Vavizola hela, Prozorov & Prozorova & Nedoshivina & Yakovlev & Volkova & Saldaitis & Revay & Müller, 2023

Prozorov, Alexey M., Prozorova, Tatiana A., Nedoshivina, Svetlana V., Yakovlev, Roman V., Volkova, Julia S., Saldaitis, Aidas, Revay, Edita E. & Müller, Günter C., 2023, Vavizola hela - new species and genus of Afrotropic Lasiocampini (Lepidoptera, Lasiocampidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 62, pp. 55-66 : 63-65

Vavizola hela sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2883141C-35E7-487C-8365-D3C74CB66789

( Figs 1–10 , 21–22 , 28 , 34 )

Holotype: ♂, Tanzania, Arusha National Park, Miriakamba Hut , -3.2294225707906707, 36.79956440000001, 2500 m, 20.X.2004, slide 17.446, LBEOW1233-11 (MWM/ZSM) . Paratypes (2♂, 3♀). Tanzania : ♂, like holotype, slide 1267 (CGM). Kenya: ♂ , Taita- Taveta, Voi , 19.XII.1911, leg. Svatosh (ZISP) ; ♀, Taita- Taveta, SW of Voi , 8–12.XII.2009, leg. Snižek, slide 17.447, LBEOW975-11 (CGM) ; ♂, Lamu, E of Garsen, W of Witu , 28.IV.2011, leg. Snižek, slide 20.690 (CGM) ; ♀, Kitui, 202 km E Thika, Sosoma , 4.XII.2010, leg. Snižek, slide 0501 (CGM) ; ♀, Kitui, E of Mwingi, W of Enguni , 1.XII.2010, leg. Snižek (CGM) .

Description. Male ( Figs 1 , 5–6, 8–9 ). Flagellum covered with creamy and brown scales, rami brown. Head and thorax speckled creamy and brown; thorax dorsally has longitudinal dark stripes. Abdomen brown or reddish brown. Forewing. Forewing length: 19–23 mm; wingspan: 38–45 mm. Elongated, apex blunt, outer margin with indentation on veins and concavity between M 2 and CuA 1. Background color speckled creamy with brown scales. Pattern diagonal ( Fig. 1 ), consist of more or less pronounced discal stroke, speckled medial field, postmedial fascia with dark edges vanishing towards apex, postmedial field and external fascia practically merged into speckled field with dark lines vanishing towards apex as well, and dark external field. Cilia creamy on vines and dark brown between them. Hindwing. Somewhat ovaloid with some indentation on veins. Background color brown or dark brown with dark external field. Cilia speckled creamy and brown, darker between veins. Genitalia ( Figs 3 , 21–22 ). Tegumen a narrow band bearing a pair of socia laterally. Socii papilla-shaped, covered with chaetae. Vinculum ventrally elongated, distally bears cubile. Cubile clearly divided medially into a pair of somewhat triangle processes with caudal dent. Cucullus tubercle-like with papilla-shaped medial extension. Sacculus about twice bigger than cucullus, tubercle-like with elongated finger-like apically pointed extension loosely covered with chaetae. Juxta a tiny medial extension of aedeagus. Aedeagus c-shaped with ventral apical spur. Vesica short, wrinkled, caudally narrows. Eight sternite a c-shaped band, posterior margin with medial concavity. Eight tergite somewhat oval widened posteriorly. Female ( Figs 2 , 7, 10 ). Reminds male in pattern but paler, larger in size, antenna pectination much shorter. Head and thorax speckled creamy with brown scales. Thorax medially paler with two longitudinal dark stripes. Abdomen brown or orangish with creamy speckles. Forewing. Forewing length: 33–35 mm; wingspan: 67–68 mm. Elongated, apex blunt, outer margin with indentation on veins. Background color speckled creamy with brown scales. Pattern diagonal ( Fig. 2 ), consist of speckled medial field, wavy postmedial fascia with faded dark edges, pale postmedial field, wavy external fascia with faded dark edges, and dark external field. Cilia creamy on vines and dark brown between them. Hindwing. Somewhat ovaloid with some indentation on veins. Background color creamy with dark speckled external field. Cilia speckled creamy and brown, darker between veins. Genitalia ( Figs 4 , 28 ). Papillae anales oval, densely covered with chaetae. Posterior and anterior apophyses about the same length. Antevaginal plate somewhat pentagonal with round corners, bends outwards with help of male cubile; together with postvaginal plate forms cup-like antrum. Ostium wrinkled, amorphous. Ductus bursae short. Corpus bursae wrinkled.

