Heterosphecia zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov

Gorbunov, O. G., 2024, A new species of the genus Heterosphecia Le Cerf, 1916 (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) from Laos, Russian Entomological Journal 33 (1), pp. 97-101 : 98-100

Heterosphecia zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov , sp.n.

Figs 1–2 , 9–11 .

MATERIAL. Holotype ♂ ( Figs 1–2 ) with labels: “ Laos, Khammouang Prov., / Ban Khounkham (Nahin), / 18° 13′N, 104° 31′E, 200 m, / 23.IV.2005, / O. Gorbunov leg.”; “ SESIIDAE / Pictures Nos / 0179-0180–2021 / Photo by O. Gorbunov”; “HOLOTYPUS ♂ / Heterosphecia zamolodchikovi / O. Gorbunov, 2024 / O. Gorbunov des., 2024”.

Paratypes (3 ♂♂): 1♂, with same locality, 1–2.V.2002, V. Tuzov leg. with genitalia preparations Nos OG–017-2024 ; 1♂, with same locality, 16.IV.2005, O. Gorbunov leg. ; 1♂, with same locality, 27.IV.2005, O. Gorbunov leg. ( Sesiidae pictures Nos 0177-0178–2021) .

DESCRIPTION. Male (holotype) ( Figs 1–2 ). Alar expanse 22.3 mm; body length 12.0 mm; forewing length 9.9 mm; antenna length 5.5 mm.

Head: antenna black with dark blue sheen dorsally, yellow ventrally; scapus dark brown to black with dark violet sheen and few yellow scales ventrally; frons dark brow with bronze-violet sheen and narrow white stripe laterally; basal palpomere dark brown to black with dark blue sheen, middle palpomere white with admixture of yellow scales and broad black stripe with dark violet sheen exteriorventrally, apical palpomere white mixed with yellow and black scales; vertex covered with black and white hair-like scales and with small white spot ahead of ocellus; pericephalic hairs white with few yellow scales dorsally; neck plate dark brown to black with bronze-violet sheen.

Thorax: patagia dark brown to black with dark bronze sheen and small white spot laterally; tegula dark brown to black with dark violet sheen, few elongate white scales at base of forewing, few yellow-orange scales distally and extremely narrow white interior margin; mesothorax dark brown to black with dark greenish-violet sheen and extremely narrow white line medially; besides this, tegula and mesothorax densely covered with short white hair-like scales; metathorax dark brown to black with greenish-bronze sheen and few white and yellow-orange scales; thorax laterally dark brown to black with bright violet sheen, mesopleura with narrow yellow-orange stripe dorsally and small white spot medially on distal margin; posteriorly gray-brown densely covered with long silvery-white hair-like scales.

Legs: fore coxa black with dark violet sheen, white apex and small white with few yellow-orange scales spot exteriorbasally; fore femur black with dark violet sheen, tufted with long dark brown scales with bronze-violet sheen posteriorly, dorsally with admixture of several white and yellow-orange scales; fore tibia and first basal tarsomere black with greenish sheen dorsally and dark greenish-violet sheen ventrally, tufted with long dark brown scales with bronze-violet sheen posteriorly, fore tibia dorsally with narrow oblique white stripe medially; second basal tarsomere dorsally black with greenish sheen and few yellow-orange scales, ventrally white with few yellow-orange scales; remaining tarsomeres yellow-orange with golden sheen and few white scales ventrally; mid coxa dark brown to black with greenish-violet sheen and white posterior margin; remaining parts of mid legs broken off; hind coxa dark brown to black with dark greenish-violet sheen and admixture of several white scales; hind femur black with dark violet sheen and long hair-like white scales posteriorbasally; hind tibia and two basal hind tarsomeres dorsally tufted with long scales black with greenish sheen mixed with yellow-orange and white, ventrally hind tibia and two basal hind tarsomeres black with dark violet sheen and small white spot at base of apical spurs; spurs white with admixture of several black scales; remaining hind tarsomeres black with greenish sheen dorsally and dark violet sheen ventrally.

