Zamarada Moore, 1887

Sciarretta, Andrea & Hausmann, Axel, 2020, The Geometridae of Ethiopia III: genus Zamarada (Lepidoptera: Geometridae Ennominae, Cassymini), Zootaxa 4894 (3), pp. 301-328 : 303

Genus Zamarada Moore, 1887

Type species: Zamarada translucida Moore, 1887 (lectotype designated by Fletcher, 1974; type locality not stated [ Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia])

Zamarada is an Old World genus, with 284 known species ( Scoble & Hausmann 2007; Aarvik & Bjørnstad 2007), most of them distributed in the Afrotropical, but also in the Indo-Malayan and Palaearctic (North Africa, Arabia) regions.

Species classified in this genus are diagnosed by the wing pattern with a proximally large hyaline area and terminally fully-scaled margins and—in male genitalia—by a fulcrum-shaped supporting process attached to the ventral surface of the aedeagus ( Fletcher 1974).

In the Old World revision of the genus published by Fletcher (1974), 11 taxa were reported for Ethiopia, four of which were described based on material collected in the country. Later on, five other Zamarada spp. were found or described from Ethiopia by Herbulot (1977; 1989; 2002), raising the total number to 16.

In this work we raise the number of known Zamarada for the fauna of Ethiopia to 23 taxa, we describe one new species and downgrade two taxa from species to subspecies rank. Moreover, the unknown female for two species and the unknown male for one species are described for the first time. We suppose that the species number of the fauna of Ethiopian Zamarada is close to saturation because the southern regions of the country have been intensively sampled in the last years and the species numbers in this genus generally decrease towards the (so far less sampled) north. Considering the high taxonomic accuracy of previous revisions (e.g. Fletcher 1974; Aarvik & Bjørnstad 2007), the classification into species groups appears to be well-substantiated and in most cases is supported by the new DNA barcode data.

The vast majority of representatives of the genus Zamarada are nocturnal in the adult stage, readily attracted to light, often inhabiting savannahs and usually are more abundant after the rainy season(s). With a very few exceptions all host-plant records for this genus are referring to the family Fabaceae (Mimosoideae) .