Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Kondakov, Alexander V., Bovykina, Galina V., Okulova, Anastasia I. & Spitsyna, Elizaveta A., 2025, The Brahmaeidae and Saturniidae of Laos (Lepidoptera), Ecologica Montenegrina 84, pp. 108-152 : 137-138

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2025.84.10
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:18433F0C-7212-45F1-9146-16697699EE36
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AB0FED07-3D2D-FFB4-FF6A-F97BFAD5FDF5
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008
status

Treatment

Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008 View in CoL

Figs 16A–B View Figure 16 , 23G–H View Figure 23

Material examined. LAOS: 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. – 1♂ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, Phongsaly town, mountain tropical forest, 21°41'34"N, 102°06'19"E, 06– 09.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 1♂ GoogleMaps ; Phongsaly Province, mountain tropical forest, 21°37'18"N, 101°57'06"E, 03– 04.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 2♂ GoogleMaps ; the same locality and collectors, 12– 13.08.2024 – 3♂ GoogleMaps .

Distribution in Laos. Phongsaly Province, Luang Prabang Province, Sainyabuli Province, Vientiane Province, and Houaphanh Province ( Naumann et al. 2008; this study).

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069550–PV069552.

Remarks. (1) The species reliably occurs in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand (Chiang Mai Province), and Bhutan (BOLD). (2) BOLD contains the COI sequence of the holotype (sample ID SASNB139-09). (3) Since the type series of Loepa diffunorientalis Brechlin, 2010 contains the specimens of Loepa diffundata Naumann, Nässig & Löffler, 2008 (BOLD sample IDs SARBC211-10, SARBC213-10, and SARBC214-10), these species cannot be accurately distinguished from each other by morphological features, in all probability. (3) COI p -distance between L. diffundata and the topotypes of Loepa kuangtungensis Mell, 1939 is 1.2%. Also, there are intermediate haplotypes between them. Thus, L. diffundata appears to be subspecies of L. kuangtungensis , and its taxonomic status requires further studies. (4) Previously, L. diffundata from Laos was incorrectly identified as “ Loepa diversiocellata Bryk, 1944 ” ( Brosch et al. 1999; Kishida et al. 2020). According to Naumann et al. (2008), L. diversiocellata is a junior synonym of Loepa katinka (Westwood, 1847) which does not occur in Laos.