Species Diversity, 1998, 3, 211 217

Revision of Paranthrene chrysoidea Zukowsky, 1932 (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae) from Taiwan

Axel Rallies' and Yutaka Arita2

'PloenerStr. 13, D-19057 Schwerin, Germany 2Zoological Laboratory, Facultyof Agriculture, Meijo University, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya, 468-8502Japan

(Received 14 November 1997; Accepted 3 March 1998)

The female holotype specimen of Paranthrene chrysoidea Zulowsky, 1932 from Taiwan was examined. The species is assigned to the genus Nokona Matsumura, 1931, new comb., and is redescribed herein. Both male and female specimens and their genitalia are figured for the first time. The hostplant, Paederia scandens (Rubiaceae), is newly recorded. Key Words: Taxonomy, Lepidoptera, Sesiidae, Nokona chrysoidea, Parathrene, Paederia scandens, Taiwan.

Introduction

While investigating the Sesiidae in the collection of the Deutsche Ento- mologische Institut, Everswald, Germany (DEI), we came across the type of Paranthrene chrysoidea Zukowsky, 1932, which was formerly overlooked and therefore not mentioned by the junior author in his review of the clearwing moths of Taiwan (Arita 1992). Paranthrene chrysoidea was described from a single, but characteristic, female specimen collected by H. Sauter, in Paroe, Taiwan. Although the specimen was not labeled as type, we were able to prove that it is the specimen on which Zukowsky based his description. Comparing the original description of P. chrysoidea with the specimen and its corresponding labels, it became certain that it is the type specimen. Consequently, we herein recognize this female as the holotype. Based on rich material from Taiwan, mainly housed in the Zoological Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, Japan (MUT), and specimens from Taiwan recently reared, we are now able to redescribe the species including both the male and female, including some fragments of its life history.

Nokona chrysoidea (Zukowsky) comb. nov. (Figs 1-7)

Paranthrene chrysoidea Zukowsky, 1932. Type locality: Paroe (Form.) [Taiwan]. Holotype £ (DEI); Heppner and Duckworth, 1981: 23.

Redescription. Female (Holotype) (Fig. 1): Alar expanse 31.0 mm; forewing 13.4 mm; body length 16.0 mm; antenna 8.5 mm. Head: antenna blackish brown, mainly covered with orange-yellow scales; frons yellowish plumbegous, to the eye pale yellow; labial palpus orange-yellow; vertex 212 A. Rallies and Y. Arita orange-yellow; pericephalic hair orange-yellow. Thorax: black, distally with orange-yellow stripe; on base of the forewing an orange-yellow spot; patagia black, basally yellow; tegula black, inner and outer margin as well as base orange-yellow; meso- and metathorax black, yellow laterally; thorax laterally black with a yellow spot below forewings. Legs: forecoxa black, mixed with few yellow scales; forefemur black; foretibia black, dorsally yellow; tarsus yellow; midfemur black; midtibia black, medially and distally with orange-yellow scales; spurs yellow; tarsus black, orange yellow distally; hind leg like mid leg. Abdomen: dorsally black; tergite 1 with yellow scales laterally; tergite 2 distal half yellow; tergite 3 distally with a yellow stripe; tergite 4 almost complete yellow, proximally marginally black; tergites 5 and 6 distal 3/4 yellow; sternites black; sternite 2 with few yellow scales distally; sternite 3 with a narrow yellow stripe distally; sternites 4, 5, and 6 each with a broad yellow stripe; anal tuft dorsally yellow, medially and laterally with black scales; anal tuft ventrally black, apically yellow. Forewing: brownish yellow; costa and veins blackish brown; anterior transparent area (ATA) and posterior transparent area (PTA) developed but densely covered with reddish brown scales; apical area not developed, covered with reddish brown scales; discal spot with long internal projection of scales, covered with reddish brown scales; fringes greyish brown; underside densely covered by orange scales. Hindwing: hyaline; discal spot broad, reaching to M2, covered with reddish brown scales. Female genitalia (holotype, genital prep. No. AK Oil) (Fig. 6): papillae anales membranous, basally sclerotized, covered with relatively long setae; tergite 8 basally more strongly sclerotized than distally, more or less covered with setae; posterior apophyses slightly longer than anterior apophyses; latter with long appendix ventrobasally; antrum narrow, well sclerotized; ductus bursae membranous, narrow; corpus bursae asymmetrically ovoid, membranous, with neither signum nor other specialized structures. Male (Fig. 5): Alar expanse 24.0 mm, forewing 11.0 mm, antenna 6.5 mm, body 14.0 mm. The male differs from the female mainly in the coloration of the forewings and the abdomen: forewings darker than in female, ATA mainly covered by scales but with narrow hyaline streak along costa, PTA also covered by scales but with hyaline area reaching 1/3 of distance between base and discal spot of forewing; abdomen black; tergite 2 basally mixed with yellow scales, distal half yellow; tergite 4 with a broad yellow stripe distally, tergite 5 with a narrow yellow stripe distally, tergites 6 and 7 bkick with broad yellow stripes distally; sternites 1+2 black, mixed with yellow scales, distally with narrow yellow stripe; sternite 3 with narrow yellow stripe distally, sternites 4 to 7 like tergites; anal tuft triangular, black with narrow, yellow-white lateral edges and yellow scales ventro-medially. Aside from the different pattern of coloration, all yellow parts of body, head, and legs are more lemon-yellow and not orange as in the female. Male genitalia (genital prep. No. AK 018) (Fig. 7): uncus well developed, with single hair-like setae on medio-lateral side from midlength to apex; tegumen short with pointed, finger-shaped gnathos; tube analis long and broad, slightly sclerotized ventrally (7a); aedeagus somewhat shorter than valva, slightly upcurved subapically; vesica with numerous small spinulae (7b); valva triangular-oval with Paranthrene chrysoidea from Taiwan 213

