Nanna Birket-Smith, 1965

Durante, Antonio, Apinda-Legnouo, Emelie Arlette & Romano, Chiara, 2013, Second contribution to the knowledge of the Lithosiini of Gabon: the genus Nanna Birket-Smith (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 65, pp. 1-15 : 4-5

Genus Nanna Birket-Smith, 1965

At present, the genus Nanna includes 13 species of which two are newly recorded for Gabon, N. ceratopygia Birket-Smith, 1965 and N. eningae ( Plötz, 1880) , and two are endemic in Gabon ( N. molouba sp. nov. and N. semigrisea sp. nov.).

Remarks

In the original paper, Birket-Smith does not provide any information about the etymology and grammatical gender. It is very probably derived from the name “ Nanna ”, the god of the moon in Sumerian mythology. That name should be masculine, but the author treats it as feminine, making it agree with the specific names, such as magna . According to the art. 30.2.3 of ICZN, the genus name Nanna has to be considered feminine.

Checklist of species belonging to the genus Nanna

Nanna ceratopygia Birket-Smith, 1965 Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon (type in BMNH)

Nanna collinsii Kühne, 2007 D.R.C., Kenya (type in RMCA)

Nanna colonoides ( Kiriakoff, 1963) D.R.C. (type in RMCA)

Nanna diplisticta (Bethune-Baker, 1911) (type species) Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, (type in BMNH)

Nanna eningae ( Plötz, 1880) Ivory Coast, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon (type in ZIM)

Nanna griseata Kühne, 2007 Ivory Coast (type in RMCA)

Nanna kamerunica Kühne, 2007 Cameroon (type in NKMD)

Nanna loloana ( Strand, 1912) Cameroon (type in ZMHB)

Nanna magna Birket-Smith, 1965 Cameroon (type in its author’s collection)

Nanna melanosticta (Bethune-Baker, 1911) Ghana, Angola (type in BMNH)

Nanna molouba sp. nov. Gabon (type in MSNS)

Nanna naumanni Kühne, 2005 Kenya (type in its author’s collection)

Nanna semigrisea sp. nov. Gabon (type in MSNS)

Key to the males of the species of Nanna

The following key is based mainly on the genitalia because the habitus of the species included in the genus Nanna is very similar. Furthermore the females are not included due to our fragmented knowledge about them.

1. Forewings ochreous yellow .................................................. Nanna ceratopygia Birket-Smith, 1965

– Forewings white or light grey............................................................................................................ 2

2. Male antennae bipectinate ................................................................................................................. 3

– Male antennae serrate or ciliated ....................................................................................................... 4

3. Ala valvae of the male genitalia with a triangular process at its distal third ....................................... ..................................................................................................................... Nanna molouba sp. nov.

– Ala valvae of the male genitalia without a triangular process............................................................. ...................................................................................................... Nanna magna Birket-Smith, 1965

4. Male genitalia processus basalis plicae clearly noticeable (1st group of B.-S. 1965)....................... 5

– Male genitalia processus basalis plicae not noticeable or absent (2nd group of B.-S. 1965).......... 12

5. Processus basalis plicae from half length of valva up to longer than the entire valva ...................... 6

– Processus basalis plicae shorter than half length of valva............................................................... 10

6. Supravalva spatulate and clearly shorter than ala valvae .................... Nanna loloana ( Strand, 1912)

– Supravalva as long as or longer than ala valvae................................................................................ 7

7. Ala valvae distally bent in U-shape...................................... Nanna ceratopygia Birket-Smith, 1965

– Ala valvae tapering and just smoothly bent....................................................................................... 8

8. Processus basalis plicae longer than supravalva, S-shaped.............. Nanna naumanni Kühne, 2005

– Processus basalis plicae shorter than supravalva, almost straight ..................................................... 9

9. Uncus strong and long ........................................................ Nanna diplisticta (Bethune-Baker, 1911)

– Uncus slender and short............................................................. Nanna colonoides ( Kiriakoff, 1963)

10. Aedeagus slender (eight times longer than broad) ............................... Nanna griseata Kühne, 2007

– Aedeagus normally sized (less than five times longer than the average width) ...............................11

11. Processus basalis plicae deeply falcate..................................................... Nanna semigrisea sp. nov.

– Processus basalis plicae less curved and shorter .................................. Nanna collinsii Kühne, 2007

12. Supravalva very large, ear-like ....................................................... Nanna kamerunica Kühne, 2007

– Supravalva slender and long............................................................................................................ 13

13. Distal process of the ala valvae slender and long ................................. Nanna eningae ( Plötz, 1880)

– Distal process of the ala valvae short and stubby .......... Nanna melanosticta (Bethune-Baker, 1911)