Thaumatographa cucphuongana, Heppner & Bae, 2025

Thaumatographa cucphuongana , new species

( Figs. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 , 5 View FIGURE 5 )

Type material. Holotype. [ VIETNAM] ♂, Cuc Phuong N. P. ( Mac Lake ) (155m), Ninh Binh Prov., 4–7 May 2009, J. B. Heppner (gen. slide JBH-4648; adult photo 12691) ( MGCL).

Diagnosis. This species is distinctive in its large orange subapical bar, slightly curved. The male genitalia have the aedeagus with a long, thin cornutus (almost as long as the entire aedeagus) with a large apical recurved hook. The forewing maculation and male genitalia most resemble those of the Taiwan species, T. mesostigmatias Diakonoff (1977b) , but the new species in Vietnam is smaller and has the subterminal black spots diffuse (prominent in T. mesostigmatias ) and the central angled striae from the dorsal margin are orange (white in T. mesostigmatias ).

Description. Wing expanse: 12.8mm (n = 1).

Head ( Fig. 1a View FIGURES 1–4 ): mostly yellow, with black-brown on distally on vertex and on frontal eye margins, light yellow ventrally; antenna thick, and gray-brown, with short ventral cilia in male; labial palpus white, with yellow and dark brown at base and dorsally on middle segment, with dark brown on caudal surface of apical segment; head venter light yellow.

Thorax ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ): dark brown, mixed with dull yellow as lateral longitudinal line each side, and merged to yellow-suffused metathorax; tegula black-brown, margined with dull yellow; venter white; legs white, with dark brown bars on midtibia at each end, and hindtibia dark brown-gray, with tarsi white bisected by black-brown bars; legs mesally white; leg spurs white.

Forewing ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ): black-brown marked with orange-tan striae from costa and dorsal margin angled to termen and three prominent striae convergent medially at mid-wing, with basal stria horizontal to wing base and costal basal stria recurved to base from basal 1/4 of wing; costa with two short preapical striae directed toward tornus, the most distal one almost convergent with a sinuous vertical stria from subtornus; a subapical orange bar to termen and ventrally slightly recurved; near apex and thin orange-tan line to near mid-termen and continued along termen to tornus; dorsal margin pale yellow; fringe dark brown (likely pale distally, but specimen fringe too warn to verify), with white along apex; venter dark brown with dorsal markings repeated in pale yellow, but white apical stria and on subapical costal margin, and anal sector dull white.

Hindwing ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ): dark brown, with basal half of wing with a yellow linear patch to wing base and suffused on its margins; anal sector orange-brown; fringe dark brown, slightly pale distally and elongate along anal margin; venter dark brown with light gray-white speckles on distal half and dull yellow in cell to wingbase.

Abdomen ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ): dark brown, with dark tan posterior sternite margins; venter tan-white; genital tufts dark brown, with pale lateral coremata; pregenital segment ( Fig. 5c View FIGURE 5 ), with sternite caudal margin blunt-rounded laterally and medially with a U-shaped invagination; short coremata laterally from invaginated corematal pouch each side.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ): tegumen an inverted V-shape; uncus ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), stout, bent caudally from wide base and tapering distally only near somewhat blunt apex; hami ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), slightly shorter than uncus, strongly sclerotic and bent 90° from stout base, slightly curved ventrally near distal end and flattened on distal 2/3 with slightly recurved and stout ventral margin before acute apex; socii ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), short (half uncus length) and thick, densely setose dorsally; gnathos ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), with flattened arms, convergent medially; transtilla ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), band-like, convergent medially; juxta ( Fig. 5b View FIGURE 5 ), an ovate plate (slightly concave caudally), with dorsal margin truncated and slightly concave, laterally projected narrowly into membranous anellus ring; aedeagus ( Fig. 5a View FIGURE 5 ), short, tubular, with spatulate caudal projection and distally acute; phallobase obsolete; cornutus a long thin spine (subequal to aedeagus length), with a distal recurved hook; ductus ejaculatorius short, with globular hood; valva ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ), elongate, oblong with rounded termen, overall setose and with dense setal patch on costa near base; sacculus slightly rounded; vinculum V-shaped, merging to short and slightly bulbous saccus.

Female unknown.

Etymology. The species is named for the type-locality, Cuc Phuong N. P., in Ninh Binh Prov.

Biology. Unknown. Flight period: May. Habitat ( Fig. 10 View FIGURES 10–11 ) is lowland tropical forest ( Sterling et al. 2006).

Distribution. Known only from northern Vietnam.

Discussion. In the recent review of Thaumatographa species for Taiwan ( Heppner et al. 2025), it was noted that the Taiwan endemic species, T. mesostigmatias , should have its own species-group, once such groups are organized for the genus, based mainly on the unusual features of the female genitalia. We have no female specimens available for T. cucphuongana , but based on the similar maculation and male genitalia of T. mesostigmatias , we suspect the new Vietnam species also belongs with the same species-group of the related species from Taiwan, but await discovery of the female to verify this.