Figs 1-5. Nokona chrysoidea (Zukowsky, 1932). 1. Holotype, female (DEI). 2. Ditto, labels. 3. Female, ex Paederia scandens. 4. Female, variation. 5. Male, ex Paederia scandens.

rounded apex, with two fields of hand-shaped setae (7c), each of the setae usually with 12 to 15 fingers (7d), and a stripe of pointed hair-like setae subventrally; crista sacculi not protuberant but covered with strong, pointed setae; saccus about as long as vinculum (7e). Variability: Nokona chrysoidea is a highly variable species in size, and in coloration of the abdomen and other parts of the body. Variability offemales (Figs 1, 3-4): only the narrow yellow stripe on tergite 2 and 214 A. Rallies and Y. Arita

V

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Fig. 6. Nokona chrysoidea (Zukowsky, 1932), female genitalia, holotype. Scale line = 0.5 mm. Paranthrene chrysoidea from Taiwan 215

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Fig. 7. Nokona chrysoidea (Zukowsky, 1932), male genitalia, a, tegumen-uncus complex; b, aedeagus; c, valva; d, seta of valva; e, saccus. Scale line = 0.5 mm for a-c and e, 0.1 mm for d. the broad yellow stripe on tergite 4 seem to be constantly present. The yellow stripe on tergite 3 is absent frequently or reduced to some yellow scales medially. The yellow stripes on tergite 5 and 6 are usually present but to varying degrees. Alar expanse ranges from 25 to 32 mm. Variability of males: the coloration of the abdomen is also somewhat variable in males. The broad yellow stripes on tergites 2 and 4 as well as the stripes on tergites 6 and 7 are usually present. In some specimens tergite 3 shows a narrow yellow stripe laterally. Alar expanse ranges from 24 to 26 mm. Though the abdomens of the female and male specimens vary in color, both have black antennae. Diagnosis: Nokona chrysoidea seems to be closest to Nokona pernix (Leech, 1889) from Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu), Nokona rubra Arita and Tosevski, 1992 from the Ryukyus (Japan) and Nokona pilamicola (Strand, 1916) from Taiwan (revised by Arita and Gorbunov, in prep). From N. pernix it can be easily distinguished by the coloration of the abdomen: in female of TV. pernix, tergites 4 and 5 completely black, tergite 6 only with a marginal yellow stripe distally; in male, tergites 3 and 5 completely black, tergites 6 and 7 with marginal yellow stripe distally. All yellow parts in TV. pernix are citrus yellow (golden yellow in TV. chrysoidea), the forewings are dark brown (light yellow-brownish in TV. chrysoidea). Of more importance are the differences in the 216 A. Rallies and Y. Arita female genitalia, where there are specialized structures of the corpus bursae in TV. pernix. From the male of TV. rubra (holotype) the males of N. chrysoidea can be separated by the yellow distal stripe on tergite 7 (in TV. rubra yellow only laterally) and the mainly black in dorsal view anal tuft (broad yellow zones laterally in TV. rubra). Males and females of "TV. rubra" from Okinawa are more distinct. They show differences in the pattern of abdomen coloration (tergites 2, 4-7 constantly with reddish orange stripes distally), the coloration of the scaling of the hind leg (mainly reddish orange), the coloration of the anal tuft (reddish orange, only medially black), and by the very broad margin of the hindwings. Nokona chrysoidea differs from TV. pilamicola by the black fore coxa (yellow in TV. pilamicola), by the