Skip to main content

Fuwen Wei forester moth (Thibetana weii) from China becoming the seventh species in Thibetana Efetov & Tarmann 1995

Dlium Fuwen Wei forester moth (Thibetana weii) from China becoming the seventh species in Thibetana Efetov & Tarmann 1995

NEWS - Fuwen Wei forester moth (Thibetana weii Li & He, sp. nov.) was found in Galongla Snow Mountain, southeastern Xizang, China, becoming the seventh species in Thibetana Efetov & Tarmann 1995 which has distribution in southwest China and Indian Sikkim.

Thibetana (Zygaenidae, Procridinae) was assigned to Artona sieversi Alphéraky, 1892. This genus includes 6 species with distribution in southwest China and Indian Sikkim. Three species are known from China. Now researchers report a new species to the genus based on specimens collected from Xizang, China.

T. weii has forewing upperside with ovate yellow spot at base, two ovate spots near middle, and an 8-shaped yellow spot at distal part; hindwing upperside with subtriangular yellow spot and oblong yellow spot. In male genitalia, sacculus nearly rectangular, dentated on outer margin, ending with spine-like process on ventral margin.

The new species is similar to Thibetana zebra (Elwes, 1890) in the pattern of the forewings, but T. weii can be distinguished by the upperside of the hindwings having a subtriangular yellow spot and an oblong yellow spot. In T. zebra, the second spot on the upperside of the hindwing is thin and long.

DESCRIPTION

External morphology of imago. Forewing length 8.5–9.0 mm. Frons yellow mixed black. Vertex black. Labial palpus approximately one and half as long as compound eye’s diameter, pale brown mixed with yellow. Male antenna pinnate except distal one-sixth serrate; female antenna serrate. Compound eye ovate, black, edged with yellow scales; ocellus round, black. Chaetosema well-developed, gray. Tegula yellow. Thorax black. Upperside of forewing black, bearing ovate yellow spot at base, two ovate yellow spots near middle, and an 8-shaped yellow spot at outer side of discoidal cell, cilia yellow; underside of forewing pattern same as upperside except for long and thin yellow stripe at basal one-fourth of costa, and longitudinal yellow stripe extending from basal one fourth to half part of forewing. Upperside of hindwing blackish-brown, with subtriangular yellow spot and oblong yellow spot, cilia blackish-brown; underside of hindwing yellow, costa, outer region, and apex blackish-brown. Legs greyish brown, femur yellow in lateral view. Dorsal side of abdomen blackish-brown, first segment covered with yellow scales in middle, second to sixth segments densely covered with yellow scales on distal margin, distal segment scattered with yellow scales; ventral side of abdomen blackish-brown, second to sixth segments densely covered with yellow scales near lateral margin.

Male genitalia. Uncus thin and long, distal apex pointed. Tegumen arm slightly longer than uncus. Valva slightly broader near middle, distal one-third nearly triangular, and gently concave at approximately distal one-fourth on ventral margin; costa strongly sclerotized, reaching apex of valva; sacculus nearly rectangular, about one-fourth as long as valva, dentated on outer margin, ending with spine-like process on ventral margin. Saccus well-developed, as long as uncus, distal tip round. Juxta ovate. Phallus cylindrical as long as valva, without cornuti.

Female genitalia. Papillae analis about two thirds as long as apophysis posterioris. Apophysis anterioris thin and long, nearly as long as apophysis posterioris. Praebursa spherical, translucent, with ring-like sclerotization. Ductus bursae inconspicuous. Corpus bursae ovate; signum small, bearing two spine-like projections; appendix bursae irregular shaped.

Original research

He X, Jiang C, Li W (2024). Notes on the genus Thibetana (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae) with description of a new species from China. ZooKeys 1218: 343-349, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1218.136369

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...
Read more

Bitter vine (Mikania micrantha)

Sembung rambat or bitter vine ( Mikania micrantha ) is a plant species in Asteraceae, crawling or wrapped around trees, perennial that grows up to 27 mm per day in tropical climates, branched stems where heart-shaped or triangular leaves are arranged in pairs and a plant can cover more than 25 square meters in a few months. M. micrantha has square-shaped stems or longitudinal bones, light green, many branches and has fine hairs. The stems have segments for lengths of 75-215 mm, each segment has a pair of leaves, new shoots and flowers. New roots grow when the segments come in contact with the soil. The leaves are in pairs and facing each other. Strands do not have hair, heart-shaped or triangular with jagged edges, length 30-125 mm, width 15-60 mm. Petiole is 1-6 cm long and has fine hairs. The flower panicle grows from the armpit of the leaf and the tip of the stem, having 3-15 mm long stems. Each flower head has 4 minor flowers. The crown is greenish-white, tubular and measures ...
Read more

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Alang-alang or cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grass, sharp leaf, long buds and scaly, creeping under the ground, very adaptive and grows in all climates which often become weeds on agricultural land. I. cylindrica has a sharp pointed tip of the bud and emerges from the ground, height of 0.2-1.5 m but in other places it may be more, short stems, rising up to the ground and flowering white or purplish, often with wreath of hair under the segment. Leaf strands in the form of long ribbons, lancet-tipped with a narrow base and gutter-shaped, 12-80 cm long, very coarse edge and jagged sharply, long hair at the base with broad, pale leaf bones in the middle. The flowers are panicles, 6-28 cm long with long-haired and white-colored ears for 1 cm which are used as a tool to blow off the fruit when ripe. Cogon grass breeds quickly with seeds that spread quickly with the wind or through rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. Alang-alang does...
Read more