Meganola furvitincta furvitincta ( Hampson, 1914 )

Meganola furvitincta furvitincta ( Hampson, 1914)

( Figs 47–51 View Figures 41–60 , 115–117 View Figures 111–119 , 154 View Figures 152–159 )

Celama furvitincta Hampson, 1914 View in CoL , Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae View in CoL in the British Museum, Suppl. 1: 398, pl. 23, fig. 1. TL: Sierra Leone. Lectotype, male, in coll. NHMUK (designated by László 2020).

Synonymy.

Meganola spherographa Hacker, 2012 View in CoL , syn. n., Esperiana 17: 449. TL: Nigeria, Kaduna. Holotype, female, in coll. ZSM.

Material examined (all in coll. ANHRT).

Côte d’Ivoire. 7 males, 4 females, Mt. Tonkoui Peak , 1171m, 07°27'15.2"N, 07°38'12.5"W, 19– 27.xi.2019, actinic, LepiLED and MV light trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., Moretto, P., Ouattara, S. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1586, LGNA 1587, LGNA 1590, LGNA 1703, LGNA 1964 (males), LGNA 1588, LGNA 1589 (females) . Guinea. 2 males, Dalaba, Foret de Tinka , 1289m, 10°43'14"N, 12°15'22"W, 25–28.ix.2019, LepiLED light trap, leg. Geiser, M., Leno, M., Koivagui, S., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L., Sáfián, Sz. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1243, LGNA 1250 ; 1 male, 619km ESE of Conakry, Nzerekore Region, Prefecture de Lola, Ziela env., 540–600m, x.2017, 7°42'N, 8°21'W, leg. local collectors, gen. slide No.: LGNA 1794 GoogleMaps ; 1 female, Seredou camp, Foret Classee de Ziama (upland forest), 872m, 8°21'14.53"N, 9°19'31.93"W, 24.ii–06.iii.2019, general coll., leg. Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Florczyk, K., Koivogui, S. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 1604. Liberia. 1 male, Nimba Mts, ENNR, Nimba county ( Cellcom road), 1000–1100m, 7°32'45.88"N, 8°31'21.04"W, 02–14.xii.2017, Cold Cathode light bucket, leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 491; 2 males, Nimba Mts camp, ENNR, Nimba county, 1165m, 7°31'45"N, 8°31'37"W, 03–13.xii.2017, light trap (blended bulb 250W), leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 560, LGNA 616 ; 1 male, 1 female, Nimba County, Nimba Mts, ENNR, Cellcom road, 750m, 7°33'3.78"N, 8°31'46.49"W, 16–28.xii.2018, Cold Cathode UV light trap (8 W), leg. Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1244 (male), LGNA 973 (female) ; 1 male, Mount Nimba Main Ridge , ENNR, Nimba County, 1300m, 7°31'1.53"N, 8°31'1.24"W, 14–28.xii.2017, light trap blended bulb (250W), leg. Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 1591; 1 female, Nimba Mts, Mt. Gangra Summit , 978m, 7°32'45.82"N, 8°38'9.36"W, 17–25.iii.2017, Light Trap (250w blended bulb) & cold cathode UV light bucket trap (8w), leg. Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 1274; 1 male, Nimba county, ENNR, Nimba Mts , main ridge (montane forest), 1327m, 7°31'1.3"N, 8°31'1.0"W, 9.xii.2017, light trap (blended bulb 250W), leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. GoogleMaps ; 1 male, Lofa County, Wologizi Mts, Ridge camp, 865m, 8°07'10"N, 9°57'11"W, 24–29.xi.2017, light trap (blended bulb 250W), leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. GoogleMaps ; 1 male, Lofa County, Foya Proposed Protected Area , 530m, 7°56'36"N, 10°16'36"W, 10–19.xi.2017, MV light trap (125W), leg. Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 863. Republic of Congo. 1 male, Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Kokoua base, 540m, 00°28'39"N, 15°16'42"E, 05–13.ix.2024, MV light trap, leg. Bashford, M., László, G., Talani, M., Volynkin, A, Yaba Ngouma, S. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 1774.

Taxonomic notes. The genitalia illustrations of M. furvitincta presented in Hacker et al. (2012) are incorrect, as they were not based on examination of primary types. This discrepancy was addressed in László (2020), who designated and dissected the lectotype of this species. The male genitalia shown in Figures E and F in Hacker et al. (2012) actually belong to M. monofascia , while the female genitalia depicted in Figure G represent an undescribed species, which will be discussed below. Additionally, Figure H illustrates the copulatory organ of M. monofascia , although it is incorrectly referred to as M. bispermutata by László (2020).

Following the clarification of the male genital morphology, genetic analyses conclusively identified the female of M. furvitincta (see Text fig. 2 and Table 1). The genitalia illustration of the female holotype of the externally similar M. spherographa Hacker, 2012 displays the same features as those observed in M. furvitincta . Therefore, M. spherographa syn. n. is considered conspecific with M. furvitincta . However, there is, indeed, a second, closely related species that occurs sympatrically with M. furvitincta in West Africa. The male genitalia described under M. spherographa ( Hacker et al. 2012: 449, figs D, E) actually belong to this other species, which is described below as new to science.

Genetic information. Despite their distinctive morphology, M. furvitincta furvitincta , M. furvitincta poliographa , M. spherographata sp. n. and M. aarviki all belong to the same BIN URI: BOLD AAP3225. The intraspecific divergence of M. furvitincta furvitincta (n=13) ranges from 0.00% to 0.46%. The PWD between M. furvitincta furvitincta and M. furvitincta poliographa , M. spherographata sp. n. and M. aarviki are 0.11–1.24%, 0.46–2.19% and 1.86–2.02%, respectively. Additionally, close relatives such as M. fontainei and M. trigonographa diverge by 2.24–2.84% and 2.51–2.82%, respectively.

Distribution. The nominotypical subspecies of M. furvitincta is a western-central African taxon with confirmed records from Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, the Republic of Congo (present research), Sierra Leone (type locality) and Nigeria (as M. spherographa syn. n. ( Hacker et al. 2012). The specimens identified as M. furvitincta in Hacker et al. (2012) and Hacker (2014) have been misidentified; apart from the syntype, the illustrated specimens actually belong to M. monofascia .