Lukeniana georgeadamsoni Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann, 2023

Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, Revision of the Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 genus-group (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) with descriptions of two new genera and 33 new species from high elevations of eastern and southern Africa, Zootaxa 5267 (1), pp. 1-106 : 40-42

Lukeniana georgeadamsoni Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov.

Figs 7a , 17b

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C1FD23A2-F578-4C99-9C03-394BFF3B33D0

Type locality and repository: Kenya, the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi ( NMK) .

Material examined. Holotype male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Machakos District, Game Ranching and Research Limited , 25 August 1989, I. Lehmann leg., genitalia slide number 07/092012 I. Lehmann ( NMK) . Paratype male, Kenya, same locality, 15. March 1999, I. Lehmann leg., genitalia slide number 082000 I. Lehmann (first author’s collection) .

Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with pale orange-yellow and sepia-coloured shiny hair-like scales; long, dense hair-like scales between eyes; eyes entirely black; antenna 0.50 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 8.0 width of shaft, covered with ivory-yellow scales laterally, ivory-yellow scales dorsally; antennal tips slightly spatulate and with some long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi cream coloured.

Thorax: Patagia and tegulae shiny with long hair-like scales of ochre mixed with ivory-yellow. Small ivory-yellow metathoracic crest. Hindlegs pale orange-yellow and ivory-yellow with fine hair-like shiny scales; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur ca. 1.0 mm. Forewing length in holotype 13.0 mm (wingspan 28.5 mm), in paratype 12.5 mm (wingspan 27.0 mm). Forewing upperside pale orange-yellow; costal margin sepia; entire forewing without distinctly coloured striae; along termen a broad band of ivory-yellow with small spots of sepia at ends of veins R 3 to CuA 2; CuA 2 presenting a broad pure white band, edged with dark ochre above; all remaining veins not distinctly coloured except partially ochre 1A+2A; cilia very long, 1.6 mm, shiny, light ochre. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, light ochre, glossy, costal margin sepia. Hindwing upperside pure white; cilia as in forewing; underside as in forewing.

Abdomen: Dark ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, glossy; abdominal tuft very long, ca. 40% of abdominal length. Genitalia ( Fig. 17b ) with rounded uncus lobes, bearing short setae ventrally; gnathos arms slightly longer than basal width of valva and bent towards uncus; valva elongate (without a strongly bent upwards costal margin), rectangular, base only slightly broader than distal end of valva, costa with few long setae; sacculus broad with short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection setose, with a rectangular tip, slightly longer than single thorn-like process below; the latter narrow, long (but shorter than length of juxta and less than 50% of basal width of valva), strongly bent and well developed, hollow with an acuminate tip lacking setae; median sector of valva with short setae on inner side forming more than five rows from base of valva towards a short, ovoid emargination; latter extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process and extending 25% of length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent. Saccus as long as juxta, finger-shaped, narrow. Juxta small, long and narrow, much smaller than base of saccus, with two acuminate tips, each bearing a short process, deep emargination between tips, ca. 90% of length of juxta. Phallus trumpet-like and of medium length, slightly longer than width of valva, not bent at middle, bilobate with a cleft at each end.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. The narrow and delicate thorn-like process and the shape of the valva resemble those of L. chapmani . At least four characters separate L. georgeadamsoni from the latter species: (i) the very long abdominal tuft in the male, ca. 40% of abdominal length, is the longest among all species of Lukeniana treated herein; (ii) the valvae are elongate and rectangular as in L. chapmani , but have a broader base (almost equal to outer edge of uncus lobe); (iii) the phallus is of medium length, only slightly longer than the width of the valva, and not bent near the middle, hence, it is longer than in L. chapmani ; (iv) the basal edge of the uncus is straight and not strongly bent at the middle as in L. chapmani . The forewing upperside is pale orange-yellow and the whole forewing is without distinctly coloured striae, which resembles the upperside of L. carolae . These species can be easily separated on the basis of the differences in the gnathos arms that resemble half of a hand in L. carolae , but are more completely palmate in L. georgeadamsoni .

