Ezishnola cretacea ( Hampson, 1914 )

Ezishnola cretacea ( Hampson, 1914) View in CoL

( Figs 1–4 View Figures 1–15 , 39–40 View Figures 38–43 , 59–60 View Figures 59–66 )

Roeselia cretacea Hampson, 1914 View in CoL , Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae View in CoL in the British Museum, Supplement 1: 431. Type locality: [ Ghana] Gold Coast, Bibianaha. Lectotype, female, in coll. NHMUK (hereby designated).

Designation of lectotype

Female , [circular label with red margin] “ Type ” // [ Ghana] “Gold Coast. / Bibianaha. / 700 ft. / II.1912. / H.G.F. Spurrell. / 1912-275.” // [with handwritten] “ Roeselia / cretacea / type ♀ Hmpsn“ // [QR code label with unique id.] „ NHMUK010598832 About NHMUK “ // gen. slide No.: NHMUK010317593 About NHMUK (prepared by László) (NHMUK).

Additional material examined.

Guinea. 7 males, 5 females, 619km ESE of Conakry, Nzerekore Region, Prefecture de Lola, Ziela env., 540–600m, x.2017, 7°42'N, 8°21'W, local collectors leg., gen. slide Nos: LGNA 1837 (male), LGNA 1307, 1814 (females) GoogleMaps ; 1 male, Nimba Mts, SMFG concession area, (Societe des Mines de Fer de Guinee), Cite 1, 7°42'2.83"N, 8°23'58.60"W, 700m, 25.viii–05.ix.2017, general coll., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. leg. GoogleMaps , gen. slide No.: LGNA 1306; 1 male, 625m, Guineé Forestiére, Foret Classée de Ziama, Sérédou ( Lowland Forest-Farmland ), 08°21'26"N, 09°17'48"W, 9–16.vii.2019, MV light trap, Dérozier, V., Koivagui, S., Miles, W., Sáfián, S., Warner, L. leg. ( ANHRT) GoogleMaps . Liberia. 2 males, Lofa County, Foya Proposed Protected Area , 7°56'36"N, 10°16'36"W, 530m, 10–19.xi.2017, MV light trap (125W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. & Smith, L. leg. GoogleMaps , gen. slide Nos : LGNA 1836, LGNA 1838 ; 1 male, Lofa county, Wologizi Mts, Rosewood Camp 8°06'14.9"N, 9°58'27.3"W, 585m, 18.xi–1.xii.2018 MV light trap (8W), Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. leg. ( ANHRT) GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Forewing length 9.0–11.0 mm in males, 11.0–12.0 mm in females. Ezishnola cretacea and E. inopinata are closely related allopatric species that can be distinguished from other Ezishnola taxa by their sharply defined, continuous, and widely curved postmedial line on the forewing. In contrast, this line is interrupted or represented by a series of dots in other species. Additionally, both E. cretacea and E. inopinata exhibit a variably broad, dark, oblique longitudinal fascia located between the outer angle of the postmedial line and the termen, along with a similarly dark, amorphous tornal patch of variable size. The combination of these features is typically absent in most other Ezishnola species; however, two species have a similar postmedial fascia: E. nitidipicta sp. n., which has a markedly narrower, darker and more contrasting fascia than that found in E. cretacea and E. inopinata , but these species typically have a more extensive tornal patch. The other species with similar characteristics is E. pindura sp. n.; however it is considerably larger and has a much darker forewing ground colour, a considerably broader costal section of the postmedial and subterminal lines which differentiates it from all other Ezishnola species. Ezishnola cretacea and E. inopinata can be distinguished by the darker grey ground colour and the broader, more contrasting postmedial line and longitudinal fascia observed in the latter species.

In the male genitalia, E. cretacea and E. inopinata have a moderately elongated valva with a short and relatively broad, rounded-quadrangular apical section, which serves as the primary character distinguishing these species from their congeners (the differential characters are discussed under the diagnoses of each species). Regarding E. cretacea and E. inopinata , the only notable distinctive feature between the two species is the ca. 10% longer uncus observed in the former taxon.

In the female genitalia, the E. cretacea-inopinata species pair is distinguished from other congeners except for E. carcassoni by the absence of a pair of rounded-ovoid signa bursae. This latter species also lacks signa bursae; however, it also lacks a tubular distal section of the corpus bursae with a well-developed, inflated cervix bursae, where the ductus seminalis is connected directly to the distal section of the bursa copulatrix. In all other species of the genus, the cervix bursae is inflated and situated at the distal end of a tubular section of the corpus bursae. The female genitalia configuration is very similar in E. cretacea and E. inopinata ; however, the former species has a slightly longer anterior apophysis, a ca. 25-30% shorter ductus bursae, a noticeably broader and more inflated cervix bursae and a more spherical corpus bursae compared to those of E. inopinata .

Genetic information. Ezishnola cretacea has been assigned the BIN URI: BOLD AEL0515. The infraspecific divergence calculated from five samples is 0.00–0.15%. The closest relative of this species is E. inopinata László, 2020 diverging by 3.16–3.32%. The genetically second closest species is E. truncata sp. n., diverging by 3.78–3.95%.