Ahlbergia maoweiweii, Huang, Hao & Zhu, Jian-Qing, 2016

Huang, Hao & Zhu, Jian-Qing, 2016, Ahlbergia maoweiweii sp. n. from Shaanxi, China with revisional notes on similar species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), Zootaxa 4114 (4), pp. 409-433 : 411-412

Ahlbergia maoweiweii new species

( Figs. 1–6 , 16–17 , 31–34 , 61–62 , 76 , 94 , 105 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs. 5–6 ): CHINA: ♂ (dissected), Shaanxi Province, Ankang City, Ningshan County, ca 600m, 11.IV.2013, W.-W. Mao leg., deposited in SNUC. Paratypes (6♂♂ & 3♀♀ in total): CHINA: 3♂♂, 1♀, same data as holotype (1♂, 1♀ in coll. Hao Huang and dissected, 2♂♂ in coll. W.-W. Mao); 3♂♂, 2♀♀, same locality as holotype but 13.IV.2013, W.-W. Mao leg. (1♂, 1♀ in coll. J.-Q. Zhu and dissected, 2♂♂, 1♀ in coll. W- W. Mao).

Male holotype description. Length of forewing: 13.0 mm. Forewing shaped as in A. frivaldszkyi (Lederer, 1855) . Hindwing with a larger ratio of costa-length to dorsum-length and a larger ratio of termen-length to dorsumlength than in A. frivaldszkyi , A. leei Johnson, 1992 and A. luoliangi Huang & Song, 2006 . Androconial patch on forewing upperside well marked, similarly shaped and of the same size as in A. luoliangi , A. ferrea and A. tricaudata .

Wing-pattern ( Figs. 5–6 ). Both wings on upperside generally like in the brightest form of A. frivaldszkyi , with extensive greyish blue suffusion in discal cell, mostly spaces 1a-2 of forewing and mostly hindwing, leaving only a black submarginal band and a black costal band on hindwing. Underside. Forewing. Ground color dark greyish brown, only marked by a black discocellular bar, a waved discal line edged with black and pale bluish white scales, and a series of submarginal markings formed by black dashes. Submarginal and marginal areas suffused with powdered pale bluish white scales. Hindwing. Ground color as on forewing but extensively dusted by pale bluish white scales, more densely in marginal, submarginal, anal and costal areas. Subbasal, discal and submarginal lines clearly marked with black and waved in shape. Discocellular bar clearly marked with black.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 76 ). Generally as in A. ferrea , only differing in having conjoined basal part of valvae in ventral view more apparently contracted to the divided distal part of the valvae. Valvae in ventral view with outer lateral margins angled. Lower cornutus of phallus equal to upper cornutus in width, nearly as wide as that of A. ferrea and A. frivaldszkyi , markedly narrower than that of A. leei and A. tricaudata . Teeth along distal margin of cornuti like those of A. ferrea , but of a higher number than in A. frivaldszkyi .

Description of male paratypes ( Figs. 1–4 , 16–17 ). Individual variation is weakly pronounced. Length of forewing: 12.5–13.5mm. Hindwing can be more extensively dusted by blue scales than that of holotype, leaving only a black submarginal line. Male genitalia not variable (3 ♂♂ dissected).

Description of female paratypes ( Figs. 31–34 , 61–62 ). Sexual dimorphism is found in the following points. Length of forewing: 13.5–14.0mm. Both wings with a larger ratio of dorsum-length to costa-length than in the males. Termen of forewing more strongly angled at vein 4 than in the males. Termen of hindwing more angled at vein 3 than in the males. Both wings on upperside with more extensive and brighter blue suffusion than in the males. Both wings on underside more densely dusted by whitish scales than in the males.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 94 , 105 ) not variable (2♀♀ dissected). Ductus bursae like in A. ferrea , but a little stouter. Lamella postvaginalis oblong and slightly transverse, without apparent convolutions or folds on the ventral surface.

Etymology. This new species is named in honor of Mr. Wei-Wei Mao, Shanghai, who collected the type series of the new species.

