Amerila mulleri sp.n. |
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| male | female |
| Description Male. Fw length 21-25 mm; wings, head, thorax and dorsal base of abdomen white; all wings weakly scaled, partly transparent, but fw veins dark. Antennae brown with a reddish tint; tegulae with a single, often weak black spot anteriorly; outer sides of femora and tibiae white, inner sides of femora, tibiae, and all tarsi red. Abdomen dorsally towards the terminal segments pinkish red, often dusted with white scales, ventrally white, without obvious androconial organs except for two small scale-brushes found ventrally near the vinculum. Female. As male; abdomen dorsally white. |
| Genitalia | |||
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| 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 long and narrow,
distally with a small pointed tip ventrally; the tegumen-vinculum area much wider than in
other Amerila species. Valvae short and square-shaped, distally not rounded; outer
surface without extrusible coremata; inner sclerotized process short and strong,
hook-like, distally pointed, and situated inside a membraneous pocket. Vesica medially
with a small, plate-like sclerotization, but without any cornuti. Female genitalia. Bursa copulatrix without signa or other conspicuous sclerotizations. |
| Distribution East and South Africa; from eastern Zaire and western Kenya to Zimbabwe and Zwaziland. |
| Comments This species had been first discovered by Simon Muller when examining material from TMPR and BMNH, who had given it the name 'alba' in an unpublished graduation thesis (Muller 1980: 65). As a valid description of that name has never been published, we take the pleasure to name this species in dedication to its discoverer. The male genitalia of A. mulleri is fairly distinct from other African Amerila except A. magnifica, and these species probably represent a well differentiated subgroup within the genus. |
| Material Holotype male: Zimbabwe, Vumba, Zimbabwe, 12-10-93 / Zimbabwe - Vumba, Laurenceville, 12.x.1993, N.J.Duke leg. / Genital-Präparat Nr. 94-03, Chr.Häuser / Holotypus, Amerila mulleri Häuser & Boppré [SMNS; abdomen dissected]; Type locality: ZIMBABWE: Vumba. Paratypes: 6 males, 5 females: same data as holotype [BMNH, SMNS, MB, and in coll. M.Duke]; 1 male: Laurenceville, Vumba, S.Rh., 6-12.iii.1964, Vári & van Son [TMPR]; 2 males: Laurenceville, Vumba, Zimbabwe, 18-22/10/89, N.J.Duke, 1 female, Laurenceville, Vumba, Zimbabwe, 10-15.10.90, N J Duke [TMPR]; 1 male: Mt.Selinda, S.Rhod., 3.3.54, H.Cookson [TMPR]; 2 females: Mt.Selinda, S.Rhod., 10.3.54, H.Cookson [TMPR]. Additional material examined. ZAIRE: Haut-Zaire: Ituri, Nioka, 28.-31.vii.1953 (1 male, 1 female, MRAC), 13.x.1953 (1 male, MRAC). KENYA: Western: Kakamega: Kakamega Forest, ix.1985 (2 females, MB, SMNS); Kabete, 3.iii.1972 (2 males, ZSSM), 3.iv.1972 (1 male, ZSSM). SWAZILAND: Malolotja, 18.ix.1993 (1 female, TMPR); Malagwane Hill, Mbabane, 20.i.1994 (1 female, TMPR). |