Distribution. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni is known from the Athi River-Kapiti Plains ( Fig. 21d ), located ca. 50 km east of the Kenya Rift and ca. 1.5 km west of the highest point of the Lukenia Hills (1,840 m) on the game ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft. The ranch is situated within the Somalia-Masai regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). Based on its known distribution, this species is provisionally classified an Afromontane linking species.

Habitat. See Appendix 1.

Etymology. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni is named after the late Game Warden and Wildlife Conservationist George Alexander Graham Adamson (1906–1989), who, by the movie Born Free, was the one igniting the first authors love for Kenya in 1977 at the age of 13.

Figures

FIGURE 7. a. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni, holotype, male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Game Ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft, 1.5 km west from the Lukenia Hills; b. L. mikerobertsi, holotype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy, “Kambi ya Simba”; c. L. mikerobertsi, paratype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Mpala Research Centre, Site 1; d. L. mikerobertsi, paratype, female,

FIGURE 17. a. Lukeniana utaheidenreichae, holotype, male, Mozambique, Manica Province, Barr De Chikamba Real; b. L. georgeadamsoni, holotype, male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Game Ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft, 1.5 km west from the Lukenia Hills; c. L. mikerobertsi, holotype, male, Kenya, County Laikipia, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy, “Kambi ya Simba”; d. L. andreashempi, holotype, male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Mount Meru; e. L. kakamegaensis, holotype, male, Kenya, Western Province, Kakamega; f. L. jankiellandi, holotype, male, Tanzania, Katavi Region, Luega village.

FIGURE 21. a. Wetter type of miombo with open canopies and consequently with a high grass cover. The picture shows colourful woodland viewed from a small grassy plateau down into in the Mutinondo Wilderness Area (Zambia). The wet miombo is dominated by Brachystegia longifolia Benth., B. spiciformis and Julbernardia paniculata (Caesalpiniaceae). The picture was taken in October 2010 by Jürgen Lenz. b. One of the granite inselbergs (the hill in the centre) with distinctive scrub woodland in the Mutinondo Wilderness Area that is still on but close to the northeastern edge of the Southern African Plateau. Inselbergs sensu Bornhardt (1900) are rock outcrop formations occurring in a broad range of size, e.g. as single hills or as inselberg plateaus and in a varying degree of isolation. Hence, inselbergs are often least-disturbed ecosystems. The inselberg in the picture is partly covered by scrub woodland comprising, e.g. Vitex madiens Oliv. (Verbenaceae) and Ozoroa insignis Delile (Anacardiaceae) between the granite blocks and is surrounded by wet miombo. The picture was taken in October 2010 by Jürgen Lenz. c. The artificial lake of Chikamba Real (Mozambique) viewed from the Bvumba Mountains (Zimbabwe) in the West. The landscape that represents the habitat of Lukeniana utaheidenreichae is diverse and comprises Deciduous Miombo Savanna Woodland sensu Wild & Barbosa (1968) characterised by Caesalpiniaceae, e.g., Brachystegia spiciformis, B. boehmii Taub. and Julbernardia globiflora (Benth.) Troupin (Jonathan Timberlake, Friston, East Dean, U.K., pers. com. to I.L. in 2015). The picture was taken in April 2006 by Jürgen Lenz (Harare, Zimbabwe). d. Habitat of Mountelgonia arcifera (Hampson, 1909) and Lukeniana georgeadamsoni on the game ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft in Somalia-Masai edaphic grassland sensu White (1983).A young tree (left) of Acacia xanthophloea Benth. is in the foreground. To the right and in the background occur small trees of Balanites glabra Mildbr. (Balanitaceae) in Themeda triandra Forssk. (Poaceae) grassland. The small light green woody plant below the Acacia is Hibiscus flavifolius Ulbr. (Malvaceae). The picture was taken by Ingo Lehmann in March 1999. e. Habitat of Lukeniana mikerobertsi: 270–286 years old trees of Juniperus procera Hochst. (Cupressaceae) that form a Single-dominant Afromontane forest sensu White (1983) on Site 1 of Kambi ya Simba at 2.165 m (Lolldaiga Hills Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy). The smaller tree in the foreground (right) is Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae). Picture by Ingo Lehmann, March 2016.