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.