Meganola furvitincta poliographa Hacker, 2012

Meganola furvitincta poliographa Hacker, 2012 stat. rev., stat. n.

( Figs 52–55 View Figures 41–60 , 118–119 View Figures 111–119 , 155 View Figures 152–159 )

Meganola poliographa Hacker, 2012 View in CoL , Esperiana 17: 334. TL: Uganda, Bushenyi District, Kalinzu Forest . Holotype, male, in coll. NHMO.

Synonymy.

Meganola mbala Hacker, 2014 View in CoL , Esperiana 19: 165. TL: Zambia, Mbala. Holotype, male, in coll. NHMUK.

Material examined (all in coll. ANHRT).

Malawi. 2 males, Mzuzu Wildlife Sanctuary, ( Afromontane forest ), 1294m, 11°27'30.2"S, 34°03'11.3"E, 22–27.vi.2022, LepiLED and MV light trap, leg. Kirk-Spriggs, A., Miles, W. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1788, LGNA 1902 . Uganda. 2 females, Bwindi Impenetrable N.P., Cuckooland Lodge , 1700m, 01°00'17"S, 29°43'06"E, 28–29.vi.2022, leg. Naumann, S., Ott, E., Schintlmeister, A., Sulak, H. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1717, LGNA 1720 . Zambia. 2 females, Zambezi Rapids, (Miombo / Riverine forest mosaic), 1205m, S11°7'30", E24°11'6", 4–9.xi.2018, MV light trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D. , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 758, LGNA 1009 ; 1 male, Kalene Hill ( Miombo woodland), 1440m, S11°11'11", E24°12'5", 6.xi.2018, actinic light trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D., gen. slide No.: LGNA 744; 3 males, Hillwood, Ikelenge (Miombo/Riverine forest mosaic), 1400m, S11°16'02", E24°18'59', 23–30.xi.2019, actinic and MV light trap, leg. Bashford, M., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L., Smith, R. ; 1 male, same site, 28.v–4.vi.2020, leg. Chizuwa, D., Choongo, W.; 2 males, Nyangombe Falls (Miombo / Riverine forest mosaic), 1300m, 11°48'25"S, 24°32'12"E, 17–23.xi.2019, actinic and MV light trap, leg. Bashford, M., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L., Smith, R. GoogleMaps ; 1 male, Chitunta Plain (Miombo / Dambo mosaic), 1396m, 11°29'12"S, 24°24'18"E, 29.xi–4.xii.2019, actinic light trap, leg. Bashford, M., Miles, W., Mulvaney, L. GoogleMaps ; 1 female, Jiwundu Swamp (Miombo / Riverine forest mosaic), 1340m, S11°51'54", E25°33'20", 29.x–4.xi.2018, MV light trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Dérozier, V., László, G., Oram, D.; 1 male, Lyangu, Liuwa Plain NP, 1035 m, 14°46'51"S, 22°34'44", 12–15.xi.2013, light trap, leg. Smith, Takano & Oram , gen. slide No.: LGNA 22; 1 male, Lunzua Falls , 20 km S of Mpulungu, Northern Province, 1416m, 08°55'38"S, 31°09'31"E, 11–16.v.2019, MV light trap, Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W GoogleMaps .; 1 female, Kundalila Falls , 12 km SE of Kanona, Central Province, 1500m, 13°09'17"S, 30°42'07"E, 26–27.iv.2019, actinic light trap, Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W., gen. slide No.: LGNA 1011 GoogleMaps ; 1 male, Kapishya Hot Springs, Shiwa N'gandu Estate , 1437m, S11°10'13", E31°36'00", i–iii.2017, M.T. Harvey coll., leg. Oram, D., Miles, W., Smith, L. , gen. slide No.: LGNA 743; 1 female, Chilambwe Falls, Kafubu River , 1420m, 09°50'13"S, 30°43'35"E, 8–12.ii.2019, MV light trap, leg. Dérozier, V., Mulvaney, L., Smith, R., Takano, H. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 934; 1 female, Mutinondo Wilderness Area, Mpika, Northern Prov. , 1460m, 12°27'06"S, 31°17'30"E, 16–20.iii.2017, MV, leg. Oram, D., Miles, W., Smith, L. GoogleMaps ; 9 males, 1 female, Choma, Bruce-Miller Farm Nansai ( Southern Miombo woodland), 1179m, 16°38'32"S, 27°01'47"E, 25.iv–1.v.2022, MV light trap, leg. Miles, W., Mulvaney, L. GoogleMaps ; 1 male, 2 females, Danger Hill , 30 km N of Mpika, Muchinga Province, 1684m, 11°37'38"S, 31°33'56"E, 27–30.iv.2019, actinic and MV light trap, Dérozier, V., László, G., Miles, W., gen. slide Nos: LGNA 1010 (male), LGNA 1034 (female) GoogleMaps ; 7 males, 3 females, same site, 13–15.xii.2023, leg. László, G., Morgan, L., Volynkin, A., gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1972 (male), LGNA 1707, LGNA 1970, LGNA 1971 (female) .

Genetic information. This species has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD AAP3225; BIN-sharing with M. furvitincta furvitincta , M. spherographata sp. n. and M. aarviki . The intraspecific divergence of M. furvitincta poliographa (n=5) ranges from 0.00% to 1.52%. It diverges from M. furvitincta furvitincta , M. spherographata sp. n. and M. aarviki by 0.11–1.24%, 0.00–2.51% and 2.17%, respectively. Additionally, M. furvitincta poliographa shows a divergence from M. trigonographa and M. fontainei of 2.35–3.15% and 2.82–3.53%, respectively.

Taxonomic notes. László (2020) synonymised this taxon with M. furvitincta . However, an examination of several specimens resembling M. furvitincta from southern-central Africa revealed subtle but consistent differences in external and genital morphology between the two species. Externally, M. poliographa has much darker and more contrasting forewing markings than M. furvitincta . In the male genitalia, the former taxon has a slightly curved and ca. 20–30% shorter flap-like laminar projection of the carina than that of M. furvitincta ; in addition, the dorsal margin of the distal section of the aedeagus is smooth in M. furvitincta poliographa , whilst it is slightly serrated in the nominotypical taxon. Based on these diagnostic morphological characters, the name poliographa has been reinstated as a subspecies to represent the southern-central African populations of M. furvitincta : M. furvitincta poliographa stat. rev., stat. n.

Distribution. Meganola furvitincta poliographa is a southern-central African taxon expanding northward along the Rift valley, up to Uganda (type locality). The subspecies has further confirmed records from Zambia (as M. mbala ( Hacker et al. 2014)) and Malawi (present study).