Dinometa abigailae, Prozorov & Prozorova & Yakovlev & Volkova & Saldaitis & Sulak & Revay & Müller, 2024

Prozorov, Alexey M., Prozorova, Tatiana A., Yakovlev, Roman V., Volkova, Julia S., Saldaitis, Aidas, Sulak, Harald, Revay, Edita E. & Müller, Günter C., 2024, Description of two new species of Dinometa from East Africa with remarks on D. maputuana (Lepidoptera, Lasiocampidae, Lasiocampinae), Zootaxa 5397 (4), pp. 486-496 : 491-492

Dinometa abigailae sp. n.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D3B4C1E8-0F58-4935-A1F5-7505BF979716

( Figs 13–15 , 21–22 , 24 )

Holotype: ♁, Tanzania, Banagi Hill, Musoma [?], 2.29S, 34.83E, 1410 m, leg. Capt. M. S. Moore, GS 1337 ( NHML) . Paratypes, Kenya: ♁, Kibwezi , 2.41052S, 37.96784E, 900 m, 13.III.1980 ( CGM / USTTB) ; ♁, Kenya , Ol Donjo Orok Mt., 2.49379S, 36.7513E, 2515 m, 20.II.1981 ( CGM / USTTB) .

Description. Male ( Figs 13–15 ) with generic characters. Hindwing has more or less pronounced reddish spot. Forewing length: 34–38 mm; wingspan: 72–76 mm. Genitalia ( Fig. 20 ) with generic characters. Female remains unknown.

Variability. The reddish spots on hindwing may be more ( Fig. 13 ) or less ( Fig. 15 ) pronounced.

Diagnosis. Differs from both D. maputuana and D. ethani sp. n. by the red spots on the hindwing. Allopatric with D. maputuana .

Distribution ( Fig. 24 ). Southern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets in Tanzania and northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets in Kenya. Expected to be endemic in the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya ( Mittermeier et al., 1998; Myers et al., 2000). Six more lasiocampid species are restricted to this biodiversity hotspot area (see list above), including D. ethani sp. n.

Biology. Adults were collected from February to March from an altitude between 900 to 2515 m. Preimaginal stages are unknown.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Abigail Grace Flicker (Brooklyn, NY, USA).

Figures

FIGURES 11–15. Adult ♁ of Dinometa spp. 11–12. D. ethani, Tanzania, road Dar es Salaam – Chalinze (CGM/USTTB). 11. PT, LBEOW723-10. 12. HT, LBEOW722-10, GS 0304. 13–15. D. abigailae. 13. HT, Banagi Hill, GS 1337 (NHML). 14. PT, Kenya, Kibwezi, GS 0303 (CGM/USTTB). 15. PT, Kenya, Ol Donjo Orok Mt. (CGM/USTTB). Scale bar – 1 cm.

FIGURES 20–22. ♁ genitalia of Dinometa spp. 20. D. ethani, HT, Tanzania, road Dar-es-Salaam – Chalinze, LBEOW722-10, GS 0304 (CGM/USTTB). 21–22. D. abigailae. 21. PT, Kenya, Kibwezi, GS 0303 (CGM/USTTB). 22. HT, Banagi Hill, GS 1337 (NHML). Scale bar – 1 mm.

FIGURES 23–25. Collecting sites of Dinometa maputuana (23), D. abigailae, and D. ethani (24) (for details visit bit.ly/ twonewdinometa), and NJ tree (25; K2P, bootstrap 1000, built with MEGA X) based on sequence variation at COI and pairwise distances (%). Circles with stars are for the collecting localities of primary types, other tags are for additional material.