Forewing: costal and anal margin, CuA-stem, discal spot, veins within external transparent area and apical area black with dark violet sheen dorsally and ventrally with dark purple sheen and several yellow scales basally; discal spot narrow, but between veins M 1 –M 3 broadened up to middle of external transparent area; transparent areas rather well-developed, covered with hyaline scales with brownish tint; anterior transparent area divided transversely into two cells (distal one small); posterior transparent areas long, reaching level of posteriodistal angle of distal spot; external transparent area rather large, divided into six cells between veins R 4+5 –CuA 2, five of which between veins R 3 –CuA 1 divided into two additional cells by narrow scaled line; apical area extremely narrow, about 0.5 times as broad as cilia; cilia dark brown with dark bronze-violet sheen dorsally and bronze sheen ventrally.

Hindwing transparent; veins, discal spot and outer margin black with dark violet sheen dorsally and dark purple sheen ventrally; discal spot narrow, reaching base of vein M 3; outer margin narrow, about 0.5 times as broad as cilia; cilia dark brown with dark bronze-violet sheen dorsally and bronze sheen ventrally, anally taupe.

Abdomen: dorsally black with bright greenish-purple sheen; tergites 2 and 3 each admixed with thin yellow scales, more numerous laterally; distal raw of scales of tergites 2 and 3 each dark grey with anthracitic sheen, but those of tergites 4–7 each bright greenish-blue; ventrally black with dark greenish-violet sheen; distal row of scales of each sternite white; sternites 3–6 each with yellow-orange scales laterally; anal tuft very small, black with greenish sheen and few white scales laterally.

Male genitalia (paratype; genital preparation No OG– 017-2024) ( Figs 9–11 ). Tegumen-uncus complex rather short and broad, uncus quadrangular entirely and densely covered with long hair-like setae ( Fig. 9 ); gnathos narrow and short; valva ( Fig. 9 ) strongly turned-up, distinctly narrowed and rounded distally, mostly covered with long hair-like setae; saccus ( Fig. 9 ) slightly shorter than vinculum, broad, rounded basally; aedeagus ( Fig. 10 ) relatively thin, slightly bisinuate, about twice as long as valva; vesica ( Fig. 11 ) with numerous flat tile-shaped cornuti.

Female. Unknown.

INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY. Slightly varying in the number of yellow-orange and white scales on the labial palpus, legs and abdomen. In addition, this new species is somewhat variable in size: alar expanse: 21.9–22.5 mm; body length 11.5–12.3 mm; forewing 9.5–10.2; antenna 5.3–5.7 mm.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. This new species seems to be the closest to H. soljanikovi (O. Gorbunov, 1988) , from which it can be easily distinguished by the colour of the brightly coloured scales on the labial palpus and legs, which are not fire-red, but yellowish-orange (cp. Figs 1–2 with Figs 3–4 ). Besides this, these two species are separable by the number of thin yellow scales on the tergites of the abdomen, which are more numerous, somewhat darker and present on tergites 2–4 in H. soljanikovi . From H. hyaloptera (Hampson, 1919) , H. zamolodchikovi sp.n. clearly differs in the colouration of the thorax laterally (with large orange to yellow-orange spot anteriorly in the species compared, vs. mesopleura with narrow yellow-orange stripe dorsally and small white spot medially on distal margin in H. zamolodchikovi sp.n.; see fig. 4 in Arita, Gorbunov, 2000a) and abdomen dorsally (tergites 2–4 each laterally densely covered with thin yellow scales, distal raw of scales of all tergites black (few yellow scales on tergite 2) with dark violet sheen in H. hyaloptera , vs. tergites 2 and 3 each admixed with thin yellow scales, more numerous laterally; distal raw of scales of tergites 2 and 3 each dark grey with anthracitic sheen, but those of tergites 4–7 each bright greenish-blue in H. zamolodchikovi sp.n.; cp. Fig.1 with Fig. 5 ). In addition, these two species can be distinguished from each other by the structure of the transparent areas of the forewing, which are more developed in H. hyaloptera (cp. Figs 1–2 with Figs 5–6 ). Regarding the male genitalia, I did not find any significant differences in the genitalia of these three species.

From all other relatives, namely H. melissoides (Hampson, 1893) , H. indica Kallies, 2003 , H. robinsoni Kallies, 2003 and H. tawanoides Kallies, 2003 , H. zamolodchikovi sp.n. easily differs in a more slender body (all of these compared species are noticeably heavier), less developed transparent areas of the forewing and, most importantly, the structure of the male genitalia (cp. Figs 9–11 with figs 2–4, 8, 10, 14, 15 in Arita, Gorbunov, 1995 and figs 1–7 in Kallies, 2003).

