Ecpyrrhorrhoe diatoma (Hampson, 1913)

Seizmair, Michael, Ishag, Alrabea & Al Dhafer, Hathal Mohammed, 2025, Contribution to the study of the Afrotropical Pyraustinae Meyrick, 1890 (Lepidoptera, Crambidae): Taxonomic and distributional updates on five species with new country records, Biodiversity Data Journal 13, pp. e 161293-e 161293 : e161293-

Ecpyrrhorrhoe diatoma (Hampson, 1913)

Pyrausta diatoma Hampson, 1913 . Hampson (1913 b): 35. Type locality: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal [Natal].

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: 24 GP 032 ; recordedBy: M. Seizmair, A. Ishag; individualCount: 3; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; disposition: CMS; otherCatalogNumbers: 24 GP 033, 24 GP 034; occurrenceID: E7EB0965-0D83-5943-A65F-7EFFBDE684E5; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jizan; locality: Fayfa Mts., Al Kasha ; verbatimElevation: 640 m; verbatimLatitude: 17 ° 14 ' 30.3684 "; verbatimLongitude: 43 ° 3 ' 41.0178 "; Event: samplingEffort: UV Light; eventDate: 11 - XI- 2023

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: 22 GP 066 ; recordedBy: M. Seizmair; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: CMS; occurrenceID: 78887F27-4642-543E-A88E-CD26A0421C9A; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jizan; locality: 5 km NW Fayfa ; verbatimElevation: 600 m; verbatimLatitude: 17 ° 15 ' 40.24 "; verbatimLongitude: 43 ° 4 ' 25.16 "; Event: samplingEffort: UV Light; eventDate: 22 - IX- 2022

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: RMCA ENT 000007733 ; recordedBy: U. Dall'Asta; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; disposition: RMCA; occurrenceID: EC006F61-DEA7-52EE-AABC-B21BD1350EB6; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Kakamega Forest ; verbatimElevation: 1580 m; verbatimLatitude: 00 ° 19 '; verbatimLongitude: 34 ° 52 '; Event: eventDate: 17 - X- 2001

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1004140 ; recordedBy: A. & I. Sharp; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: larva; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: BFFF638B-74B5-52D5-932D-9C6EF239AE47; Location: country: South Africa; locality: Casketts farm, Hoedspruit ; Event: eventDate: 15 - XII- 2012

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005014 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 20; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; otherCatalogNumbers: ABSRC 1005014, ABSRC 1005015, ABSRC 1005016, ABSRC 1005017, ABSRC 1005021, ABSRC 1005018, ABSRC 1005024, ABSRC 1005023, ABSRC 1005025, ABSRC 1005026, ABSRC 100502, ABSRC 1005028 (slide no ♀ 1449), ABSRC 1005029, ABSRC 1005030, ABSRC 1005031, ABSRC 1005032, ABSRC 1005033, ABSRC 1005034, ABSRC 1005035, ABSRC 1005036; occurrenceID: C3FF00AB-C126-5727-8057-CC4429D2FD47; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Rift Valley, Samburu Nat. Res. near Uaso Nyiro river, Intrepid Camp ; verbatimElevation: 910 m; verbatimLatitude: 0 ° 34 ’ 34, 8 ”; verbatimLongitude: 37 ° 39 ’ 36 ”; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 13-14 - XII- 2002

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005019 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 5; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; otherCatalogNumbers: ABSRC 1005022, ABSRC 1005037, ABSRC 1005038, ABSRC 1005047 (slide no ♂ 994); occurrenceID: 2A876B0C-22AE-5620-AC83-D142EC84B568; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Rift Valley, Laikipia: Mpala Ranch near Nanyuki ; verbatimElevation: 1692 m; verbatimLatitude: 00 ° 17 ’ 36 ’’; verbatimLongitude: 36 ° 53 ’ 55 ’’; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 16 - IV- 2002

