Eucyclodes insolita Han & Zhang, 2019

Zhang, Xinyi, Wang, Wenkai & Han, Hongxiang, 2019, A new species of the genus Eucyclodes (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae) from China, Zootaxa 4691 (3), pp. 297-300 : 297-299

Eucyclodes insolita Han & Zhang sp. nov. ( Figs 1, 5–7 )

Description. Head. Antennae shortly serrate in male. Frons green. Vertex white mixed with a little green. Labial palpus white, with tip extending beyond frons.

Thorax. White. Tegula with base green and terminal part white. Hind tibia in male dilated, with two spurs, with hairpencil and terminal process, the latter similar in length to the first tarsus.

Forewing length: ♂ 19–19.5 mm. Apex of forewing slightly pointed; outer margin of both wings slightly wavy. Wings green, with most veins white. Forewing with costa green, slightly paler than wing colour; antemedial line white, strongly angled in discal cell, with anterior half curved and posterior half almost straight; postmedial line white, thicker than antemedial line, slightly wavy and almost straight, slightly concave below vein CuA 2; brown scales present outside postmedial line, forming a small patch above vein M 2, and a broad patch extending from M 2 to anal vein, reaching outer and inner margins below vein CuA 2; most brown scales short, bar-like; white submarginal line distinct above vein M 2; terminal line appearing as tiny green dots between veins, and as larger distinct black dots below M 3, especially between M 3 and CuA 1, and below CuA 2. Hind wing with outer margin slightly protruding at vein M 3 end; wing base green, large terminal part as a broad brown band, with apex much deeper, and scales also as transverse short lines as on forewing; postmedial and submarginal lines indistinct; terminal line only retained at the end of anal fold as a black dot. Discal spots on both wings appearing as black dots. Fringes pale brown, darker on hind wing. Underside: dull white, background on forewing discernible; forewing anal patch and the hind wing apical patch much deeper and more distinct than that of upper side; terminal line a row of small black dots between veins on both wings.

Abdomen. Dorsal and ventral sides whitish. Sternite 3 of male abdomen with a pair of sparse setal patches. Sternite 8 in male with posterior margin concave.

Male genitalia. Uncus long, apex roundly inflated, spatulate and with tip bilobed. Socii small, weakly sclerotized, much shorter than uncus. Gnathos with median process pointed, ventral side with irregular small teeth. Valva broad, apex narrower, base with a groove at middle part; costal base with a strongly sclerotized, hooked process, base of which has a small irregular sclerite; a sclerotized ridge present near apex on costa. Transtilla a pair of small slightly sclerotized processes. Juxta slightly sclerotized, with base narrow and posterior part broad. Saccus blunt. Aedeagus slender, with tip blunt. Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis. On the wing pattern, E. insolita is similar to E. monbeigaria (Oberthür, 1916) ( Fig. 2 ), E. lalashana ( Inoue, 1986) ( Fig. 3 ) and E. albiradiata ( Warren, 1893) ( Fig. 4 ). Eucyclodes insolita can be distinguished by the presence of the distinct black discal spots on both fore- and hind wings, which are absent on the other three species; and the green scales are absent on the hind wing’s broad terminal brown band, but more or less present in other three species. In addition, E. insolita is larger (forewing length 19–19.5 mm) than E. albiradiata and E. lalashana (forewing length 15–17 mm), and the forewing anal patch is much larger than in the other three species. The male genitalia of E. insolita are characterized by the large hooked basal costal process, which is quite smaller in E. lalashana ( Fig. 8 ) and absent in E. albiradiata ( Fig. 9 ). The sclerotized costa near the apex is also different: appearing as a ridge in E. insolita , several teeth in E. lalashana , and a triangular process in E. albiradiata . The eighth sternite in the male is moderately concave in E. insolita , shallowly concave in E. lalashana ( Fig. 10 ), and deeply concave and appearing as a semicircle in E. albiradiata ( Fig. 11 ).

Type material. Holotype, ♂ ( IZCAS), CHINA: Guangdong, Shixing, Chebaling , 330 m, 1–2.VIII.2013, leg. Yang Chao. Paratypes: 3♂ ( IZCAS), the same data as holotype, leg. Yang Chao and Pan Xiaodan (slide no.Geom-6048) .

Distribution. China (Guangdong).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word “ insolitus ”, which means uncommon.

Figures

FIGURES 1–11. 1–4. Adults of Eucyclodes. 1, E. insolita sp. nov., male, holotype, IZCAS; 2, E. monbeigaria (Oberthür, 1916), male, syntype, ZFMK; 3, E. lalashana (Inoue, 1986), male, holotype, BMNH; 4, E. albiradiata (Warren, 1893), male, holotype, BMNH. Scale bar = 1 cm. 5–11. Male genitalia, aedeagus and 8th sternite of male. 5–7, E. insolita sp. nov., paratype, IZCAS; 8, 10, E. lalashana, IZCAS; 9,11, E. albiradiata, IZCAS. Scale bars = 1 mm.