Revision of the Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 genus-group(Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) with descriptions of two new genera and 33 new species from high elevations of eastern and southern Africa

Ingo Lehmann; Reza Zahiri; Martin Husemann

doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1

Revision of the Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 genus-group(Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) with descriptions of two new genera and 33 new species from high elevations of eastern and southern Africa

Zootaxa. 2023 Apr 18;5267(1):1-106. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1.

Authors

Ingo Lehmann¹, Reza Zahiri², Martin Husemann³

Affiliations

¹ University of Bonn, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany; Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Zoological Museum Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 22117 Hamburg, Germany. . martin.husemann@uni-hamburg.de.
² 3Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Plant Laboratory, Entomology Diagnostic Laboratory, Bldg. 18, 960 Carling Ave., K1A 0C6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. . reza.zahiri@gmail.com.
³ 2Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Zoological Museum Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 22117 Hamburg, Germany. . martin.husemann@uni-hamburg.de.

PMID: 37518024
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1

Abstract

The African genus-group Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 of the family Metarbelidae comprises three genera: the monotypic Metarbelodes; Zambezia, gen. nov. with five new species (i.e., Zambezia diredaouaensis sp. nov.; Zambezia madambae sp. nov.; Zambezia jennyhuntae sp. nov.; Zambezia durrellbarnesi sp. nov.; Zambezia darrelplowesi sp. nov.); and Lukeniana, gen. nov. with 28 new species (i.e., Lukeniana enaiposha sp. nov.; Lukeniana raymondrevellii sp. nov.; Lukeniana rajaeii sp. nov.; Lukeniana tubiraensis sp. nov.; Lukeniana lutztoepferi sp. nov.; Lukeniana madrandelei sp. nov.; Lukeniana friederikebauerae sp. nov.; Lukeniana chapmani sp. nov.; Lukeniana michaelgrzimeki sp. nov.; Lukeniana kammeri sp. nov.; Lukeniana timdavenporti sp. nov.; Lukeniana mzuzuensis sp. nov.; Lukeniana mbalaensis sp. nov.; Lukeniana robplowesi sp. nov.; Lukeniana hausmanni sp. nov.; Lukeniana lenzi sp. nov.; Lukeniana stueningi sp. nov.; Lukeniana utaheidenreichae sp. nov.; Lukeniana georgeadamsoni sp. nov.; Lukeniana mikerobertsi sp. nov.; Lukeniana andreashempi sp. nov.; Lukeniana kakamegaensis sp. nov.; Lukeniana jankiellandi sp. nov.; Lukeniana bergsteni sp. nov.; Lukeniana carolae sp. nov.; Lukeniana stevecollinsi sp. nov.; Lukeniana butleri sp. nov.; Lukeniana kollhorsti sp. nov.), plus Lukeniana obliqualinea (Bethune-Baker, 1909), new comb. Metarbelodes is recorded only from the Bvumba Mountains in eastern Zimbabwe; Zambezia is represented by one species in the northern escarpment of the Harar Plateau (East-Central Ethiopia) and four species on the Southern African Plateau and the adjacent Bvumba Mountains; and Lukeniana occurs near the northern edge of the Southern African Plateau, but primarily in areas associated with the East African Rift System (EARS; both the Western and Eastern Branch). We provide detailed descriptions and images of all species and the first identification key. This revision represents the first comprehensive taxonomic treatment of the group and provides the basis for future work on this rare and cryptic, but diverse group of moth.

MeSH terms

Africa, Southern
Animals
Lepidoptera*