Margelana brunnea, Fibiger, Michael, Zahiri, Reza & Kononenko, Vladimir S., 2007

Fibiger, Michael, Zahiri, Reza & Kononenko, Vladimir S., 2007, Description of a new species of the Central Palaearctic genus Margelana Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from northeastern Iran, Zootaxa 1503, pp. 13-19 : 14-18

Margelana brunnea , sp. n.

( Figs. 1, 2 , 5 , 8 )

Types. HOLOTYPE ɗ ( Fig. 1 ), Iran, Prov. Golestan, Golestan National Park, Almeh, 1650 m, 2 through 12.x.1988 (A. Pazuki); deposited at HMIM. PARATYPES (6 ɗ and 47 Ψ): 6 ɗ and 37 Ψ ( Fig. 2 ), same data as holotype, but genitalic preparations 5576, 5559 and 5519 M. Fibiger; 2 Ψ, same data as holotype, but 3.x.1994 (H. Mirzayans, M. Badii & E. Ebrahimi); 4 Ψ, same data as holotype, but 1600 m, 30.ix.2000 (R. Ghayourfar & E. Gilasian); 3 Ψ, same data as holotype, but 1750 m, 26.x.2003 (G. Stangelmaier & C. Wieser), 1 ɗ, Iran NE, Kandavan, 16.x.1971, genitalic preparation 5577 M. Fibiger, leg. Naim; paratypes deposited in the collections at HMIM; M. Fibiger; LNK, Karlsruhe; NHM, London; G. Ronkay; P. Gyulai; TMB, Budapest; G. Stangelmaier, Villach, Austria; and C. Wieser, Klagenfurt, Austria.

Description. Wingspan: male, 38–40 mm; female, 42–46 mm. Labial palps small, second segment heavily tufted ventrally with long hair-like setae, third segment bent downwards, 0.33 times of second. Proboscis absent. Antennae of male bipectinate, female filiform. Frons rounded. Head, thorax, and ground colour of forewing brown; wings relatively narrow, forewing sharply pointed at apex; all transverse lines present, except a basal line, white and contrasting; antemedian line absent at costa, but longitudinal along Sc and R1 veins–and united with orbicular stigma, which from R1 forms a sharply angled V, pointing toward postmedial line, the tip of which is close to, sometimes even touching, postmedian line; postmedian line smooth, slightly bent; subterminal line less prominent; orbicular and reniform stigmata marked by pure white streaks that unite, forming a large, broad V; claviform stigma absent; fringes white. Hindwing of both sexes greyishbrown, males slightly lighter. Abdomen dark brown with a light brown anal tuft. Underside of both wings unicolorous grey, with beige fringes; forewing pattern represented by weakly marked beige postmedian line and reniform stigma.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 5 ). Uncus very broad, 1.5 times longer than wide, without apical hook; tegumen broad, longer than vinculum; pleural sclerite (pleurite) large, dorsal part branch-like, curling, ventral part plate-like, broad and bent; saccus large, stout, pointed; valve broadest at base; with a prominent sacculus that reaches costa; costa with a free process rounded at tip; cucullus half the width of the subbasal valve; corona absent; juxta shield-like, pointed ventrally, dorsally scobinate; transtilla extremely broad, membraneous mesially; digitus thorn-like, positioned close to costal process; clasper oblique, with a tiny ampulla, which is most easily recognised by presence of one or two small setae. Aedeagus and everted vesica ( Fig. 8 ). Aedeagus bent; coecum half as wide as rest of aedeagus; aedeagus with a dorsal membranous ridge from ductus ejaculatorius to carina; carina on left side with a large thorn-like spine; vesica projecting laterally to left, no wider than aedeagus, with a broad, short, subbasal diverticulum; apex of vesica with a similar diverticulum, with a small flat cornutus, from which two very small and short spines arise.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 8 ). Ovipositor typically apameine-like: heavily sclerotised, dorso-ventrally flattened, clothed with small and long setae, sharply pointed at tip, and with a rounded shoulder i.e., bubble-like pouches laterally at base; two typical apameine sclerotised bars between ovipositor lobes are weekly sclerotised; 8th abdominal segment twice as long ventrally as dorsally; ante-vaginal plate 5 times broader than long; anterior and posterior apophyses stout, apically spatulate, posterior apophyses a little longer; anterior apophyses approximately as long as 8th abdominal segment; ductus bursae relatively short, twice as wide as long; corpus bursae very long, anterior half cylindrical, posterior half ovoid; appendix bursae arising basally on the dorsal side of corpus bursae, ductus seminalis at apex of appendix bursae.

