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| Cephonodes sanshaensis Deng & Huang, in Deng, M. Wang, Tang, Cai, Ma, X. Wang et Huang, 2023. |
Abstract
A new species, Cephonodes sanshaensis Deng & Huang, sp. nov. is described from Xisha islands near Sansha City, China. Photographs of the adults and their genitalia are provided. The new species is similar to C. hylas (Linnaeus, 1771) and C. picus (Cramer, 1777) but can be easily distinguished by characters in the male genitalia: the right lobe of the uncus is hook-shaped with distinctly acute apex, the left valva is long and narrow with a truncate apex, and the right valva is broad and knife-shaped. Molecular analysis based on cytochrome c oxidase I gene barcode sequences is used to infer the phylogenetic position of the new species within the genus Cephonodes. An updated key and checklist to the worldwide species of the genus Cephonodes are also provided.
Keywords: Cephonodes, molecular identification, new species, taxonomy
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| Cephonodes sanshaensis sp. nov.: A, male, holotype; B, female, paratype. scale bar: 10 mm. |
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| Habitat of Cephonodes sanshaensis sp. nov.: A, adults; B, mating adults; C, habitat. |
Cephonodes sanshaensis sp. nov.
三沙透翅天蛾 [Chinese name]
Diagnosis. Cephonodes sanshaensis sp. nov. is significantly different from Cephonodes hylas, the type species of the genus Cephonodes, with an apical claw on foretibia. C. sanshaensis is similar to C. kingii but is immediately distinguishable by a shorter apical brown area. Among the known species Cephonodes, this new species is most similar to C. picus (Cramer, 1777) but can be distinguished by the following characters: i) the right lobe of the uncus is hook-shaped with distinctly acute apex, whereas in C. picus, it is slender and rod-like; ii) the left valva is long and narrow with a truncate apex, whereas in C. picus, it is broad and somewhat dilated apically; iii) the costa of the right valva is straight, but in C. picus, it is slightly concave; and iv) the papillae anales of female genitalia is small and suborbicular, but in C. picus, it is with a sharp tip.
Min Deng, Min Wang, Chao Tang, Bo Cai, Guang-Chang Ma, Xing Wang and Guo-Hua Huang. 2023. The Genus Cephonodes from Xisha islands, Hainan Province, China, with description of A New Species Cephonodes sanshaensis Deng & Huang, 2023 sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. 17(1); 117-124. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2023.08.001
