﻿Description of one new species of the genus Orthozona Hampson, 1895 (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Herminiinae) from China

﻿Abstract A new species of the genus Orthozona Hampson, 1895, O.parallelilineatasp. nov., is described from China. The new species is illustrated with images of adults and genitalia, and it is compared to similar species, O.quadrilineata and Paracolaxcurvilineata. A distribution map of this new species is also presented.


Introduction
The genus Orthozona was erected by Hampson (1895) with Madopa quadrilineata Moore, 1882 as the type species from Darjiling, India. The genus has included as many as five species, namely Orthozona bilineata Wileman, 1915;O. curvilineata Wileman, 1915;O. quadrilineata (Moore, 1882); O. karapina Strand, 1920, and O. rufilineata (Hampson, 1895) (Poole 1989;Beccaloni et al. 2003). However, O. bilineata and O. curvilineata were transferred to Paracolax Hübner, [1825] by Owada (1992a) and Owada et al. (2021). To date, two species are known to occur in China: O. karapina and O. quadrilineata (Owada 1992b;Chen 1999;Wu et al. 2013). Smetacek and Kitching (2012) recorded a male specimen of O. quadrilineata from northwestern India and illustrated a female syntype of O. quadrilineata from Darjeeling, but they did not show the male and female genitalia. In the present study, a new species is described from Xizang Autonomous Region, China. Further study is needed to the understand the relatedness of Orthozona with Paracolax.

Materials and methods
Specimens were collected in Xizang Autonomous Region, China, using a 220 V/450 W mercury lamp and a DC black light. Standard methods for dissection of the genitalia and preparation of the slide mounts were used (Kononenko and Han 2007). Photographs of the adults were taken with a Nikon D700 camera; genitalia slides were photographed with an Olympus photo-microscope, composited with Helicon Focus, and further processed with Adobe Photoshop CS6. The types of the two new species are deposited in the collection of Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
Abbreviations for institutional collections are as follows:

Diagnosis.
In morphology, both Orthozona and Paracolax Hübner, [1825] share some charactersas follows: the color of the forewings is ochre to dark ochre, the antemedial and postmedial line are distinct; the distal part of valva are tongue-like, the saccular process are developed; and the ductus bursae have a pair of sclerotized stripes. However, these genera can be distinguished by the following features: the antemedial and postmedial lines in Orthozona are inwardly oblique or slightly curved but always paralleled with each other, whereas the two lines in Paracola are oblique or wavy and seldom parallel; the reniform spots in Orthozona are not obvious, while these spots in Paracola are obvious; the saccular process of Orthozona is finger-shaped, slightly separated from the valva, and slightly sclerotized, whereas the saccular process in Paracola is variously shaped, e.g. digitiform, conical, truncate, etc.; and the corpus bursae of Orthozona is sac-like, with a single signum, while the corpus bursae of Paracola is very long, more than twice as long as the ductus bursae, and with or without signum (Owada 1992a;Chen 1999; Smetacek and Kitching 2012; Wu 2014).
Description. The proboscis is developed; the labial palpus in males is sickle-shaped, mostly covered with scale tufts ventrally; labial palpus in females with the 2 nd segments straight and the 3 rd segments upturned; the antenna is filiform. Thorax: quite stout; the forewing is broad, with the outer margin broad and slightly excurved; in many species of this genus, the medial line of the hindwing is indistinct and the subterminal line is slightly arched. Abdomen: slender, slightly lighter than the thorax; the uncus is slender, with a hooked apex; the tegumen is narrow and triangular; the saccus is U-shaped; the valva is simple and weakly sclerotized, with saccular process; the vesica is covered minutely granular and bears a basal cornutus; in females, the analis papili is short, the apophyses posteriores and anteriores are moderate in length, the ductus bursae is short, the corpus bursae have more extensive microspines, and a signum is present.  (Figs 1, 2) is superficially similar to O. quadrilineata (Figs 3, 4) and P. curvilineata (Figs 5, 6) but can be separated from these species by the following characters. In the male genitalia (Fig. 7), the valva is narrower (in P. curvilineata, the cucullus is roundish and broader); the sacculus process is approximately 3/4 the length of valva, narrow, and the distal part is thin, finger-shaped (in P. curvilineata, the length of sacculus processes is obviously less than 1/2 of the valva, and the sclerotized is apically pointed); the saccus is narrower (in P. curvilineata, the saccus is broader); the phalli are slightly longer (in P. curvilineata, the phalli are shorter and stouter).

Description. Adult
almost not visible; subterminal line broad, blackish brown to brown, gradually noticeable from costal to inner margin; discal spot obscure. Both forewing and hindwing with a discal spot on the ventral side, respectively. Abdomen: light ochre-grey, rather slender, terminus with yellow tufts.
Female genitalia (Fig. 9). Ostium bursae broad and straight. Dorsal side of 8 th segment with a pair of subcircular, slightly sclerotized areas, connected to base of apophysis anterior. Ductus bursae flattened, shorter than 1/2 length of corpus bursae, with two long, sclerotized longitudinal bands ca 2/3 length of ductus bursae. Corpus bursae membranous; anterior part densely covered with small granulations, with an oval signum covered with small, stout spines; posterior half smooth, covered with longitudinal wrinkles. Apophysis anterior thicker and longer than apophysis posterior. Papilla analis thick and short.
Distribution. China (Xizang: Linzhi) (Fig. 12). This species occurs in grasslands around coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests in the Xizang Autonomous Region (Figs 13, 14). It flies in the dry season. Specimens were captured with UV light in August.
Etymology. The species is named for the parallel medial and subterminal lines.

Remarks.
Orthozona quadrilineata and Paracolax curvilineata are very similar in external appearance and genitalia in both sexes. However, they are not discussed further here due to the poor condition of their materials; the relationship between these three species deserves in-depth study when the materials become available. In this paper, one female of O. quadrilineata was collected by Dr M. Owada on 25 September 1983 in Sikkim, India (genitalia slide no. NSMT4373).