Amerila lupia (Druce)

16 lupia.JPG (6671 Byte)

lupia m 94-0012.GIF (6013 Byte)
Description
Male. Fw length 18-21 mm; fw white, weakly scaled, and central area partly transparent; fw veins dark, the discal vein finely lined with dark grey scales, and postdiscally a narrow, faint, transversal grey line; hw uniformly white, weakly scaled. Head, thorax, and base of abdomen white; tegulae with a single small, often faint black spot basally; legs all white, but inner sides of femora, tibiae, and tarsi of forelegs, and mid- and hindtarsi red. Abdomen dorsally pinkish red, ventrally white, without obvious androconial organs.
Female. As male.
Genitalia
lupia a.GIF (2377 Byte) lupia b.GIF (3467 Byte) lupia c.GIF (1615 Byte) lupia d.GIF (3928 Byte)
view on leftside of vinculum and valva, lateral view inner side of right valva tegumen/uncus, dorsal view aedeagus with vesica everted
Male genitalia (Plates). Uncus very small, triangular, and setose. Valvae small, roundish, distally rounded, outer surface with long extrusible, hirsute, tube-like coremata; inner sclerotized process short, slender, and smooth, only slightly curved. Vesica distally with two small, slender, almost straight cornuti fused at their base.
Female genitalia. Bursa copulatrix small, corpus bursae with several small signa along a U-shaped line, and one larger spinose signa.
Distribution
East and South Africa; from central and eastern Kenya to the Cape.
Comments
In the original description of A.sanguinota by Strand (l.c.), the type is said to be a female. This statement is clearly erroneous as on the determination label attached to the specimen, presumably in Strand's own hand, is correctly indicated "male".
This species is similar to A.rufifemur from Zaire and Angola, of which only two female specimens are known. As no area of sympatric occurence is known, the two taxa could be conspecific and might just represent different subspecies. Here, we follow previous authors (Hampson, 1901; Gaede, 1926; Goodger & Watson, 1995) and retain them as different species, a view which can be further supported by differences in the arrangement of the signa in the bursa copulatrix.
Material
Pelochyta lupia Druce, 1887: 669. Holotype male (examined): Delagoa Bay, Mrs. Monteiro; Pelochyta lupia, type Druce. / Joicey Bequest., Brit.Mus. 1934-120. / Type, H.T. / Arctiidae male Genitalia Slide VU no. 7.28 / Arctiidae genitalia slide No. 3520 [BMNH; abdomen dissected]. Type locality: MOZAMBIQUE: Delagoa Bay [= Baía de Lourenço Marques].
Amerila nivaria Weymer, 1892: 105. Synonymized by Hampson (1901: 499). Holotype female (examined): Saadani, 1891 Schubart / 2109. / Coll. Weymer / 2109 / Type / Amerila nivariata. Stett.Ztg.92, 105.; Holotypus, Amerila nivaria Weymer, det. Chr.Häuser [MNHU]. Type locality: TANZANIA: Sadani.
Rhodogastria sanguinota Strand, 1911: 586. Synonymized by Gaede (1926: 109). Holotype male (examined): D.O.Afrika, Daressalam, ii.1909, Reuss S.G.; 134. / male. / Rhodogastria, fehlt bei, Hampson !, (2115-2123) / Type / Rhodogastria sanguinota, Strand det., m. male / Holotypus,Rhodogastria sanguinota Strand, 1911, det. Chr.Häuser; [MNHU]. Type locality: TANZANIA: Daressalam.
Additional material examined. KENYA: Eastern: Marsabit, x.-xi.1971 (1 male, NMKE); Central: Kyambu, 18.vii.1919 (1 male, 1 female, BMNH), Nairobi, Ngong, vii.1951 (1 male, NMKE); Coast: Kilifi: Gedi, Sokoke Forest, i.1967 (1 male, NMKE); Kwale: Mombasa, Nyali, 29.vi.1980 (1 female, MB), Shimba Hills, 29.vi.1980 (1 male, MB), 11.-12.vii.1980 (2 females, MB), 3.-21.viii.1983 (4 males, 8 females, MB), 27.viii.1985 (3 males, MB). TANZANIA: Tanga: Amani, iv.1961 (1 male, BMNH), Mal.Inst. Amani, x.1962 (1 male, NMBZ), E.Usambara, Amani, xi.1965 (1 male, NMKE), 3.i.1981 (1 male, BJ), Mombo, B.L.J. Amani (1 male, MNHU), Bumbuli bei Mombo, 1250 m, 31.iii.1933 (1 male, SMFM); Morogoro: Uluguru, 5000', 6.xii.1967 (1 male, BJ), Uluguru Mts, Morningside, 1200 m, 30.xi.-.2.xii.1982 (1 male, 2 females, BJ). ZIMBABWE: Vumba, 26.x.1961 (1 female, NMBZ); Gimson, 1908 (1 male, 1 female, BMNH). SOUTH AFRICA: Transkei: East Pondoland (1 male, BMNH), Pondoland, Port St. John, 6.-25.ii.1924 (1 female, BMNH); Transvaal: Bushveld, Krodilspoortberge, 25 km SE Nelspruit, 1500 m, 31.i.-2.ii.1989 (2 males, WT); Natal: Tongaat, 21.iv.1971 (1 female, NMBZ), Sodwana Bay, 0 m, 9.-10.ii.1989 (3 males, WT), St.Lucia, Carters Creek, 0 m, 11.ii.1989 (4 males, 2 females, WT), St.Lucia Estuary, 0-20 m, 12.-13.ii.1989 (1 female, WT), Durban, viii.1901 (1 female, BMNH), 2.vii.1906 (1 male, ZSSM), iii.1907 (1 male, 1 female, BMNH), 1920 (1 male, BMNH).