A new species of the genus Maliattha Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Acontiinae) from the South Primorye (the Russian Far East)

G.S.Zolotarenko, V.V.Dubatolov

During determination of moths collected in the Khasan district (South Primorye) in 1993, as well as in the collection of Zoological Museum, Biological institute, Novosibirsk, a new species of noctuid moths was found that belongs to the species group Maliattha vialis (Moore, 1882) - M. bella (Staudinger, 1888). A description of the new species is given below.

Maliattha khasanica Zolotarenko et Dubatolov, sp. n.

Moths small, fore wing length 8-9 mm. Wing pattern not differing well from that of M. bella (Stgr.) and M. vialis (Moore), on the contrary, the male genitalia are very peculiar.
Valva crescent-shaped, ventrally somewhat widened, narrowed to apex. Valva top with 4 thin projections, each one bearing a strong sclerotized spine on apex. Uncus thin along the whole length, slightly curved dorsally, with rounded apex. Uncus length nearly 2 times longer than the valva width in apical part at projection bases. Aedeagus straight, slightly broadened to the top, apex bears slightly sclerotized spines.
Material. Holotype - male. Southern Primorye, Khasan district, Furugel'm Is., 13.VII.1975, Velizhanin leg. Paratypes: 2 males, the same locality as the holotype, 12-13.VII.1975, Velizhanin leg.; 2 males, Southern Primorye, Khasan district, Gamov peninsula, Spaseniya bay, between Telyakovskii and Astaf'ev bays, 20-31.VII.1993, Dubatolov et Zintshenko leg.
Moths were collected in 1993 by light on a cordon of the Far East State Marine Nature Reservation on a bay coast covered with meadow vegetation. It seems that on Furugel'm Is. the moths were collected at a similar locality.
Remarks. The new species belongs to a genus Maliattha Walker, 1863 that is distributed in Africa, Madagascar, South-East Asia, South Pacific [Sugi, 1982]. A majority of East Asiatic species of the genus: M. signifera (Walker, 1858), M. arefacta (Butler, 1879), M. separata Walker, 1863 and M. rosacea (Leech, 1889) (the latter known also from the Primorye territory [Kononenko, 1990]), differ well from M. khasanica sp.n. by the wing pattern [Sugi, 1982, 2: t. 197, f. 7-15]. Only M. bella (Stgr.) from the Amur region, Primorye and Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu) and M. vialis (Moore) from India and Japan have the same wing pattern [Sugi, 1982, 2: t. 197, f. 16-20] as that of the new species. These three species are well distinguished only by the male genitalia structure. The valva top of the new species bears four projections with long sclerotized spines, on the contrary, the valva tops of M. bella (Stgr.) and M. vialis (Moore) have three projections only, each one terminating by a small spine. The uncus of M. bella (Stgr.) is small, its length being not longer than the valva width at the top; the uncus of M. vialis (Moore) is long, but broadened from the middle to the base. The uncus of the new species is long and thin along the whole length.
The authors are grateful to the administration of the Far East State Marine Nature Reservation and to the head of its cordon in Spaseniya bay, Mr. V.A.Sheremet'ev, for a permission to work and collect insects and to Prof. Dr. Tomoo Fujioka (Tokyo, Japan) for a partial financing of the expedition of 1993.

References

Kononenko, V.S. (1990): Synonymic Check List of the Noctuidae of the Primorye Territory, the Far East of U.S.S.R. Tinea, Suppl. to vol. 13, 40 p.
Sugi, S. (1982): 72. Noctuidae. In: H.Inoue, S.Sugi et al. Moths of Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha, vol.1, p. 80-105, 109, 138-146, 669-913; vol.2, p. 344-405, pl.164-223, 229, 355-380.