Cteipolia aloyani Saldaitis, Dûda, Volynkin & Benedek, 2024

Volynkin, Anton V., Dûda, Juozas, Saldaitis, Aidas, Benedek, Balázs, Titov, Sergey V., Kalashian, Mark, Matov, Alexey Yu, Gorbunov, Pavel Yu. & Tóth, Balázs, 2024, On the taxonomy of the genus Cteipolia Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Noctuinae) with descriptions of two new species from Transcaucasia and Central Asia, Ecologica Montenegrina 77, pp. 146-160 : 149-152

Cteipolia aloyani Saldaitis, Dûda, Volynkin & Benedek , sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:43E227C0-6E82-4808-BE7F-5997670B5013

( Figs 1, 2 , 17 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 1 , 17 ): female, “ Armenia | Old Jermuk road, | h- 1340m, 39.6998741N | 45.5594319E | 22,25. iii.2023 | Duda & Saldaitis leg.” / “Slide | AV7520 ♀ | A. Volynkin ” ( WIGJ).

Paratypes: 6 females, same data as holotype, gen. prep. No.: AV7519 ♀ ( ASV and WIGJ) .

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 14.0– 14.5 mm in females. Cteipolia aloyani sp. n. ( Figs 1, 2 ) is most morphologically similar to C. tertia ( Figs 3, 4 ) described from Tajikistan and superficially differs from it in the more brownish forewing ground colour, and the more outbent postmedial line of the forewing. Compared to the geographically closest known congener, the Turkish C. vera ( Figs 5, 6 ), the new species has broader forewing with brown ground colour (it is reddish brown in C. vera ), more diffuse transverse lines of the forewing, a longer and thicker reniform stigma with a thinner pale edge, and a thinner and more diffuse discal spot of the hindwing. In the female genitalia, C. aloyani sp. n. ( Fig. 17 ) is distinguished from C. tertia ( Fig. 18 ) by the shorter ovipositor, the longer apophyses anteriores, the posteriorly broader antrum with a V-shaped ventral margin (it is rounded in the congener), the shorter ductus bursae, and the narrower signum bursae. Compared to C. vera (illustrated by Ronkay et al. (1995) and Gordeeva et al. (2023)), the female genitalia of C. aloyani sp. n. have a somewhat longer ovipositor, considerably longer apophyses anteriores, a markedly shorter, bowl-shaped antrum (it is elongate and with parallel margins in the congener), a longer ductus bursae, and a single and small signum bursae whereas the corpus bursae of C. vera bears two long and thick signa.

The male is unknown.

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from its type locality in south-western Armenia.

Bionomics. Female adults were attracted to artificial light in the evening twilight, which corresponds to the behavior of another species in the genus, C. isotima observed earlier ( Titov et al. 2024). The collection site is situated on southern slopes of the Vardenis Range in the Arpa River Canyon in its middle flow ( Fig. 29 ). It is characterised by rich flora and very mosaic vegetation. Ecosystems of the canyon were classified according to EUNIS habitats’ classification ( Davies et al. 2004) adapted to Armenia by Fayvush & Aleksanyan (2016). Along the banks of Arpa river Mesotrophic, the vegetation of slow-flowing rivers (C2.33) with Potamogeton spp. , Myriophyllum spicatum L., etc. is presented. The main vegetation type in the bottom of the gorge is Armenian willow galleries (G1.1143) with dominance of Salix spp. such as Salix alba L. and Salix excelsa S.G. Gmel. Besides willows, Populus nigra L. and Populus alba L., are present in the tree stand. Small plots of Salix spp. and Tamarix thickets (F9.141 and F9.3142, respectively) with Salix caprea L., S. purpurea L., S. viminalis L., S. wilhelmsiana M. Bieb. , as well as Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. are present in the gorge. Slopes of the gorge are covered with mosaic of the following types of vegenation. (a) Mixed open forests with Juniperus spp. and deciduous trees and shrubs (G4.92). Besides the dominating Juniperus polycarpa K. Koch , the species characteristic of shibliak and arid open forests are present, namely Amygdalus fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky , Paliurus spina-cxhristi Mill. , Prunus divaricate (Ledeb.) C.K. Schneid. , and Rhamnus pallasii Fisch. & C.A. Mey. , as well as single individuals of Celtis caucasica Willd. , Fraxinus excelsior L., etc. (b) Traganth communities with dominance of Astragalus microcephalus Willd. (F7.41211). Besides Astragalus itself, Onosma sericea Willd. , Poa bulbosa L., Stachys inflata Benth. , etc. are common is this habitat, penetrating also into the plots of mixed forest.

Etymology. The new species is named after Mr Artak Aloyan (Jeghegnadzor, Armenia), patriot of his country and sincere friend of second and thirds coauthors.

Figures

Figure 29. Collecting site of C. aloyani sp. n.: Armenia, Old Jermuk road, 1340m, 39.6998741° 45.5594319°, 22.III.2023 (photo by A. Kazakevich).

Figures 1–10. Adults of Cteipolia spp. Depositories of the specimens: 1 and 7 in WIGJ (7: ex CAV); 2 in ASV; 3 and 4 in ZISP; 5 and 6 in HNHM (photos by G. & L. Ronkay); 8 and 10 in CAV; 9 in MfN.

Figures 17–20. Female genitalia of Cteipolia spp. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 17 and 19 in WIGJ (19: ex CAV); 18 in ZISP; 20 in MfN.