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005020 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: 42901D80-92D8-545B-9CAE-A09CEC1166A7; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Rift Valley, Mathews Range, near Kitich Camp ; verbatimElevation: 1360 m; verbatimLatitude: 01 ° 13 ’ 47.1 ”; verbatimLongitude: 37 ° 17 ’ 56.5 ”; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 9-10 - XII- 2002

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005039 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 3; sex: male, female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; otherCatalogNumbers: ABSRC 1005043, ABSRC 1005044; occurrenceID: 8BEA1C14-75E3-5DCE-B6AA-F578029974C2; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Coast, Taita Discovery Centre, Makaramba ; verbatimElevation: 495 m; verbatimLatitude: 3 ° 40 ’ 22 ”; verbatimLongitude: 38 ° 45 ’ 44 ”; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 3 - VI- 2000

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005045 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: A550F09B-4100-538F-B299-63996074E2C8; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Coast, Taita Discovery Centre, Makaramba ; verbatimElevation: 495 m; verbatimLatitude: 3 ° 40 ’ 22 ”; verbatimLongitude: 38 ° 45 ’ 44 ”; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 27 - III- 2002

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005040 ; recordedBy: K. Maes; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: 67FC7A01-8BED-5EBE-B4B7-F465AAB075CA; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Lake Baringo Country Club ; verbatimElevation: 1050 m; verbatimLatitude: 0 ° 38 ’; verbatimLongitude: 35 ° 05 ’; Event: samplingEffort: Mercury Vapor Light; eventDate: 5 - VII- 1999

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005041 ; recordedBy: K. Maes & A. Powys; individualCount: 3; sex: male, female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; otherCatalogNumbers: ABSRC 1005042, ABSRC 1005046; occurrenceID: 2EB7D969-1AE7-5310-AC1B-06F83DF3AA68; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Eastern, Meru N. P. Bwatherongi Camp Site ; verbatimElevation: 620 m; verbatimLatitude: 00 ° 09 ’ 57.9 ”; verbatimLongitude: 38 ° 12 ’ 27.4 ”; Event: samplingEffort: Black / MV lights; eventDate: 30-31 - XII- 2001

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005048 ; recordedBy: S. E. Miller & T. M. Kuklenski; individualCount: 1; sex: unidentified; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: 541145C1-2DA6-5A59-A281-3DBDD448F8E4; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Laikipia Plateau, Mpala Reserach Centre ; verbatimElevation: 1692 m; verbatimLatitude: 0 ° 17 ' 34.7994 "; verbatimLongitude: 36 ° 53 ' 56.4 "; Event: eventDate: 13-15 - II- 1999

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005049 ; recordedBy: S. E. Miller & T. M. Kuklenski; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; disposition: ABSRC; occurrenceID: C080BD7F-9E81-5EFB-B24A-D97DCF2FEFC6; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Laikipia Plateau, Mpala Reserach Centre ; verbatimElevation: 1692 m; verbatimLatitude: 0 ° 17 ' 34.7994 "; verbatimLongitude: 36 ° 53 ' 56.4 "; Event: eventDate: 23-25 - V- 1998

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: ABSRC 1005050 (slide no ♂ 880) ; recordedBy: S. E. Miller & T. M. Kuklenski; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 3B80ED44-7BB7-57BE-BE5D-28D5BD817B3D; Location: country: Kenya; locality: Laikipia Plateau, Mpala Reserach Centre ; verbatimElevation: 1692 m; verbatimLatitude: 0 ° 17 ' 34.7994 "; verbatimLongitude: 36 ° 53 ' 56.4 "; Event: eventDate: 14-16 - XI- 1998

Description

External characters

Re-description - Wingspan 11.8–15.1 mm. Fore-wing length 7.0– 7.7 mm. Head: Antenna yellowish-brown in the flagellum, greyish-white in the ciliae in both sexes. Frons and vertex yellowish. Labial palpus porrect, equal in length with the diameter of the eye, 1.4 times longer than wide (n = 4), scaling greyish-brown, interspersed with a small patch of white scales basally in the first segment in both sexes. Maxillary palpus obliquely upturned, length relative to the labial palpus 0.3 (n = 4), sporadically covered with greyish scales in segments 1 and 2 in both sexes. Thorax: Dorsum with yellowish scaling, venter greyish-white. Fore-wing ground of the upper side yellowish, with an oblique reddish-brown postmedial line running from the costa to the middle of the anal border, which is strongly diffuse to evanescent. Costa red-scaled from the base to the medial area. Termen and fringe reddish. Hind-wing ground of the upper side yellowish-grey. Abdomen: Venter greyish-white, dorsum yellowish in both sexes ( Hampson (1913 b), Figs 1 b , 2 b ).

