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Lukeniana timdavenporti Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 5d, 15b, 16f urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6C422A59-F8E9-4478-BEAB-7AE000115A24 Type locality and repository: Kenya, the Museum Witt, Munich, Germany (MWM, collections are now housed in the ZSM). Material examined. Holotype male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, Trans-Nzoia District, Mount Elgon National Park, Chepnyalil Cave, 2,500 m, 24–28 January 1992, A. Lobmayer leg., genitalia slide number 27/082012 I. Lehmann (MWM). Paratypes: one male, Kenya, Rift Valley Province, same locality, date and collector, genitalia slide number 26/022012 I. Lehmann (MWM); one male, Kenya Colony, Mount Elgon, eastern side (written as “ö.sid.” on the original label), 2,050 m, 05 March 1948, A. Holm leg., genitalia slide number 17/092012 I. Lehmann (NRM). Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with cream; eyes black in holotype but brown with black patches in paratypes; antenna 0.5 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 5.5 width of shaft, branches and shaft with dense cream-coloured scales dorsally; tips of branches antennal bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long hair-like scales of ochre, mixed with dark ochre, shiny. A short crest of ochre and cream-coloured scales on metathorax. Hindlegs ochre with fine, long hair-like scales, shiny; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur ca. 0.9 mm. Forewing length of holotype 13.0 mm (wingspan 29.0 mm). Forewing upperside mainly dark ochre with a broad band of ivory-yellow along termen; costal margin with small spots of sepia; lower median vein of discal cell sepia; entire forewing with striae of sepia and deep olive; a more or less visible broad terminal band of deep olive from near apex to end of CuA 2; striae of sepia along termen; CuA 2 ivory-yellow, edged sepia above; remaining veins are distinctly deep olive; cilia very long, 1.5 mm, ochre and cream-coloured, shiny. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, ochre, glossy, costal margin sepia with few slightly darker small spots. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow, glossy, cilia pure ivory-yellow, very long, 1.6 mm, glossy; underside light ochre, glossy, costal margin not darkened and without striae. Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, shiny; abdominal tuft short, one-fourth of abdominal length. Genitalia (Figs 15b; 16f) with uncus lobes rounded, outer edge strongly C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally, edge at base of uncus not bent at middle; gnathos arms short (as long as basal width of valva); entire valva broad, ovoid, costa slightly bent and with few setae; sacculus with few long setae; weakly-sclerotized projection setose with a rectangular tip, equal in length with one thick, short thorn-like process below; latter bent and well-developed, hollow, rounded at tip with few minute setae; median sector of valva with scattered setae on inner side; a short, narrow, rectangular emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, occupying 20% of length of valva; ventral side of valva strongly bent at middle. Saccus small, triangular, with slightly acuminate tip. Juxta narrow with acuminate tips and a thorn-like process at each tip. Phallus long, 1.2 length of valva, not trumpet-like, strongly bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. The new species has at least three characters unique within the genus: (i) the uncus has the shortest and smallest emargination, i.e., only ca. 25% of the length of the uncus; (ii) the ventral side of the valva is strongly bent at middle; and (iii) the valvae have the most broadest elliptical shape of all species. Distribution. Lukeniana timdavenporti is known from areas east of the summit of Mount Elgon in the Western Highlands of Kenya but probably also occurs on the western side of Mount Elgon, in Uganda (Fig. 20b). The species can be classified an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana timdavenporti is named in honour of Tim Davenport, the Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Tanzania, where he has lived and worked since 1999. Tim has raised over US $ 15 million for conservation, is responsible for the planting of over 1.5 million forest trees in Tanzania, and was recipient of the prestigious Parker-Gentry Award for Conservation in 2008 (Tim Davenport pers. com. to I.L. in 2013)., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 30-31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783

Lukeniana stueningi Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 6h, 12f urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: F99BEB0F-3BDF-48D9-9086-FF69285E4811 Type locality and repository: Zamibia, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB / ZFMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Zambia, Muchinga Province, Isoka District, Nyika Plateau, Nyika National Park, Manyanjere Forest (=misspelling of Manyenjere Forest), 2,080 m, 1035′24 S, 3339′40 E, 18–20 October 2012, R. J. Murphy leg., genitalia slide number 29/082015 I. Lehmann (ZFMK). Description. Male. Head: Yellow-ochre mixed with sepia hair-like scales towards eyes; long, dense, hair-like, dark ochre scales between eyes; eyes vinaceous with black patches; antenna 0.50 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 5.0 width of shaft, covered with cream-coloured scales laterally, shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate and with two long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi dark ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae not shiny; long hair-like scales of ochre mixed with sepia; a small crest of ivoryyellow scales on metathorax. Hindlegs ochre with fine hair-like scales; one pair of narrow tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.0 mm, inner spur ca. 0.6 mm. Forewing length 15.0 mm (wingspan 32.5 mm). Forewing upperside ochre; costal margin sepia, without striae; termen without lunules; terminal and subterminal lines absent; faded striae of dark ochre on almost entire wing; CuA 2 with narrow edge of sepia above; all remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia long, 1.5 mm, in forewing and hindwing, cream-coloured, shiny. Underside of forewing not roughly scaled and with many fine hair-like scales, cream-coloured, glossy, costal margin dark ochre along costa, without striae. Hindwing upperside cream-coloured and glossy. Underside as in forewing but without darkened costa. Abdomen: Cream-coloured and ochre, glossy; abdominal tuft short, one-fifth abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 12f) with uncus lobes bearing rounded tips, both short and long setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus