Revision of Afrotropical Udea Guenée in Duponchel, 1845, with description of five new species of the U. ferrugalis (Hübner, 1796) group (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Spilomelinae)

By

Mally, Richard
Aarvik, Leif, 1954-
Karisch, Timm
Lees, David Conway 1959-
Malm, Tobias

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-11-23

Original Publication

Nota lepidopterologica

Volume

45

Pages

315--353

Subjects

Achyra , Africa , DNA barcode , endemism , Lirabotys , morphomatrix , phylogenetics , species groups

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Bonn,

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.45.94938

 

Abstract

TheUdeaspecies (currently six) present in the Afrotropical realm are revised based on adults.Phlyctaenia epicoenaMeyrick, 1937syn. nov.is found to be identical withU. ferrugalis(Hübner, 1796).Udea delineatalis(Walker in Melliss 1875) andU. hageniViette, 1952 are redescribed. In addition, five species ofUdeaare described as new to science:U. kirinyagaMallysp. nov.from Mount Kenya in Kenya,U. nicholsaeMallysp. nov.,U. meruensisMallysp. nov.andU. momellaMallysp. nov., all three from Mount Meru in Tanzania, andU. namaquanaKarisch & Mallysp. nov.from South Africa. A phylogenetic analysis based on morphological data and mitochondrial COI as well as the nuclear wingless gene, where available, places the new species in theU. ferrugalisspecies group, which also comprisesU. ferrugalisas well asU. delineatalisfrom the oceanic island of St. Helena. Another island endemic,Udea hagenifrom Tristan da Cunha, is found to be a member of theU. numeralisgroup, as sister toU. numeralis. An additional synapomorphic character of the genitalia is recognised for theU. ferrugalisgroup.Udea infuscalis(Zeller, 1852) andU. melanostictalis(Hampson in Poulton 1916) are misplaced inUdeaand transferred to Pyraustinae, asLirabotys infuscaliscomb. nov.andAchyra melanostictaliscomb. nov., respectively. Adults, tympanic organs, and genitalia of both sexes, where available, are illustrated. A checklist summarises the now eight AfrotropicalUdeaspecies.