Diagnosis. The extensive blue suffusion on wing uppersides and the pale dustings covering the hindwing underside in both sexes make the new species a very peculiar looking; only A. clarolinea Huang & Chen, 2006 from Yunnan shares such combination of characters, but in a quite different way. This new species can be distinguished from A. clarolinea by the following combination of characters: 1) both wings on upperside of male with more greyish blue suffusion, appearing markedly darker; 2) pale scales powdered and dusted on hindwing underside more bluish; 3) pale dustings on hindwing underside sparser in basal and discal areas; 4) black submarginal markings on hindwing underside more clearly defined, contiguous and more deeply waved; 5) hindwing underside without dark sub-tornal spots in spaces 1b–2 just outside of the submarginal markings; 6) saccus of male genitalia markedly shorter; 7) upper cornutus of phallus with a higher number of teeth along the distal margin; 8) lamella postvaginalis of female genitalia more strongly angled in shape; 9) ductus bursae markedly shorter and wider.

A comprehensive comparison in male and female genitalia suggests that A. ferrea is closest to the new species. However, the two species are quite different in the external features.

Remarks. A. chalybeia (Leech, 1893) , A. chalcidis Chou & Li, 1994 , A. unicolora Johnson, 1992 and Novosatsuma magnapurpurea Johnson, 1992 ( Figs. 28–30 ) share a similar combination of following characters: 1) forewing upperside of male with extensive greyish blue suffusion; 2) forewing underside of both sexes with submarginal pale dustings. However, all these species differ in genitalic morphology from the new species. A. unicolora was described from a series of specimens from different localities in Yunnan and Sichuan actually belonging to two species; this will be fully discussed in a further paper (Huang & Sun unpublished data). The holotype of A. unicolora from Nujiang valley, NW Yunnan possesses a smaller number of larger teeth along the distal margin of the upper cornutus in the male genitalia ( Johnson, 1992: fig. 20) than that of A. maoweiweii ; a dissection of more male specimens from type locality of A. unicolora confirmed such genital difference to be constant. Johnson’s (1992: fig. 21) figure of female genitalia for A. unicolora derives from a specimen collected from western Sichuan actually belonging to an undescribed species. The true female genitalia of A. unicolora are different from those of A. maoweiweii in having the markedly longer ductus bursae and will be described in a separate paper (Huang & Sun unpublished data).

A. caesius Johnson, 1992 ( Figs. 73–75 ) and A. caerulea Johnson, 1992 are also similar to A. maoweiweii in some external characters, both with males unknown. The female genitalia of A. caerulea ( Johnson, 1992: fig. 23) are similar to those of A. maoweiweii , but with significant difference in the size of the lamella postvaginalis and the length of the ductus bursae. A. caerulea lacks the extensive pale dustings on the wing undersides.

The similarity in genitalia between A. maoweiweii and A. ferrea suggests that A. maoweiweii is closely related to the species of Johnson’s (1992) A. ferrea group. Another similar species, A. frivaldszkyi was considered by various authors as very close to the members of Johnson’s (1992) A. ferrea group; Tshikolovets et al. (2002) even treated A. leei (one member of Johnson’s A. ferrea group) as a synonym of A. frivaldszkyi . There has been great confusion concerning taxonomy of the following taxa: A. frivaldszkyi , A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata , A. ferrea , A. leei , A. confusa and A. inopinata . They will be discussed below. A distributional map of all these taxa is provided ( Fig. 139 ).

Though Johnson (1992) separated A. chalybeia from the A. frivaldszkyi and A. ferrea groups, there is no morphological evidence to support such splitting. Therefore, the following three species are also discussed below in detail: A. chalybeia , A. chalcidis and A. clarolinea .

Figures

FIGURE 139. Distribution of A. frivaldszkyi, A. ferrea, A. leei, A. maoweiweii, A. inopinata and A. tricaudata in China.

FIGURES 1 – 15. Habitus of Ahlbergia males at same scale. 1 – 6 — A. maoweiweii; 1 – 4 — paratypes; 5 – 6 — holotype. 7 – 8 — A. frivaldszkyi, Chang’an, Shaanxi. 9 – 10 — A. luoliangi, holotype, Chang’an. 11 – 12 — A. leei ssp., Chang’an. 13 — A. ferrea, Liaoning. 14 — A. tricaudata tricaudata, Liaoning. 15 — A. tricaudata confusa, paratype, Nanjing. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 — upperside; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 — underside; 13 – 15 — upperside (left half) and underside (right half).

FIGURES 16 – 30. Habitus of Ahlbergia and Novosatsuma males at same scale. 16 – 17 — A. maoweiweii, paratype. 18 – 21 — A. clarolinea; 18 – 19 — Yulongxueshan, Lijiang; 20 – 21 — Ludian, Lijiang. 22 – 27 — A. chalcidis; 22 – 25 — Ludian, Lijiang; 26 – 27 — Yulongxueshan, Lijiang. 28 – 30 — N. magnapurpurea, paratype. 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 — upperside; 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 — underside.

