Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988

Spitsyn, Vitaly M. & Potapov, Grigory S., 2020, Description of the female of Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988, an endemic moth species of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4790 (1), pp. 198-200 : 198-200

Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988

Figures 1–7 .

Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988 ; Taxonomy of animals from Siberia. Novosibirsk: 92-93.

Type locality: Kyrgyzstan, Padsha-Ata River in Chatkal Mts. , north of Namangan .

Material examined. Kyrgyzstan: Tien Shan , Chychkan Gorge, mountain meadows and coniferous-deciduous forests at the bottom of the gorge, 41°09’19” N, 72°52’07” E, 2006 m altitude, 18-19.vii.2018, Spitsyn leg. – 2♂, 1♀ .

Description. Female. Wingspan 37 mm, forewing length 18 mm. Eye black, medium-sized. Antenna gray with yellow-brown base; narrowly bipectinate, branches very short. Frons black. Vertex yellow-brown. Labial palpus short, approximately 1.5-2.0 of the eye diameter, black. Thorax yellow-brown with a large black stripe in the middle. Patagium and tegula black with a yellow-brown fringe at the edges. Legs black, the inner surface of trochanter and femur pink. Foreleg’s tibia black. Tibia of the second and third legs with orange-pink spots on the inner surface. Forewing brown with black patterns as follows: three large black spots (crossed by light-colored anal vein) along the anal edge; a black spot at the base of wing close to the costal margin; a group of spots with specific shape partially merged with each other at the central cell; three differently sized spots at the postdiscal area; and four spots in the marginal area (one larger, rounded spot at the apex of the forewing, and three smaller, triangular spots at the center of the outer edge of the forewing). Fringe of the forewing brown. Hindwing red, with black markings as follows: large elongated black discal spot that stretches from the costal margin up to the anal veins; an elongated black spot at the top of the central cell; and three other large spots located in the postdiscal area. All these spots share a thin yellow-brown fringe. Fringe of the hindwing brownish-red along the outer edge and pink near the anal edge. Underside of both wings pinkish-red, with a marking pattern largely corresponding to that on the upperside. All spots share a thin reddish-brown fringe. Upperside of the abdomen red with a large black spot in the middle of every tergite. Last tergites black with a reddish-brown stripe and black elongated spots laterally. Underside of abdomen black. Female genitalia. Papilla analis large, of rectangular shape. Apophyses anteriores short, very thick. Ostium bursae broad; ductus bursae very broad, about two thirds of the width of bursa. Bursa generally rounded with elongated appendix bursae.

Distribution. West Tien Shan: westward of 73° E ( Dubatolov & de Vos 2010).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Chelis ferghana from Chychkan Gorge, Tien Shan Range, Kyrgyzstan. Fig. 1. Male upperside. Fig. 2. Male underside. Fig. 3. Female upperside. Fig. 4. Female underside. Scale bar = 10 mm. (Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn).

FIGURES 5–7. Chelis ferghana. Fig. 5. Male genitalia. Fig. 6. Aedeagus. Fig. 7. Female genitalia. Scale bar = 1 mm. (Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn).