Loepa siamensis siamensis Brechlin, 2010

Loepa siamensis siamensis Brechlin, 2010 View in CoL

Figs 15A–D View Figure 15 , 23A–B View Figure 23

Material examined. LAOS: Vientiane Province, Phatang village , mountain forest, 19°03'52"N, 102°25'41"E, 22– 28.04.2016, V. Spitsyn leg. – 1♂ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, Yot Ou village , mountain tropical forest, 22°08'45"N, 101°48'13"E, 25– 28.07.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 9♂ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, mountain tropical forest, 21°37'18"N, 101°57'06"E, 12– 13.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 2♂ GoogleMaps . VIETNAM: Vinh Phuc Province, Phuc Yen District, Ngoc Thanh Commune, Me Linh Station , mountain tropical forest, 21°23'03"N, 105°42'44"E, 01– 13.04.2016, V. Spitsyn leg. – 2♂ GoogleMaps . THAILAND: Mae Hong Son Province, Mueang Mae Hong Son District, Ban Na Pa Paek village , 19°32'07"N, 97°55'03"E, h= 950 m, 22– 28.07.2024, A.E. Kostyunin leg. – 2♂ GoogleMaps .

Distribution in Laos. Luang Prabang Province ( Brosch et al. 1999; Racheli et al. 2008; Kishida et al. 2020; BOLD), Luang Namtha Province ( Brosch et al. 1999), Xieng Khouang Province ( Kishida et al. 2020), Houaphan Province, Khammouan Province (BOLD), Phongsaly Province, and Vientiane Province (this study).

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069535, PV069547–PV069549 ( Laos), PV069536 ( Vietnam), PV069603, PV069604 ( Thailand).

Remarks. (1) The first records from Phongsaly and Vientiane provinces. (2) Previously, the species was recorded as “ Loepa sikkima Moore, 1865 ” ( Brosch et al. 1999; Racheli et al. 2008; Kishida et al. 2020). (3) The record of the species from Bolaven Plateau (Champasak Province) published by Kishida et al. (2020), in all probability, belong to Loepa peggyae bolovena ssp. nov. (4) BOLD contains the COI sequence of the holotype (sample ID SARBA685-09). (5) The description of this species was published in a non-open access journal offering only a print edition which is not available for purchase. Therefore, based on the specimens collected from Phongsaly and Vientiane provinces, as well as on the single specimen from Vietnam and the two specimens from Thailand, we present a brief redescription of the taxon, as well as illustrations of external and genital morphology of the male specimens ( Figs 15A–D View Figure 15 , 23A–B View Figure 23 ). The redescription includes only those morphological features that are barely visible in the photographs.

Diagnosis. L. siamensis can be distinguished from Loepa katinka (Westwood, 1847) by 34 fixed nucleotide substitutions in the COI gene fragment: 5C, 59G, 122C, 134C, 167G, 200A, 203T, 212G, 266A, 269T, 282A, 288C, 305T, 338T, 356T, 392A, 416A, 425T, 434T, 437C, 461C, 464C, 488C, 506C, 533T, 545T, 548T, 563A/G, 575C, 608C, 623A/G, 626T, 635T, 659C.

Brief redescription. Male morphology ( Fig. 15A–D View Figure 15 ): Wingspan 62–73 mm, forewing length 41–45 mm (n = 15). Head yellow with brown scales around eyes. Eye black. Antenna quadripectinate, brown. Labial palp short (its length less than one of eye diameter), purple-brown. Thorax yellow. Patagium grey-lilac or grey. Tegula yellow, lilac basally. Outer surface of legs pink-lilac, inner surface of ones yellow. Abdomen yellow with one row of brown-purple spots dorsally, two rows of brown-purple spots laterally (two from each side), and two rows of grey spots ventrally.