Cricula gafti Spitsyn & Spitsyna, 2025

Cricula gafti Spitsyn & Spitsyna , sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AE81BFE8-4575-40F0-BDE3-2A18D1D39ADF

Figs 12 View Figure 12 , 21E–F View Figure 21

Type material. Holotype male RMBH Sph 1379 LAOS: Phongsaly Province, Phongsaly town, mountain tropical forest, 21°41'34"N, 102°06'19"E, 29.07– 02.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. GoogleMaps Paratypes Sph 1380– Sph 1387, Sph 1400– Sph 1403 LAOS: Phongsaly Province, Phongsaly town, mountain tropical forest, 21°41'34"N, 102°06'19"E, 29.07– 02.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 2♀ GoogleMaps ; the same locality and collectors, 06– 09.08.2024 – 1♂, 19♀ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, Boun Neua town , mountain tropical forest, 21°37'23"N, 101°55'36"E, 02– 05.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 1♂, 3♀ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, mountain tropical forest, 21°37'18"N, 101°57'06"E, 03– 04.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 1♀ GoogleMaps ; the same locality and collectors, 12– 13.08.2024 – 2♀ GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Males of the new species can be distinguished by small size and specific dark brown wing colouration. Due to the high variability of wing pattern, correct identification of females requires using only the DNA barcoding. The new species is a sister species to Cricula sokola Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2017 and has a COI p -distance of 3.06% from the latter.

Description. Male morphology ( Fig. 12A–C View Figure 12 ): Wingspan 48–53 mm, forewing length 28–30 mm (n = 3). Head brown. Eye black. Antenna quadripectinate, brown. Labial palp short (its length less than one of eye diameter), brown. Thorax, patagium, tegula, legs brown. Forewing with elongated apex. Upperside of forewing brown, with irregularly zigzagged antemedial line and straight black-brown postmedial line; subterminal area with one or three transparent spots edged with black scales and one or two black spots at costal margin; marginal area with dark suffusion. Pattern of forewing underside similar to upperside, but somewhat lighter. Upperside of hindwing brown, with straight black-brown antemedial line and wavy black-brown postmedial line; subterminal area with one black spot. Underside of hindwing lighter than upperside; antemedial line slightly curved, diffuse, situated somewhat close to basal area; postmedial line wavy, indistinct, somewhat close to outer margin. Abdomen brown. Male genitalia ( Fig. 21E–F View Figure 21 ): Uncus bifurcated. Gnathos large, m-shaped. Juxta well-sclerotised with Yshaped process. Valva with narrow apex and large saccular process. Aedeagus straight. Vesica with four large diverticula bearing large sclerite each at apex. Female morphology ( Fig. 12D–I View Figure 12 ): Wingspan 51– 69 mm, forewing length 32–40 mm (n = 27). Pattern and colouration of wings, size highly variable (see Fig. 12D–I View Figure 12 ).

Distribution. Laos (Phongsaly Province).

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069581–PV069589, PV069594– PV069597.

Etymology. The new species is named after the late Valentin Iosifovich Gaft (1935–2020), a prominent Russian actor.