Differential diagnosis. Margelana brunnea is the largest of the three Margelana species (38–46 mm), M. flavidior ( Fig. 3 ) is middle sized (35–38 mm), and M. versicolor ( Fig. 4 ) is the smallest (32–36 mm). M. brunnea has a brown forewing ground colour with a white pattern; the antemedian line is sharply angled submedially; the postmedian line is slightly bent and smooth; most often the orbicular and reniform stigmata are partially fused; the outer and upper part of the prothoracic collar is white, as are the margins of the tegulae. M. flavidior has a yellowish ground colour–even subsp. ochrea is less brownish; the antemedian line is also sharply angled but is usually farther away from the postmedian line; the latter line is almost straight and smooth; the orbicular and reniform stigmata are rarely united; the collar and tegulae are concolorous with the head and thorax. The white-grey hindwing of M. flavidior ochrea separates this from M. brunnea . M. versicolor also has a brown ground colour, but white veins; less sharply angeled antemedian line; slightly bent and jagged postmedian line; separated orbicular and reniform stigmata; and yellowish outer and upper part of the collar and margins of tegulae.

The male genital armature of all three species is rather similar, but in M. brunnea ( Fig. 5 ) the uncus is a little longer and broader than that of M. versicolor ( Fig. 7 ) and the uncus of M. flavidior ( Fig. 6 ) is shorter and much broader than those of the other two species; the tegumen of M. versicolor is narrower than those of the two others; the cucullus of M. versicolor is the narrowest ( M. brunnea 1.5 times broader; M. flavidior is 2.5 times broader); the costal process of M. flavidior is more prominent; and the juxta of M. brunnea is twice as long as that of M. flavidior , and 1.5 times longer than that of M. versicolor . The aedeagus carina spine of M. brunnea ( Fig. 5 ) is the largest of the three species, and that of M. versicolor ( Fig. 7 ) is the smallest; the cortunus of M. versicolor is the largest, and that of M. brunnea is the smallest, only slightly smaller than that of M. flavidior ( Fig. 6 ).

The female genitalia differ as follows: the lateral shoulder by the base of the ovipositor is slighty larger in M. flavidior ( Fig. 9 ); the anterior apophysis of M. brunnea ( Fig. 8 ) is shorter and apically broader than those of M. flavidior and M. versicolor ( Fig. 10 ); the 8th abdominal segment of M. brunnea is longer than those of the two other species; the ventral ostium plate is broadest in M. flavidior ; the length of the sclerotised ductus bursae of M. brunnea is only 50% of that of M. flavidior , and that of M. versicolor is 60%; the corpus bursae of M. brunnea is twice as long as that of M. flavidior and M. versicolor ; and the distal part of corpus bursae is ovoid in M. brunnea , whereas that of M. flavidior is globular, and that of M. versicolor is teardrop-shaped.

Distribution and habitat. All specimens of M. brunnea are from Golestan National Park, Almeh, in northeastern Iran, between 1600–1750 m ( Fig. 11 ). Golestan National Park was the first national park in Iran, covering about 91,000 hectares. The terrain is montainous with altitudes varying from 380–2,820 m. The Almeh Region is located in the southeastern part of the park and consists of two mountain ranges separated by a valley. The habitat is dominated by open areas with oak ( Quercus ), Juniperus communis and J. excelsa , and with various herbaceous plants and shrubs, including Berberis , Crataegus , and Haloxylon . All of the specimens of M. brunnea were collected at light from late September to early October. The early stages are unknown.

Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the brown forewing ground colour, and is derived from the Latin for brown ( brunnea ).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Geographic distribution of Margelana brunnea.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Adults of Margelana. 1, Holotype male of Margelana brunnea; 2, paratype female of Margelana brunnea; 3, male of M. flavidior; 4, female of M. versicolor.

FIGURES 5 – 7. Male genitalia of Margelana. 5, M. brunnea; 6, M. flavidior; 7, M. versicolor.

FIGURES 8 – 10. Female genitalia of Margelana. 8, M. brunnea; 9, M. flavidior; 10, M. versicolor.