Lethe tengchongensis Lang

Lang, Song-Yun & Duan, Shao-Zhong, 2016, Description of a new species of Lethe (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) from western Yunnan, China, Zootaxa 4179 (2), pp. 295-300 : 297-298

Lethe tengchongensis Lang sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–4 , 14, 15 )

Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA: Yunnan, Tengchong , West slope of Mts. Gaoligong, 2200–2500 m, 9.VIII.2016, leg. Song-yun Lang, kept in Chongqing Museum of Natural History , Chongqing, CHINA; Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ 3 ♀♀, ditto, 8–9.VIII.2016, leg. Song-yun Lang.

Description. Male. Forewing length: 29–30 mm. Dorsal: Forewing: ground color brown with apical quarter black; two orange subapical dots in spaces 6 and 7; a very broad, oblique, evenly curved, orange band crossing from the middle of costa to tornus. Hindwing: ground color brown; four blackish postdiscal spots from spaces 3 to 6; a round blackish brand along veins 2 and 3. Ventral: ground color yellowish brown; wing pattern similar to that of L. camilla with reddish brown discal and subbasal lines on both wings. Forewing: two yellow subapical dots in spaces 6 and 7, followed by three postdiscal eyespots from spaces 3 to 5; discal band yellow, its shape the same as that on the dorsal side; reddish brown areas present alongside both sides of discal band. Hindwing: six postdiscal eyespots from spaces 1 to 6.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 9, 12 A): tegumen simple; uncus long with its dorsal ridge humped, weakly bent downwards; gnathos short, only a half length of the uncus, straight with pointed tip; saccus simple tubiform; valva with its basal half broad, proximal half narrow and moderately bent inwards; aedeagus weakly bent, widened anteriorly.

Female. Forewing length: 31–32 mm. similar to male. Dorsal: Forewing: discal band paler than male, slightly widened towards costa; area inside discal band dark reddish brown. Hindwing: brand along vein 2 absent; yellowish marginal and submargianl lines distinct. Ventral: reddish brown areas and lines more vivid and more strongly developed than in male.

Diagnosis. The new species can be distinguished from L. camilla ( Figs. 5, 6 , 10, 12 B) and L. privigna ( Figs. 7, 8 , 11, 12 C) by the combination of the following characters: a) On the dorsal forewing in the male, a discal band is well developed, but absent in L. camilla and L. privigna . b) On the ventral forewing, a postdiscal eyespot in space 2 is absent, whereas they are present in L. camilla and L. privigna . c) Dorsal ridge of uncus is more thickened than in L. camilla and L. privigna . d) Tip of valva is broad, but pointed in both L. camilla and L. privigna .

Etymology. The new species Lethe tengchongensis is named after its type locality, Tengchong County in western Yunnan.

Distribution ( Fig. 13 ). China (W Yunnan).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Map of S China with distribution records of Lethe camilla, L. privigna and L. tengchongensis sp. nov.

FIGURES 1 – 8. Butterflies of Lethe. 1, L. tengchongensis sp. nov., male, holotype (Tengchong, Yunnan), upperside; 2, ditto, underside; 3, L. tengchongensis sp. nov., female, paratype (Tengchong, Yunnan), upperside; 4, ditto, underside; 5, L. camilla, male (Ebian, Sichuan), upperside (right), underside (left); 6, L. camilla, female (Ebian, Sichuan), upperside (right), underside (left); 7, L. privigna, male (Foping, Shaanxi), upperside (right), underside (left); 8, L. privigna, female (Fengxian, Shaanxi), upperside (right), underside (left).

FIGURES 14 – 16. 14. Lethe tengchongensis sp. nov., male, paratype, in net, Tengchong, Yunnan, upperside; 15. ditto, female, paratype, in net, Tengchong, W Yunnan, upperside; 16. Habitat of L. tengchongensis sp. nov., altitude 2400 m, West slope of Mts. Gaoligong, Tengchong, W Yunnan.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Male genitalia. a. Male genitalia in lateral view with left valva and aedeagus removed; b. Aedeagus in lateral view; 9, Lethe tengchongensis sp. nov., paratype (Tengchong, Yunnan); 10, L. camilla (Ebian, Sichuan); 11, L. privigna (Foping, Shaanxi).