Resapamea mammuthus Crabo

Crabo, Lars G., Davis, Melanie, Hammond, Paul, Tomas Mustelin, & Jon Shepard,, 2013, Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from Northwestern North America, with notes on Chytolita Grote (Erebidae) and Hydraecia Guenee (Noctuidae), ZooKeys 264, pp. 85-123 : 103-105

Resapamea mammuthus Crabo sp. n. Figs 17, 41

Type material.

Holotype Male. Canada, Yukon Territory, Old Crow, 5.VII.1983, R. J. Cannings leg./ Malaise trap. Forest edge on S-facing bluff/ Database CNC LEP 0094163/ SLIDE Luperina male ER8824. CNC. Paratypes None.

Etymology.

The name is derived from the genus of the wooly mammoth– Mammuthus . It is befitting of the moth because its Beringian distribution and relatively large size for the genus. It is a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis.

Resapamea mammuthus is unlikely to be confused with most other species of Resapamea in North America due to its northerly distribution and orange-tan color. It is superficially similar to Resapamea hedeni (Graeser) (Fig. 18), which occurs in Asia and might also occur in Alaska (see Remarks, below). The male genitalia of these species differ in the shape of the distal uncus. It is truncated in Resapamea mammuthus with a small T-shaped expansion at the tip (Fig. 41 inset) and tapered to a point in Resapamea hedeni (Fig. 42) as well as in all other North American Resapamea species. The vesica of Resapamea mammuthus differs from those of all other Resapamea discussed in this paper in lacking the subbasal diverticulum and medial cornuti. It differs from that of Resapamea hedeni in lacking a subbasal serrate ( cock’s comb) cornutus.

Description.

Head - Antenna of male nearly filiform, with slight constriction at base of each segment, covered ventrally by short fine cilia. Antenna of female unknown. Scape orange tan, with dorsal tuft. Eye rounded, smooth. Labial palp covered laterally by short flat tan scales, lengthening to a brush-like fringe on ventral surface of first two segments. Frons smooth, covered in narrow orange-tan scales. Top of head covered in long narrow orange-tan scales. Thorax - Vestiture of collar, thorax, and tegula long, narrow, apically notched orange-tan scales, appearing medium-dark orange-tan [central thorax of holotype partially mildewed]. Legs light tan; with three ventral rows of spiniform setae on basitarsus and four irregular rows on other tarsal segments. Wings - Forewing length: male 21.5 mm. Forewing with a mixture of tan, orange-tan, gray-tan, light-gray, brown-gray, and gray scales, appearing medium-dark orange tan, grayer near anterior and posterior margins and darker gray-brown in terminal area; veins near costa, distal to postmedial line, and near posterior margin gray but not strongly contrasting; an ill-defined dark mark in medial area distal to lower reniform spot. Basal, antemedial, and postmedial lines faint, ill-defined dark gray with adjacent light orange tan. Basal line only evident near costa. Antemedial line evident on costa and posterior to claviform spot, forming an oblique dark mark on costa and a zigzag line from claviform spot to posterior margin. Medial line absent. Postmedial line very faint, ill-defined, smooth, strongly oblique toward base anterior to reniform spot, straight and parallel to outer margin lateral to spot, and slightly angled and concave toward base below spot to meet posterior margin at a right angle. Subterminal line light orange tan, faint, undulating; preceded by a faint indistinct shade of dark gray that is strongest opposite cell and in fold. Terminal line thin, dark gray. Orbicular spot round, outlined by ill-defined faint gray and filled with light orange tan. Reniform spot moderately large, kidney shaped with strong lateral indent, dark gray along medial and lateral sides and open anteriorly and posteriorly, filled with cream, slightly grayer at posterior end. Claviform spot black, ill defined, strong anteriorly and weak posteriorly, narrow, filled with ground color. Fringe gray tan, with a lighter tan base and gray medial line. Hindwing light gray tan with gray suffusion, very faint postmedial line, marginal band, terminal line, veins, and chevron-shaped discal spot. Hindwing fringe slightly lighter than hindwing ground color. Abdomen - tan [abdomen of holotype mildewed]. Male genitalia - Uncus cylindrical at base, evenly downcurved, distal portion slightly dorsoventrally flattened and truncated at apex with small lateral projections to appear T-shaped (Fig. 41 inset). Tegumen with large penicillus lobes. Juxta shield shaped, 0.5 × as high as wide, with V-shaped ventral margin. Valve S-shaped, 5.5 × as long as wide (measured at mid-valve), widest at base and cucullus, mid-section 2/3 as wide as base and tapering slightly to narrow neck at base of cucullus; stout sclerotized knob-like basal saccular process extending dorsolaterally from base to just dorsal to costal attachment of valve, medial margin of this process irregular and apex rounded. Sacculus reaching 2/3 of distance to costal margin and extending distally to mid-valve. Clasper a smooth ridge. Ampulla short, round. Digitus a weak ridge, partially covered by medial cucullus. Cucullus well developed with rounded apical and anal ends, 2 × as wide as mid-valve; mesial surface covered by fine setae; corona of stout curved setae, dorsal half partially double. Aedeagus tubular, 3.6 × as long as wide, with short linear extension onto ventral vesica bearing a loose row of very small spines. Vesica 0.7 × as long as aedeagus, bent 135° toward right at base to project anteriorly and toward right, basal two-thirds bulbous and distal half tapering, with a single conical membranous diverticulum on anterior side of distal vesica projecting anteriorly and a subapical posterior patch of variable-sized spine-like cornuti directed basad. Female genitalia - Unknown.

Distribution and biology.

This species is known only from the type locality at Old Crow, Yukon Territory. The habitat is described as forest edge on a south-facing hillside on the specimen label. The holotype was collected during early July. The early stages are unknown.

Remarks.

Two unidentified Resapamea females in the CNC, one from Unalakleet, Alaska (Fig. 19) and the other from Reindeer Station, Aklavik, Northwest Territories (Fig. 20), resemble Resapamea mammuthus and Resapamea hedeni . We exclude them from the type series of Resapamea mammuthus because their identity is uncertain until either population can be associated with males or until females of the Old Crow population of Resapamea mammuthus are found. Their superficial appearances suggest that the Aklavik specimen is the female of Resapamea mammuthus and that the Unalakleet specimen is Resapamea hedeni or a closely related species.