Prionapteryx helena Bassi, 2013

Bassi, Graziano, 2013, Notes on some Old World Prionapterygini Landry, 1995 (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea, Crambidae, Crambinae), with descriptions of new species, Revue suisse de Zoologie 120 (1), pp. 131-160 : 150-152

Prionapteryx helena Bassi sp. n. Figs 13, 30, 47

HOLOTYPE: 1- ‘3’; 2- ‘[ NAMIBIA, 18°35’S, 20°34’E] Omuramba | Tamsu | Okavango | S[outh] W[est] A[frica] | 14.II.1956 | de Winter & Marais legit’; 3 - ‘GS-3450-GB’; 4- ‘ HOLOTYPE | Prionapteryx | helena Bassi’. Deposited in TMSA.

PARATYPES: NAMIBIA. – TMSA and CB; 333, 1♀; same data as holotype , GS 3379 , 5150 and 5342 GB .

ETYMOLOGY: The name refers to a Latin woman’s name.

DIAGNOSIS: Superficially (Fig. 13), Prionapteryx helena is easy to distinguish from its congeners by virtue of its white and brown ground color and the forewings apex strongly hooked. The male genitalia of P. helena (Fig. 30) are closest to those of P. somala n. sp. (Fig. 31) described below, but the tegumen is basally smaller, the valvae more broadly rounded apically, the basal costal process smaller, the phallus slenderer, with small apical teeth, and the vesica with some small and medium sized cornuti. The female genitalia (Figs 47, 48) are distinguished by the different shape of the papillae anales and 8th abdominal segment, longer ductus bursae, and membranous corpus bursae.

DESCRIPTION (Fig. 13): Wingspan: holotype 17 mm, paratypes: males 17.5 mm, female 19 mm. Labial palpi 4 x longer than widest diameter of eye, chestnut brown, basally white and with paler brown band medially. Maxillary palpi brown with paler FIGS 39-44

Prionapteryx spp. , female genitalia, scale bar 0.5 mm. (39) P. eberti sp. n., paratype GS 5322 GB. (40) P. eberti sp. n., paratype GS 5386 GB. (41) P. banaadirensis sp. n., holotype. (42) P. triplecta (Meyrick) , Democratic Republic of the Congo, GS 5407 GB. (43) P. triplecta (Meyrick) , Democratic Republic of the Congo, GS 4190 SB. (44) P. diaplecta (Meyrick) , Kenya, GS 1225 GB.

medial band. Frons subconical, clearly produced, white with scattered brown scales. Antennae bipectinate in male, with very short black rami; simple and brown in female; in both sexes with costa brown annulated white. Ocelli well developed. Chaetosemata moderately developed. Head white with scattered brown scales. Patagium laterally brown, medially white. Tegulae tricolored white, creamy brown, and brown. Thorax white, laterally brown. Abdomen sandy yellow with paler anal tuft. Legs dirty white to light brown, with tarsomeres white annulated brown; tibial spurs small, bronze brown. Forewing ground color light brown with most brown scales paler basally; apex white with small apical brown dot; hook well defined; costa white with a median and two subterminal curved brown bands; midwing stripe thin, brown, reaching termen at hook; medial stripe white with some brown lines distally; subterminal area separated into two white blotches by midwing stripe; brown at tornus, white with two elongated black dots below hook, white at apex; terminal line ochreous brown; fringes from apex to hook white with tips of both short and long scales brown, at hook two brown tufts with a white tuft medially, from hook to tornus white suffused brown. Hindwings light yellow brown; fringes white in third close to tornus, then white suffused yellow. Sclerotizations of male abdominal segment VIII as shown in figure 30.

MALE GENITALIA (Fig. 30): Uncus broad, with rounded apex. Gnathos broadly rounded, 0.75 x length of uncus. Tegumen broad, subtriangular. Vinculum narrow with moderate subtriangular dorsal extension. Juxta cup shaped. Pseudosaccus minute. Valva elongated, with rounded cucullus and costal margin more strongly sclerotized; basal costal process with small finger like thorn bent inward; saccular process moderate, slightly bent inward. Phallus 0.75 length of valva, swollen at base, with row of small subapical teeth; vesica with swarm of minute cornuti with rounded base and three medium sized subtriangular cornuti in distal third.

FEMALE GENITALIA (Fig. 47). Papillae anales subtriangular, fused dorsally, ventrally membranous and with dorsal sclerite narrow; setae mainly short and strong. Apophyses posteriores very long and narrow. Abdominal segment VIII strongly developed, sclerotized, with tergal proximal margin straight; sternite wrinkled, with membranous area reduced. Apophyses anteriores slightly longer than apophyses posteriores. Ostium bursae bulbous, wrinkled and moderately sclerotized. Ductus bursae as long as corpus bursae, proximally wrinkled and lightly sclerotized, then membranous and wrinkled. Corpus bursae suboval and delicately wrinkled. Ductus seminalis opening in proximal third of corpus bursae.

DISTRIBUTION: The new species is only known from the type locality in

Namibia.