Actias parasinensis Brechlin, 2009

Actias parasinensis Brechlin, 2009 View in CoL

Figs 6E–F View Figure 6 , 18G–H View Figure 18

Material examined. LAOS: Phongsaly Province, mountain tropical forest, 21°37'18"N, 101°57'06"E, 03– 04.08.2024, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg. – 1♂, 1♀ GoogleMaps . MYANMAR: Kachin State, Wasandum village , tropical forest, 27°29'41"N, 97°11'24"E, h 850 m, 18– 19.03.2014, I. Bolotov & V. Spitsyn leg. – 1♂ GoogleMaps .

Distribution in Laos. Phongsaly Province (this study).

Reference COI barcode sequences. GenBank acc. no. PV069590, PV069591 ( Laos), PV069532 ( Myanmar).

Remarks. (1) Although Actias parasinensis Brechlin, 2009 is mentioned as occurring in Laos in some works ( Irungbam 2014; Irungbam & Irungbam 2019), there are no published records from this country confirming the occurrence of it. Here, we present the record of A. parasinensis from Phongsaly Province, thus, confirming it does occur in Laos. Hence, based on our material and available sequence data obtained with BOLD, A. parasinensis has a range covering Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China (Yunnan and Tibet). (2) BOLD contains the COI sequence of the holotype (sample ID SARBB153-09). (3) 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 Laos and Myanmar, we present a brief redescription of the taxon, as well as illustrations of the adults of both sexes and the male genitalia ( Figs 6E–F View Figure 6 , 18G–H View Figure 18 ). The redescription includes only those morphological features that are barely visible in the photographs.

Diagnosis. A. parasinensis has the longer hindwing tails compared to Actias sinensis (Walker, 1855) and can be distinguished from it by 17 fixed nucleotide substitutions in the COI gene fragment: 5A/C, 17C, 20C, 275T, 329T, 350T, 356T, 365T, 404A, 413A/G, 446C, 464C, 506C, 548C, 599A/C, 602C, 632G/T.

Brief redescription. Male morphology ( Fig. 6E View Figure 6 ): Wingspan 94–101 mm, forewing length 56– 61 mm (n = 2). Head yellow-orange or pale white-yellow. Eye black. Antenna quadripectinate, light brown. Labial palp very short (its length ca. 0.5 of eye diameter), yellow-pink or pink. Thorax yellow, anteriorly brown and having sparse white scales. Patagium brown with sparse white scales. Tegula yellow, brown at base, with sparse white scales. Legs pale yellow, outer surfaces of tarsus and of tibia pink. Abdomen yellow, with unclear red-lilac spots laterally (spots may absent in some specimens). Female morphology ( Fig. 6F View Figure 6 ): Wingspan 113 mm, forewing length 69 mm (n = 1). Head white. Eye black. Antenna quadripectinate, light brown; rami shorter than in males. Labial palp very short, pinkishreddish. Thorax white, brown anteriorly. Patagium brown with sparse white scales. Tegula white, brown at base, with sparse white scales. Coxa of fore-legs brown, coxa of middle- and hind-legs white, femur white, tarsus and tibia red-pink. Abdomen white.