Phlogophora szecsenyii Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998

Bandyopadhyay, Uttaran, Dey, Rushati, Bhattacharyya, Kamalika, Mallick, Kaushik, Mazumder, Arna, Gayen, Subrata, Das, Moumita, Raha, Angshuman, Sanyal, Abesh Kumar, Kumar, Vikas, Uniyal, Virendra Prasad & Chandra, Kailash, 2021, Taxonomy and ecology of genus Phlogophora Treitschke, 1825 (Lepidoptera Noctuidae) in Indian Himalaya with description of a new species, Zootaxa 5004 (2), pp. 311-342 : 325

Phlogophora szecsenyii Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998

[ Fig. 9 , 35, 36 ]

Phlogophora szecsenyii Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998 , Esperiana , 6: 148.

Phlogophora szecsenyii Hreblay & Ronkay : Kononenko & Pinratana, 2013, Moths of Thailand, 3 (2): 327.

Type locality: Anpan , Deorali Tanda [ Nepal] .

Material examined: India: 1 ♂, Sikkim, Dist. West Sikkim, Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Yuksom , 27.37864° N, 088.22087° E, 1879 m, 23. XI. 2019; coll. A. K. Sanyal & team .

Diagnosis: Wing expanse: Male: 23–25 mm. A remarkably small species relative to its congeners. The species is readily identifiable by its blackish-grey ground colour of the forewings with distinctive white reniform. Multiple subbasal and postmedial golden transverse lines; the outer margin suffused with grey with prominent golden marginal specks. The species is also very similar to P. plumbeola but differs in being much smaller in size and darker in colour.

Male genitalia: Valve spindle-shaped with the clasper being much sclerotised, long thumb-like and a small spine like digitus in the sclerotised costal region; sacculus with a half circular convex ridge of small organized spines instead of multiple irregular ones like P. plumbeola .

Distribution: India: Sikkim. Global: Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam ( Kononenko & Pinratana 2013).

Note: This species is being reported for the first time from India.

Bionomics: A rare species in Himalaya, recorded only from Central Himalayan zone of Nepal and Sikkim, in a very narrow altitudinal range of 1800–2000 m, preferably in Wet Temperate Forest. Single individual was observed during post-monsoon month of November with an annual mean temperature of 15.6 ºC and an annual precipitation of 2300 mm.

NCBI GenBank accession No.: MT188151

Figures

FIGURES 3–10. Habitus images of Phlogophora spp. 3. Phlogophora nobilis Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998; 4. Phlogophora costalis (Moore, 1882); 5. Phlogophora humilis Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998; 6. Phlogophora meticulodina (Draudt, 1950)*; 7. Phlogophora conservuloides (Hampson, 1898); 8. Phlogophora distorta (Moore, 1881); 9. Phlogophora szecsenyii (Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998); 10. Phlogophora sinuata (Moore, 1882). *Image procured from Dr Péter Gyulai, Hungary, through personal correspondence.

FIGURES 31–38. Male genitalia images of Phlogophora spp. 31–32. Phlogophora conservuloides (Hampson, 1898), Uttarakhand, Gen. prep. AS/CK26/3/18.VI.18/7; 33–34. Phlogophora distorta (Moore, 1881), Uttarakhand, Gen. prep. AS/ CK22/3/14.V.18/4; 35–36. Phlogophora szecsenyii (Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998), Sikkim, Gen. prep. KB/DZ19/1/23.XI.19/203; 37–38. Phlogophora albovittata (Moore, 1867), West Bengal, Gen. prep. SN/CH22/2/15.V.18/190.