Male genitalia

Uncus very short, broad, constant in width, ratio length / width 1.4 (n = 3), apex tip rounded. Subscaphium absent. Tegumen shoulders medially broadened, projected. Transtilla widely separated, projected, transtillum inferior well developed. Valva with the basal costa inflated, basally strongly broadened, constricted in the posterior end, apex obliquely rounded towards the costa, sella rounded at both ends, medially constricted, posterior half dilated, anterior end spiculose. Transition from the basal to the post-basal sacculus distinct, from a narrowed basal sacculus to a strongly dilated post-basal sacculus, post-basal sacculus with a strongly sclerotised dorsal ridge covered with small chaetae. Juxta strongly broadened in the base, arms oblong, slender, strongly sclerotised. Vinculum broadened, v-shaped, saccus small. Sclerotisation of the anellus marked with two multifid, denticulate sclerites. Phallus with the posterior portion broadened, vesica bare from cornuti, sclerotisation marked with a small spiculose patch, coecum membranous (Figs 3 b , 4 b ).

Female genitalia

Posterior apophysis elongate, unprojected. Anterior apophysis with a triangular-shaped projection medially, length relative to the posterior apophysis 1.5 (n = 1). Ostium membranous. Antrum with two strongly sclerotised, kidney-shaped flanges. Ductus bursae bare from sclerotisation. Corpus bursae globular-shaped, rhomboid signum with the longitudinal axis 2.3 times as long as the transversal axis (n = 1), lateral processes with medial sclerites, longitudinal ends flattened, unprojected. Second (posterior) signum ring-shaped, spiculose (Fig. 5 b , c , d ).

Diagnosis

E. diatoma is externally related with the Oriental Ecpyrrhorrhoe puralis (South, 1901) and Ecpyrrhorrhoe biaculeiformis Zhang, Li & Wang, 2004 sharing with these two species the yellowish-brownish ground. However, E. diatoma is differentiated from these two species by the presence of a reddish-brown oblique postmedial line in the fore-wing, in the male genitalia by the sclerotisation of the anellus marked as two multifurcate sclerites, by the shape of the sella with medial constriction and by the flattened, v-shaped vinculum. Furthermore, E. diatoma shares with E. diffusalis the broadened and rounded uncus, in which the two species differ from the type species Ecpyrrhorrhoe rubiginalis (Hübner, 1796) and from all the Oriental species covered by the revision in Xiang et al. (2022). The uncus in the latter species is elongate and lanceolate. E. diatoma and E. diffusalis share with the type species the elongate arms in the bifid juxta, the presence of sclerites in the anellus and the shape and direction of the sella.

Distribution

Afrotropical – Somalia, Kenya, South Africa ( De Prins and De Prins 2025). New to the Arabian Peninsula.

Biology

The larva of specimen no ABSRC 1004140 was reared on Leucus neuflizeana Courbon ( Lamiaceae ). Pupa: 23 - XII- 2012, emergence of the adult: 03 - I- 2013.

Figures

Figure 1 b. E. diatoma, slide no. 24 GP 032;

Figure 2 b. E. diatoma, slide no. 24 GP 034.

Figure 3 b. E. diatoma, slide no 24 GP 034;

Figure 4 b. E. diatoma, slide no 22 GP 034;

Figure 5 b. E. diatoma, slide no. 22 GP 066;

Figure 5 c. E. diatoma, slide no. 22 GP 066, close-up antrum, ovipositor;

Figure 5 d. E. diatoma, slide no. 22 GP 066, close-up signa.