partly black vertex (yellow in TV. pilamicola), and the mainly black coloration of sternites 1-3 (yellow in TV. pilamicola). In the male genitalia there are differences in the shape of the field of palmate setae and in the tip of the valva. Bionomics: The larvae are gall makers in stems of the vine, Paederia scandens (Rubiaceae). Pupation takes place in a very tough, blackish cocoon in the gall. Adults were collected from early May until early October. Habitat: The hostplant is found growing in urban areas and forest edges. Distribution: Known only from Taiwan. Material studied (all MUT except as noted): 1 •?-, (holotype) (Fig. 1) with the labels illustrated in Fig. 2 (DEI); 1 £, Liyutan, Nantou Co., Taiwan, IV-20-1994, Y.B. P'an; 1 £, Taiwan, Taipei City, Campus of National University, IX-14-1995, Y.J. Chen; 1 •?•, Taiwan, Kaohsiung, Shanping, 640 m, 1-10. May 1988, R. Davidson, C. Young, J. Rawlins; 1 £, Taiwan, Nantou Hsien, Shihtyutou, 20. VII. 1995, J. Luo legit (coll. A. Kallies); 1 *, same data but 5. X. 1995; 1 *, same but 14. V. 1996; 1 *, same but 20. V. 1996; 1 *, same but 28. VI. 1996; 1 $, same but 4. VII. 1996; 1 *, 4a*. Taiwan, Nantou Hsien, Shihtyutou, emerged 13.-22. VIII. 1997, Y. Arita legit, ex Paederia scandens [Rubiaceae] (in, coll. A. Kallies). Remarks: Until now the relationship between Nokona chrysoidea Zukowsky, 1932 from Taiwan, Nokona pilamicola (Strand, 1916) from Taiwan (revised by Arita and Gorbunov, in prep.), and Nokona rubra Arita and Tosevski, 1992 from the Ryukyus, remains somewhat uncertain. Nokona pilamicola was described from a single male specimen in very poor condition. Since there are small differences in the features of the male genitalia and details of body coloration, we consider TV. pilamicola and TV. chrysoidea as distinct species. Nokona rubra is known with certainty only from the single male holotype from Amami-Ohshima Island. The two female paratypes and numerous recently collected males and females from Okinawa-jima Is. are quite different from the holotype and may represent an undescribed species. The holotype of TV. rubra appears close to TV. chrysoidea, but until further material is available, we consider both taxa to be distinct.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to Dr. R. Gaedike, Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Eberswalde, Germany, for permitting us to study the Paranthrene chrysoidea from Taiwan 217 material under his care. We also thank Dr. T. Eichlin, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, Sacramento, California, for linguistic help.

References

Arita, Y. 1992. Sesiidae. In: Heppner, J. B. and Inoue, H. (Eds.) Lepidoptera of Taiwan 1(2): 97. Heppner, J. B. and Duckworth, W. D. 1981. Classification of the family Sesioidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia). Smithsonian Contribution to Zoology 314: 1-144. Tosevski, I. and Arita, Y. 1992. A new species of the clearwing moth genus Nokona (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae) from the Ryukyus. Japanese Journal of Entomology 60: 619-623. Strand, E. 1916. Fam. Aegeriidae. In: H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute: Noctuidae p. p. (Agaristinae, Macrobrochis), Aganaidae, Saturniidae, Uranidae, Cossidae, Callidulidae und Aegeriidae. Archiv fur Naturgeschichte (Berlin) 81A(8): 45-49. Zukowsky, B. 1932. Neue palaearktische Aegeriidae. Internationale Entomologische Zeitschrift 26:316-317.