Eutricha morosa ( Walker, 1865 )

Takano, Hitoshi & László, Gyula M., 2024, The Lasiocampidae (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampoidea) of Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique: a provisional checklist with descriptions of three new species and taxonomic notes, Zootaxa 5492 (2), pp. 231-259 : 236

Eutricha morosa ( Walker, 1865)

( Fig. 39 )

[4L]— 1♂.

Remarks. Lebeda morosa Walker, 1865 was one of several species of African moths described by Francis Walker from the collection of William D’Urban (1836–1934). Walker stated the type locality simply as “ South Africa ” but it can be presumed the specimens originated from the East London/King William’s Town area where D’Urban was based in the early 1860’s ( Trimen 1887). Upon his return to England, he became the first curator of RAMM where his Lepidoptera collections were on public display as recently as the 1930s and the cabinets could be browsed by visitors at their leisure (H. Morgenroth, pers. comm.). Zolotuhin & Gurkovich (2009) could not locate the holotype in NHMUK and designated a neotype to “clear up the nomenclatural situation” ( Zolotuhin & Gurkovich 2009: 37). Perhaps an assumption was made that all of Walker’s types are found in NHMUK (which is certainly not the case—there are many in OUMNH), or they were aware of the reference in Horn et al. (1990) to some of D’Urban’s South African Lepidoptera being in NHMUK via the Joicey Bequest. The neotype designation is however invalid as it was not sufficiently in accordance with the qualifying conditions listed under Article 75.3 of the ICZN (1999), namely Articles 75.3.4 (“reasons for believing the name-bearing type specimen to be lost or destroyed, and the steps that had been taken to trace it”) and 75.3.6 (“evidence that the neotype came as nearly as practicable from the original type locality”). The specimen designated as the neotype in NHMUK from Mvuma in central Zimbabwe (at an elevation of 1400 m a.s.l.) is over 1500 km as the crow flies from where D’Urban’s specimen was likely caught within the MPA in coastal South Africa. Based on the close proximity and similar habitat of MSR to the type locality of Walker’s taxon, it is believed that the figured specimen ( Fig. 39 ) refers to the true E. morosa . It is interesting to note that a publicly available barcode (GWOSG024-10) of an ‘ E. morosa ’ specimen from eastern Zimbabwe differs from MSR, Zambian and Tanzanian specimens with PWDs of 2.2–2.7% (n=5) suggesting that the neotype specimen may refer to a different taxon entirely. The natural history stores at RAMM could not be accessed during the period of this present research but it is possible that Walker’s holotype specimen is extant, and a new neotype designation will not be made until further investigations are conducted.

Figures

FIGURES 37–48. Adults (all in coll. ANHRT and collected in MSR). 37. Streblote polydora, ♀. 38. Cleopatrina phocea, ♂. 39. Eutricha morosa, ♂. 40. E. fulvida, ♂. 41. Id., ♀. 42. Id., ♂. 43. E. giustii sp. n., holotype ♂ (gen. slide No. LG 6228). 44. Id., paratype ♂. 45. Pallastica cf. pallens, ♂. 46. Id., ♂. 47. Stoermeriana aculeata, ♂. 48. Id., ♂.