FIGURES 31 – 45. Habitus of Ahlbergia females at same scale. 31 – 34 — A. maoweiweii, paratypes. 35 – 36 — A. leei, Liaoning; 41 – 42 — A. leei ssp., Ningshan, Shaanxi. 37 – 38 — A. frivaldszkyi; 37 — Tianjin; 38 — Chang’an, Shaanxi. 39 – 40 — A. luoliangi, paratype, Chang’an. 43 — A. ferrea, Liaoning. 44 — A. tricaudata tricaudata, Liaoning. 45 — A. tricaudata confusa, holotype, Nanjing. 31, 33, 35, 39, 41 — upperside; 32, 34, 36, 40, 42 — underside; 37 – 38, 43 – 45 — upperside (left half) and underside (right half).

FIGURES 61 – 75. Habitus of Ahlbergia females at same scale. 61 – 62 — A. maoweiweii, paratype. 63 – 66, 71 – 72 — A. clarolinea; 63 – 64 — holotype, Yulongxueshan; 65 – 66 — Ludian, Lijiang; 71 – 72 — Muli, Sichuan. 67 – 68 — A. chalcidis, Ludian, Lijiang. 69 – 70 — A. chalybeia, Jiulong. 73 – 75 — A. caesius, holotype. 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73 — upperside; 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74 — underside.

FIGURES 76 – 80. Male genitalia of Ahlbergia taxa at same scale, consisting of entire genitalia in lateral view (G), of dorsum in dorsal view (D), of ring in ventral view with valvae and aedeagus removed (R.), of valvae in ventral view (V), and of distal tip of phallus in dorsal view to show cornuti (C). 76 — A. maoweiweii, holotype (Figs. 5 – 6); 77 — A. frivaldszkyi, Chang’an, Shaanxi; 78 — A. leei ssp., Chang’an (Figs. 11 – 12); 79 — A. tricaudata tricaudata, Liaoning (Fig. 14); 80 — A. ferrea, Liaoning (Fig. 13). (G, D, R, V at same scale as shown in 80; C at same scale as shown in 80; red arrows directed to important characters mentioned in text).

FIGURES 94 – 104. Female genitalia of Ahlbergia taxa in lateral view at same scale. 94 — A. maoweiweii, paratype (Figs. 31 – 32); 95 — A. leei, Liaoning (Figs. 35 – 36); 96 — A. ferrea, Liaoning (Fig. 43); 97 — A. tricaudata confusa, holotype (Fig. 45); 98 — A. luoliangi, paratype (Figs. 39 – 40); 99 — A. frivaldszkyi, Shaanxi (Fig. 38); 100 — A. frivaldszkyi, Tianjin (Fig. 37); 101 — A. leei ssp., Shaanxi (Figs. 41 – 42); 102 — A. chalcidis, Lijiang; 103 — A. chalybeia, Jiulong (Figs. 69 – 70); 104 — A. clarolinea, holotype (Figs. 63 – 64).

FIGURES 105 – 129. Female genitalia of Ahlbergia taxa in ventral view at same scale (except for 109). 105 — A. maoweiweii, paratype (Figs. 31 – 32); 106 — A. ferrea, Liaoning (Fig. 43); 107 — A. luoliangi, paratype (Figs. 39 – 40); 108 — A. clarolinea, holotype (Figs. 63 – 64); 109 — A. chalybeia, lectotype, after Johnson (1992); 110 — A. chalybeia, Jiulong (Figs. 69 – 70); 111 — A. chalcidis, Lijiang; 112 — A. frivaldszkyi, Shaanxi (Fig. 38); 113 — A. tricaudata confusa, holotype (Fig. 45); 114 — A. tricaudata tricaudata, Liaoning (Fig. 44); 115 — A. tricaudata ssp., Shaanxi; 116 – 121, 126 – 129 — A. frivaldszkyi; 116 – 118, 127 – 129 — Shaanxi; 119 — Kangxian, Gansu (Figs. 48 – 49); 120 — Huixian, Gansu (Figs. 52 – 53); 121 — Wenxian, Gansu (Figs. 50 – 51); 126 — Tianjin (Fig. 37); 122 – 125 — A. leei; 122 — Liaoning (Figs. 35 – 36); 123 — Shaanxi (Figs. 41 – 42); 124 – 125 — Shaanxi.