BIONOMICS. The larval host plant is unknown. The specimens of the type series exhibited a typical mud-puddling behaviour. All of them were found among bees and wasps on wet soil on the bank of a small stream. The type series was collected in the second half of April and early May.

HABITAT. The type series was collected from moist soil on the banks of the Nam Sanam River in the vicinity of Nahin village in a primary monsoon semi-deciduous lowland tropical forest with Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb. ex G.Don , Hopea odorata Roxb. , H. ferrea Laness. ( Dipterocarpaceae ), Lagerstroemia cochinchinensis Pierre ex Laness. ( Lythraceae ), Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib ( Fabaceae ) and Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. ( Apocynaceae ) as the most dominant species.

DISTRIBUTION. The new species is known only from the type locality in Laos .

ETYMOLOGY. This new species is named after my friend, Prof. Dr Dmitry G. Zamolodchikov (Moscow, Russia), an excellent lepidopterist who provides all possible assistance on our joint trips to Southeast Asia.

Figures

Figs 1–8. Males of Heterosphecia spp.: 1–2 — H. zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov, sp.n., holotype, alar expanse 22.3 mm. Sesiidae picture Nos 0179-0180–2021; 3–4 — H. soljanikovi (O. Gorbunov, 1988), Laos, Khammouang Prov., Ban Khounkham (Nahin), 18°13′N, 104°31′E, 200 m, 23.IV.2005, O. Gorbunov leg. Alar expanse 23.0 mm. Sesiidae picture Nos 0181-0182–2021; 5–6 — H. hyaloptera (Hampson, 1919), Laos, Khammouang Prov., Ban Khounkham (Nahin), 18°13′N, 104°31′E, 200 m, 16.IV.2005, O. Gorbunov leg. Alar expanse 18.0 mm, Sesiidae picture Nos 0009-0010–2021; 7–8 — H. melissoides (Hampson, 1893), Laos, Khammouang Prov., Ban Khounkham (Nahin), 18°13′N, 104°31′E, 200 m, 15.IV.2005, O. Gorbunov leg.Alar expanse 23.2 mm, Sesiidae picture Nos 0031-0032–2021. 1, 3, 5, 7 — dorsal view; 2, 4, 6, 8 — ventral view. Рис. 1–8. Самцы Heterosphecia spp.: 1–2 — H. zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov, sp.n., голотип, раЗмах крыльев 22,3 мм. Sesiidae снимки №№ 0179-0180–2021; 3–4 — H. soljanikovi (O. Gorbunov, 1988), Лаос, пров. Кхаммуан, Бан Хунхам (Нахин), 18°13′ с.ш., 104°31′ в.д., 200 м, 23.IV.2005, О. Горбунов leg. РаЗмах крыльев 23,0 мм. Sesiidae снимки №№ 0181-0182–2021; 5–6 — H. hyaloptera (Hampson, 1919), Лаос, пров. Кхаммуан, Бан Хунхам (Нахин), 18°13′ с.ш., 104°31′ в.д., 200 м, 16.IV.2005, О. Горбунов leg. РаЗмах крыльев 18,0 мм, Sesiidae снимки №№ 0009-0010–2021; 7–8 — H. melissoides (Hampson, 1893), Лаос, пров. Кхаммуан, Бан Хунхам (Нахин), 18°13′ с.ш., 104°31′ в.д., 200 м, 15.IV.2005, О. Горбунов leg. РаЗмах крыльев 23,2 мм, Sesiidae снимки №№ 0031-0032–2021. 1, 3, 5, 7 — вид сверху; 2, 4, 6, 8 — вид сниЗу.

Figs 9–11. Genitalia of Heterosphecia zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov, sp.n., paratype ♂. Genital preparation No OG–017-2024: 9 — ventral view; 10 — aedeagus; 11 — vesica. Scale bar 0.5 mm, 0.2 for 11. Рис. 9–11. Гениталии Heterosphecia zamolodchikovi O. Gorbunov, sp.n., паратип ♂. Препарат гениталий № OG–017-2024: 9 — вид сниЗу; 10 — Эдеагус; 11— веЗика. Масштаб 0,5 мм, 0,2 длЯ 11.