Variability. Male. One paratype male ( Fig. 8 ) looks distinct compared to the others ( Figs 5–6, 9 ). It was collected in the lowlands, in April. The other adults were collected from altitudes above 500 meters in October and December. It has no significant difference in genitalia and originates near the others, so we consider it within the same species. Overall, male may have more ( Fig. 8 ) or less pronounced and contrasting pattern ( Figs 5–6, 9 ). Dark stroke in forewing medial field may present ( Fig. 8 ) or absent ( Figs 5–6, 9 ). Hindwing may have dark blurred medial fascia ( Fig. 8 ). Cubile may be more sclerotized basally ( Fig. 21 ). Female. Females have stable wing patterns, only the abdomen may get more or less orangish. Antevaginal plate with more ( Fig. 4 ) or less ( Fig. 28 ) protruded medial extension.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Dr. Hela Gayatri. She has a motto: “To live in sync with nature with deep appreciation of even the smallest part of it.” In addition to being an ardent lover of nature, she is also a distinguished scientist and a successful inventor and entrepreneur. She has a master’s degree in organic chemistry, a doctorate in chemistry and has international research experience with the Medical Research Council ( UK), École Normale Supérieure ( France), Texas Medical Center ( USA) and National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan). Dr. Hela Gayatri also has expertise in synthetic chemistry, nanotechnology and other leading technologies. She is a serial entrepreneur and graduated from Goldman Sachs 10K (Cohort 2) initiative at NSRCEL, IIM, Bangalore and is an alumni of Goldman Sachs 10K Women Entrepreneur program, reimagining business at ISB, India.

Distribution. Southern Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania (for details visit https://bit.ly/ Vavizola _hela).

Biology. Adults were collected in April, October, and December from lowlands up to 2,500 meters a.s.l. Preimaginal stages are unknown.

Figures

Figure 34. NJ tree (Kimura-2 parameter model, built with MEGA X) based on sequence variation at COI (658 bp) and pairwise distances (%) between the sequences of some genera from the former “Pachypasa sensu lato” group (Lasiocampini).

Figures 1–4. Nomenclature of the wing pattern and genitalia of Vavizola hela. 1. Holotype male, Tanzania, Arusha (MWM/ZSM). 2. Paratype female, Kenya, Kitui (CGM). 3. Paratype male, Tanzania, Arusha, slide 1267 (CGM). 4. Paratype female, Kenya, Kitui, slide 0501 (CGM). Scale bar – 1 cm for adults and 1 mm for genitalia.

Figures 5–20. Adults of Lasiocampini. 5–10. Vavizola hela. 5. Holotype male, Tanzania, Arusha, slide 17.446, LBEOW1233-11 (MWM/ZSM). 6. Paratype male, Tanzania, Arusha, slide 1267 (CGM). 7. Paratype female, Kenya, Kitui, slide 0501 (CGM). 8. Paratype male, Kenya, Lamu, slide 20.690 (CGM). 9. Paratype male, Kenya, Taita-Taveta (ZISP). 10. Paratype female, Taita-Taveta, slide 17.447, LBEOW975-11 (CGM). 11–12. Braura ligniclusa. 11. Male, RSA, Transvaal, slide 2006-08 (MfNB). 12. Female, RSA, KwaZulu-Natal, slide 2006-24 (MfNB). 13–14. Seydelora semna. 13. Male, DRC, Katanga (RMCA). 14. Female, DRC, Haut-Lomani, slide 1448 (NHML). 15–16. Lasiocesa fulgurata, male and female, DRC, Haut-Uele (RMCA). 17–18. Gufria limosa powelli, male and female, Tunisia, Nabeul (MWM/ZSM). 19–20. Eutricha capensis. 19. Male, RSA, Western Cape, slide 2006-12 (MfNB). 20. Female, RSA, Western Cape (NHML). Scale bar – 1 cm.

Figures 21–27. Male genitalia. 21–22. Vavizola hela. 21. Holotype, Kenya, Lamu, slide 20.690 (CGM). 22. Paratype, Tanzania, Arusha, slide 17.446, LBEOW1233-11 (MWM/ZSM). 23. Gufria limosa powelli, Morocco, Tangier- Tétouan-Al Hoceima, slide 10.633 (MWM/ZSM). 24. Braura ligniclusa, RSA, Transvaal, slide 2006-08 (MfNB). 25. Seydelora semna, holotype, DRC, Haut-Katanga (RMCA). 26. Lasiocesa fulgurata, DRC, Haut-Uele, slide 2006-59 (RMCA). 27. Eutricha morosa, RSA, Western Cape, slide 2006-12 (MfNB).

Figures 28–33. Female genitalia. 28. Vavizola hela, paratype, Kenya, Taita-Taveta, slide 17.447 (CGM). 29. Seydelora semna, DRC, Haut-Lomani, slide 1448 (NHML). 30. Braura ligniclusa, RSA, KwaZulu-Natal, slide 2006-24 (MfNB). 31. Gufria limosa powelli, Morocco, Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, slide 11.544 (MWM/ZSM). 32. Lasiocesa lanceolata, Angola, Ituri, slide 2006-53 (RMCA). 33. Eutricha capensis, RSA, Western Cape, slide 2006-47 (MfNB).