A remarkable new species of the genus Teinotarsina (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae) from Okinawa-jima, Japan

By

Sadahisa, Yagi
Toshiya, Hirowatari
Yutaka, Arita

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

571

Pages

143-152

Subjects

clearwing moth , mimicry , Oriental region , Sesiini , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.571.7780

 

Abstract

A new species of long-legged clearwing moth Teinotarsina aurantiaca Yagi, Hirowatari & Arita, sp. n. is described from Okinawa-jima, the Ryukyus, Japan. The species is distinguishable at a glance from other related congeners by the remarkable orange scales ornamenting many parts of the body, such as antennae, palpi, legs, and wings. We hypothesize that the species acquired these differences as a result of convergence with toxic species (Batesian mimicry) or other mimics (Müllerian mimicry).