Research Article |
Corresponding author: Xiao-Ling Fan ( fanxiaol66@scau.edu.cn ) Academic editor: Axel Hausmann
© 2019 Si-Yao Huang, Yuan Zhang, Min Wang, Xiao-Ling Fan.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Huang S-Y, Zhang Y, Wang M, Fan X-L (2019) First record of the genus Schistomitra Butler, 1881 (Lepidoptera, Epicopeiidae) from China, with the description of a new species. ZooKeys 878: 145-155. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.878.35364
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The epicopeiid moth genus Schistomitra Butler, 1881 is reported outside Japan for the first time, with a new species, Schistomitra joelmineti Huang & Wang, sp. nov., described from the southern part of Shaanxi and Gansu Province in China. Photographs of adults and genitalia are provided, and the distribution pattern of the genus is discussed.
East Asia, Geometroidea, host plant, oriental swallowtail moth, Stewartia, taxonomy
Epicopeiidae Swinhoe, 1892, commonly known as oriental swallowtail moths, belongs to the superfamily Geometroidea within Macroheterocera sensu
The genus Schistomitra was erected by Butler in 1881 based on its type species, S. funeralis Butler, 1881. It is characterized by the following two characters: labial palpi entirely blackish brown and gnathos represented by a pair of short and sclerotized arms which are dentate dorsally (
For a long time, Schistomitra was regarded as an endemic Japanese genus only found in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu (
Specimens examined in this study were all collected during the day with an insect net and are deposited in the collection of South China Agricultural University (
Schistomitra Butler, 1881: 3.
Schistomitra funeralis Butler, 1881 [Type locality: Fusiyama, Nikko (Honshu, Japan)].
Holotype: male, altitude 800–1000 m, 22.IV.2017, Chengguan Town, Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, PR China, leg. Di Lu & Wen-hao Sun (SCAU). Paratype: 1 female, same data as holotype; 1 female, 26.V.2007, Houzhenzi Town, Zhouzhi County, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, PR China, leg. Hong-liang Shi (SCAU); 1 male, 1 female, altitude 1300–1500 m, 3.V.2009, Xunyangba Town, Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, PR China, leg. Yu-fei Li (SCAU); 1 female, same locality and collector, but altitude 1500–1900 m, 8.VI.2014 (SCAU); 2 female, altitude 1500 m, 30.V.2017, Jialingjiang Head Water, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, PR China, leg. Shu-qin Ji (SCAU); 1 male, altitude 1800 m, 29.IV.2017, Qinghe Forestry Farm, Kang County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, leg. Hao Huang (SCAU), 1 male, same locality and collector, but 1.V.2017 (SCAU); 1 female, same locality and collector, but altitude 1300 m, 3.VI.2017 (SCAU); 3 males, 1 female, altitude 1400 m, 4.VI.1991, Fengxiang County, Mts. Qin Ling, S. Shaanxi, PR China, leg. G.C. Bozano (ZSM).
Schistomitra joelmineti sp. nov. is characterized and distinguished from S. funeralis (Figs
Male genitalia of Schistomitra spp 9–11 holotype of Schistomitra joelmineti sp. nov. 12–14 paratype of Schistomitra joelmineti sp. nov., from individual in Fig.
1) the size is larger in both sexes, length of forewing 26–28 mm vs. 25–27 mm in males, 27–30 mm vs. 25 mm in females;
2) the forewing has the discoidal cell totally encircled by darkened veins, while the lower portion of discoidal cell remains pale yellow like its ground color in S. funeralis;
3) the blackish postmedian band on forewing upper side is narrower compared to the much wider band in S. funeralis;
4) the hind wing upper side has a much reduced blackish pattern in cell Rs and bases of cell 1A+2A and 3A, whereas the blackish pattern is better developed in all these cells in S. funeralis;
5) in the male genitalia the uncus is shorter with its tip nearly flat or slightly concave in the middle, while uncus is longer with its tip rounded in S. funeralis;
6) the sacculus is longer, and the apex of praesacculus forms a long, sharp, blade-like process pointing dorsally, while in S. funeralis the sacculus is shorter, with the apex only forming a short and rounded bulge;
7) the aedeagus is slightly thicker and longer, with the distal shaft more robust and the coecum larger, while the aedeagus is narrower and shorter, with distal shaft slenderer and coecum smaller in S. funeralis;
8) in the female genitalia, ductus bursae is more sclerotized, corpus bursae is smaller with a rounded signum, while in those of S. funeralis the ductus bursae is more membranous, the corpus bursae is larger, with the signum being elliptical.
Male
(Figs
Female
(Figs
Male
(Figs
Female
(Figs
Currently this species is restricted to the southern part of Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province.
The specific name joelmineti is named in honor of Prof. Joël Minet (Paris, France) who contributed greatly to the study of the family Epicopeiidae and kindly provided the first author with valuable literature when he began studying Epicopeiidae.
This species is univoltine, occurring from late April to early June. Adults are usually found sucking nutrients and water on damp ground (Fig.
Although the external features of adults of Schistomitra joelmineti are variable among individuals to some extent, their genitalia are only slightly different in the tip of the uncus, length of the aedeagus, and width of the pointed process in the praesacculus, while they differ greatly from those of S. funeralis. Thus, we regard all these individuals from China as a single species.
The genus Schistomitra currently shows a disjunct distribution with the discovery of Schistomitra joelmineti, with one species found in the mountainous region around Mt. Qinling in Shaanxi Provinceand Gansu Province in China and the other in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan (Fig.
Speciation in Schistomitra may mostly be the result of isolation mechanisms mentioned above. In addition, the utilization and distribution of different host plants may also contribute to it to some extent. In the phylogenetic tree of Stewartia proposed by
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Mr Yasunori Kishida (Tokyo, Japan), Mr Keitaro Eda (Shizuoka, Japan), Mr Hao Huang (Qingdao, Shandong, PR China), Mr Yu-fei Li (Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, PR China), Dr Hong-liang Shi (Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, PR China), Mr Di Lu (Xidian University, Shaanxi, PR China), Mr Wen-hao Sun (Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University, Shaanxi, PR China), and Mr Shu-qin Ji (Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangdong, PR China) for providing valuable material and field photographs, to Mr Zhen-fu Huang and Yu-ke Han (SCAU, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China) for improving the manuscript and providing valued advice. We are also grateful to Prof Ming-yi Tian, Ms Meng-zhen Chen and Zi-jun Ma (SCAU, Guangzhou, PR China) for helping with the genitalia photographs.