader terminal area. The female genitalia are similar to those of E. harenosa Brandt, 1938 , but the posterior apophyses are not expanded and flattened at apices in E. brandti .

Description. Wingspan 17.0 mm; fore wing 9.0 mm. Labial palpi short, shorter than diameter of eye, covered with light yellow scales with brownish apices. Frons, vertex and notum pale yellow. Fore wing slightly elongated with costal margin evenly curved near apex; ground colour light, ochreous; medial area darker, rather light brown with broad antemedial and postmedial transverse lines divided by a whitish medial fascia; antemedial line evenly curved, postmedial line obtusely angled onto costa; discal dot invisible. Hind wing with evenly curved termen, paler, with broad brownish yellow postmedial line and relatively broad, light ochreous terminal area without distinct subterminal line; discal dot not expressed. Fringe on all wings light, yellowish white, slightly marked by ochreous opposite of vein ends. Female genitalia (fig. 13). Bursa copulatrix large, ovate, membranous, about 2/3 covered with small, slim spines, which are smaller in basal part of corpus. Ductus bursae short, tapered to colliculum, sclerotized, with short row of small spines. Ductus seminalis attached to medium part of corpus bursae. Colliculum collar-like, rather short and narrow. Antrum campaniform, slightly sclerotized. Tergite A8 trapezoid with medially projected and sclerotized anterior margin. Anterior and posterior apophyses relatively long and broad. Papillae anales small, sharply tapered to apices and covered with sparse short setae. Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Iran (province Fars).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to the brothers Fred and Wilhelm Brandt, who assembled valuable materials of Lepidoptera from Iran and Afghanistan.

Remarks. The species was recognized as new by E. Schütze but never published. In the collection of the NHRS it is labeled with the manuscript name “ E. ssaadiata ”. He worked in his last years on several specimens of the Brandt-collection from Iran and Afghanistan, but didn’t publish. We mentioned this work in detail in our publication on Afghanian Eupithecia (Mironov & Ratzel 2012) . One specimen of E. brandti sp. n. was illustrated by W. Brandt (1938, taf. III, fig. 314) erroneously as E. tesserata Brandt, 1938 .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Adults of Eupithecia species (enlarged; scale bar = 10 mm). 1, 2 — E. brandti sp. n. (holotype female and paratype female); 3, 4 — E. truschi sp. n. (holotype female and paratype female); 5, 6 — E. zagrosata sp. n. (holotype female and paratype male); 7 — E. basurmanca sp. n. (holotype female); 8, 9 — E. persidis sp. n. (holotype male and paratype female).