Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Kondakov, Alexander V., Bovykina, Galina V., Okulova, Anastasia I. & Spitsyna, Elizaveta A., 2025, The Brahmaeidae and Saturniidae of Laos (Lepidoptera), Ecologica Montenegrina 84, pp. 108-152 : 138-143

Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010

Figs 16C–D , 23I–J

Material examined. LAOS: Bolaven Plateau, Champasak Province, Paksong town , mountain tropical forest and pine plantations, 15°10'54"N, 106°14'25"E, 25– 28.07.2023, E. Spitsyna & V. Spitsyn leg. – 6♂ ; Bolaven Plateau, Sekong Province, Thateng town , mountain tropical forest, 15°24'16"N, 106°22'58"E, 21– 25.07.2023, E. Spitsyna & V. Spitsyn leg. – 3♂ .

Distribution in Laos. Champasak Province and Sekong Province (this study).

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069496–PV069498.

Remarks. (1) The first record from Laos. (2) Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010 is, in all probability, endemic to central Vietnam (Kon Tum and Quang Ngai provinces) and southern Laos (Bolaven Plateau). BOLD contains COI sequence of the specimen from Thai Nguyen Province (northern Vietnam). However, the occurrence of L. diffunorientalis in northern Vietnam requires confirmation. (3) The paratypes of L. diffunorientalis presented in BOLD (sample IDs SARBC211-10, SARBC213- 10, and SARBC214-10) actually belong to Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008 . (4) COI p -distance between L. diffunorientalis and L. diffundata is 2.7%. (5) BOLD contains the COI sequence of the holotype (sample ID SARBA759-09), it enabled our specimens to be accurately identified. (6) The description of this species was published in a non-open access journal offering only a print edition which is not available for purchase. Therefore, based on the specimens collected from Bolaven Plateau, we present a brief redescription of the taxon, as well as illustrations of external and genital morphology of the male specimens ( Figs 16C–D , 23I–J ). The redescription includes only those morphological features that are barely visible in the photographs.

Diagnosis. L. diffunorientalis can be distinguished from L. diffundata by 15 fixed nucleotide substitutions in the COI gene fragment: 23T, 71T, 86T, 107T, 203T, 218C, 224C, 230A, 254A, 263A, 272C, 288T, 401T, 485A, 626G.

Brief redescription. Male morphology ( Fig. 16C–D ): Wingspan 85–100 mm, forewing length 56–63 mm (n = 7). Head yellow. Eye black-olive. Antenna quadripectinate, light brown. Labial palp short (its length less than 0.5 of eye diameter), purple-brown. Thorax yellow with grey band anteriorly (overlapped by tegulae). Patagium grey. Tegula yellow, grey basally. Legs lilac-grey, inner surfaces of femur and of tibia yellow. Abdomen yellow, with one row of black spots dorsally, one row of purple-lilac or purple-grey diffuse spots laterally (one from each side), and two rows of purple-lilac or purple-grey diffuse spots ventrally.

Figures

Figure 16. Loepa spp. from Laos: A–В) Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008, males, Phongsaly Province; C–D) Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010, males, Bolaven Plateau, Champasak Province. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Figure 23. Male genitalia of Loepa spp. from Laos: A–B) Loepa siamensis Brechlin, 2010: A) Vientiane Province, Phatang village, B) Phongsaly Province, Yot Ou village; C–D) Loepa peggyae peggyae Brechlin, 2010, Attopu Province; E–F) Loepa peggyae bolovena Spitsyn & Spitsyna, ssp. nov., Bolaven Plateau, Champasak Province: E) holotype, F) paratype; G–H) Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008, Phongsaly Province; I–J) Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010, Bolaven Plateau, Champasak Province.