Taxonomic and faunistic studies on the genus Harutaeographa (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Orthosiini) with description of a new species

Abstract Description of anew Harutaeographa Yoshimoto, 1993 species, Harutaeographa shui sp. n. from China’s Sichuan province, is given. Harutaeographa yangzisherpani transformis Hreblay & Ronkay, 1999 is combined as a synonym of Harutaeographa yangzisherpani yangzisherpani Hreblay & Ronkay, 1999. Additional distributional data for Harutaeographa pallida Yoshimoto, 1993, and Harutaeographa cinerea Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998 are provided. A checklist of the genus Harutaeographa and a key to the Harutaeographa fasciculata (Hampson, 1894) species-group, based on external characters and genitalia, are presented.

introduction This paper contributes additional taxonomic, genitalic and faunistic information on the taxonomy of the genus Harutaeographa Yoshimoto, 1993 to what was previously provided in Chen (1999), Hacker and Ronkay (1996), Hampson (1894Hampson ( , 1906, Ronkay (1998, 1999), , Kononenko et al. (1998), Ronkay and Ronkay (2000), Ronkay et al. (2001Ronkay et al. ( , 2010, and Yoshimoto (1993Yoshimoto ( , 1994. The genus Harutaeographa is typical of the tribe Orthosiini within the Himalayan Noctuidae and contains 37 species and 3 subspecies distributed mostly in the Southeast Asian and Himalayan regions. Except for a few Western-Himalayan and Central-Asian species inhabiting semidry areas, most members of this genus are associated with the Himalayan monsoonic forest belt. Flight periods generally extend through March and April, but some Southern-Himalayan species are on the wing during the colder November to February period.

Materials and methods
The specimens of Harutaeographa preserved in the collections of Alessandro Floriani (Milan, Italy), Balázs Benedek (Törökbálint, Hungary), Gottfried Behounek (Grafing, Germany)/Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich (Germany), Danny Nilsson (Kalvehave, Denmark) and Nature Research Centre (Vilnius, Lithuania) were examined. The specimens examined were collected in China and Nepal using ultraviolet light traps and occasionally sugar ropes. Seventeen genital slides were prepared and 27 photographs were made. Examination of morphology: after maceration, male and female genitalia were dissected and mounted in euparal on glass sides. Dissection of genitalia follows Lafontaine (2004). Photographs of genitalia were made using a Wild M3Z microscope and Canon EOS 350D camera.

AFM
Etymology. The specific name refers to the Shu Kingdom, which is now Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province.
Diagnosis. Harutaeographa shui in general appearance is similar to H. fasciculata (Hampson, 1894) (Figs 10, 11), but is smaller and has more oblong forewings. Despite this superficial resemblance to H. fasciculata, based on genital morphology the new species is more closely related to Harutaeographa odavissa Ronkay, Ronkay, Gyulai & Hacker, 2010 (Figs 8, 9). These species are easily distinguishable externally by forewing shape, coloration and pattern. The male genitalia differ from those of H. odavissa (Fig. 16) by its shorter uncus, smaller tegumen, remarkably broader and apically more elongate cucullus, and the configuration of the clasper-ampulla complex. The structure of aedeagus and vesica are similar to those of H. odavissa (Fig. 16), but H. shui (Fig. 15) has a slightly more curved aedeagus, differently configured vesica, and longer subterminal cornuti field. The female genitalia of the new species differ from those of H. odavissa (Fig. 22) in having a shorter ovipositor, shorter apophyses, and shorter and weaker ductus bursae.
Description. Wingspan 37-42 mm, length of forewing 17-20 mm. Head, front and thorax chocolate brown with some copper shine; male antenna bipectinate, female antenna narrow ciliate; forewings richly decorated with dark coppery-brown patterns distinctly marked with black scales, outer margin and cilia lighter golden yellow; hindwings with intensive dark suffusion, especially wide on outer margin, discal spot, and well-marked postmedial fascia; cilia with copper shine. Male genitaila (Fig. 15): uncus short, evenly broad; tegumen small and low; vinculum strong, narrow, V-shaped; valva finely arcuate; cucullus broad with apex elongate; sacculus weak, less sclerotized; clasper and ampulla robust outside and turned at middle; aedeagus rather long, gently arcuate; vesica with two subbasal coils and a small rasp-plate at base near carina, two small bunches of stronger cornuti in subbasal coils, and a long brush-like cornuti field on arcuate subterminal area. Female genitalia (Fig. 21): ostium nearly evenly truncated; ductus bursae narrow, somewhat wider and less sclerotized posteriorly; appendix bursae relatively small and rounded, weakly sclerotized; corpus bursae elongated, mesially constricted, with anterior and posterior parts subequal.
Bionomics and distribution. The new species is known only from Siping and Kangding areas of Sichuan Province (China), on the eastern edge of Tibetan plateau, where a few specimens were collected at the end of March -beginning of April at altitudes ranging from 1500 to 1600 m. It was attracted to light during cold (2-4 ˚C) nights in small river valleys. The habitat is mountain virgin mixed forest dominated by various broad-leaved trees, rhododendrons and bamboos (Fig. 27). U-shaped; sacculus broad, with more or less parallel margins. Clasper relatively large, thumb-like, with elongated and heavily sclerotised base; clasper fused with relatively small and evenly curved ampulla. Valvae more or less symmetrical, broad, armed with strong, finger-shaped ventral process and large, broad digitus; cucullus broad and strong, more or less rhomboidal in shape. Aedeagus relatively long, straight and broad; vesica evenly helicoid in shape, everted ventrally, covered with a row of fine spiculi from basal part of vesica along to terminal segment where it merges into a stouter cluster of longer spines forming a brush-like structure. Female genitalia (Fig. 24): Ostium bursae wide, rounded; ductus relatively short; appendix bursae helicoid with three coils; corpus bursae constricted mesially with both anterior and posterior sections broadly elliptical.
Note. Little information has been available for this species due to insufficient collecting during its very early flight period Hreblay and Ronkay 1999). At the end of January-beginning of February in 2011 H. cinerea was one of the most frequently encountered noctuid species at light and sugar ropes at elevations between 2300-2600 m and is presumably widespread in Nepal.