Lophoterges HAMPSON, 1906

Ronkay, L., 2005, Revision Of The Genus Lophoterges Hampson, 1906 (S. L.) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Cuculliinae). Part Ii. The Genus Lophoterges S. Str., Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 51 (1), pp. 1-57 : 9-12

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.12586551

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https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03CF707A-FFBA-FF88-BB7A-FA81FCA0FB1F

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scientific name

Lophoterges HAMPSON, 1906
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Subgenus Lophoterges HAMPSON, 1906

Type species: Lithocampa fatua PÜNGELER, 1904 , Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift Iris 16: 288, pl. 6, fig. 4.

Diagnosis. External morphology ( Figs 1, 2 View Figs 1–8 , 29 View Figs 25–32 ). The fore wing is rather narrow, narrower than that of all other taxa of the genus. The fore wing pattern shows a somewhat more complex picture than the characteristic Lophoterges type although the maculation is somewhat simplified: the orbicular stigma is less flattened and oblique and the suborbicular patch is reduced, their outlines not prominently whitish like in any other species of the genus. Contrarily, the antemedial and postmedial crosslines are clearly recognisable although diffuse, these lines are obsolete or deleted in the other Lophoterges species. The sclerotised pedicels of the abdominal coremata of the male abdomen are reduced to short, weak, arched bars; the membranous pockets are entirely missing.

paratype, female, Morocco ; 24 = L. (F.) millierei millierei ( STAUDINGER, 1871) , male, Spain (Fibigerges) millierei millierei ( STAUDINGER, 1871) , paratype, female, Spain

Male genitalia ( Figs 33 View Figs 33–34 , 67 View Fig ). Genital capsula entirely symmetrical, socii weak, finely ciliate, apically rounded. Fultura inferior large, sclerotised, subdeltoidal; valval costa fused with harpe forming large, cuneate-pyramidal, setose extension; clavus minute but distinct. Aedeagus long, cylindrical, with large, bulbed coecum penis. Vesica everted forward, then bent dorsad and recurved towards sinus penis; distal diverticula large, subconical, armed with strong spinules, terminal bundle of cornuti even stronger, apically curved.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 35 View Figs 35–37 ). Ovipositor without cartilagineous plates on intersegmental membranes; dorsal and ventral laminae of ostium bursae homogeneously sclerotised. Appendix bursae membranous with rather strong ribs and wrinkles, proximal section with stronger, pocket-like lateral appendage.

The subgenus Lophoterges represents the closest stage of the supposed archetype of the genus with its fully developed fore wing crosslines, the entirely symmetrical male clasping apparatus, the absence of the cartilagineous plates of the ovipositor and the less sclerotised distal part of the ductus bursae (these two features are common with the other less developed lineage of the genus, the subg. Tibeterges ). The morphological and biogeographical features of the three other subgenera suggest the monocentric genesis of the genus in the northern part of the Tibetan plateau and the bidirectional spreading from this centre resulting in the partly parallel speciation of the two main descendent trunks, Tibeterges and Varierges, and the secondary centre of evolution in the western Asian mountains leading to the development of the Fibigerges line.

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