strongly bent at middle, triangular in ventral view, emargination broad, ca. 3.5 as broad as one tip of uncus lobe; gnathos arms 1.5 as long as basal width of valva; valvae elongate, oval, costa without setae; sacculus without setae; almost 50% of inner side of valva with a weakly-sclerotized projection, setose, with rectangular tip shorter than single thorn-like process below; the latter hollow and with tiny setae; a long, ovoid emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, ca. 65% length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent in middle. Saccus short, triangular, opposite an unsually broad ventral part of vinculum, rectangular, ca. 8 larger than saccus. Juxta 5 larger than saccus, between tips an unusually shallow emargination, only 25% of length of juxta. Phallus 1.3 as long as width of valva, not trumpet-like, not bent in middle, slightly bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Lukeniana stueningi is most similar to L. utaheidenreichae with which it shares at least six characters: (i) the gnathos arms are very broad, as broad as the semi-transtilla; (ii) the ventral side of the end of the gnathos arms, specifically the palmate structures, are covered with scales dorsally and also ventrally; (iii) the valvae are elongate and ovoid; (iv) the weakly-sclerotized projection is shorter than the thorn-like process below and covers less than 30% of the inner side of valva; (v) an unsually broad ventral part of vinculum is rectangular; and (vi) the sacculus is only half of the length of ventral edge of valva. Diagnostic characters for L. stueningi include the long emargination of the valva, 40% of the length of valva in L. utaheidenreichae versus 65% in L. stueningi; the broad ventral part of the vinculum, which is slightly shorter in length than the basal width of one valva in L. stueningi, but is 1.4 as long as the basal width of one valva in L. utaheidenreichae; the narrowly finger-shaped saccus in L. utaheidenreichae that is triangular in L. stueningi; and the basal edge of the uncus that is rounded and less bent at the middle in L. utaheidenreichae, but strongly bent at the middle and triangular in L. stueningi. Distribution. Lukeniana stueningi is known only from Manyenjere Forest (elevation 1,890 ‒2,099 m, average annual rainfall ca. 1270‒1300 mm), located on the Zambian side of the Nyika Plateau that borders the Malawi Rift, ca. 45 km east from Manyenjere Forest, and extends westward almost to the eastern edge of the Luangwa rift graben (Roberts et al. 2012). The Nyika Plateau is the largest isolated upland area in Malawi, and belongs to the Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). This species can be classified an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana stueningi is named in honour of Dr. Dieter Stüning for his constant, valuable, and patient support of the first author’s studies on the Metarbelidae at the ZFMK in 2009–2014, and in particular for his help on the publication of the new genus Shimonia Lehmann & Rajaei, 2013., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 37-39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Roberts, E. M., Stevens, N. J., O'Connor, P. M., Dirks, P. H. G. M., Gottfried, M. D., Clyde, W. C., Armstrong, R. A., Kemp, A. I. S. & Hemming, S. (2012) Initiation of the western branch of the East African Rift coeval with the eastern branch. Nature Geoscience, 5, 289 - 294. https: // doi. org / 10.1038 / NGEO 1432","White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp.","Lehmann, I. & Rajaei, H. (2013) Description of a new genus and three new species of Metarbelidae (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea) from East and Central Africa, with notes on biogeography. Bonn zoological Bulletin, 62 (1), 100 - 110. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 79421"]}

Lukeniana butleri Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 2a, 2b, 14d, 15d urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C45902CD-B165-471F-924E-954B31D58C8B Type locality and repository: Zimbabwe, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB / ZFMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Zimbabwe, Harare (Harare District, Harare Province), private garden in Highlands suburb (North-Eastern Region), called “Fawlty Towers”, 03 September 2013, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 05/042014 I. Lehmann (ZFMK). Paratypes: one male, same locality, date, and collector, no genitalia dissection done (ZFMK); one male same locality, 16 September 2014, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 13/062015 I. Lehmann (ZFMK); one male same locality, 18 September 2014, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 02/082015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one male, S. Rhodesia, Marandellas (today Marondera, Marondera District, Mashonaland East Province), October 1961, no collector mentioned on label, “Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia ”, “Access. No. 4475”, genitalia slide number 05/092015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one male, South Rhodesia, Salisbury (today Harare), 06 October 1966, A. J. Duke leg., on a second label “Access. No. NMZ 4462”, genitalia slide number 27/102015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one male, South Rhodesia, Salisbury (today Harare), 08 October 1967, A. J. Duke leg., on a second label “Access. No. NMZ 4463”, genitalia slide number 31/052015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one female, same locality as holotype, 12 September 2012, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 27/022014 I. Lehmann (ZFMK); one female, same locality as holotype, 01 October 2014, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 16/052015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one female, South Rhodesia, Salisbury, 29 September 1966, A. J. Duke leg., on a second label “Access. No. NMZ 4483”, genitalia slide number 08/062015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); one female, South Rhodesia, Gatooma (now Kadoma, Kadoma District, Mashonaland West Province), January 1957, no collector mentioned, “Nat.Mus. Bulawayo ”, on second label “Access. No. NMZ 4487”, genitalia slide number 04/102015 I. Lehmann (NMZB). Description. Male. Head: Light cream, shiny, with long hair-like scales between eyes; eyes black; antenna 0.50× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 4.5× width of shaft, shaft covered with light cream scales dorsally, branches covered with white or cream scales laterally, antennal tips with long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi cream. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long hair-like scales of cream mixed with white and sepia, not shiny. A small crest of cream on metathorax. Hindlegs yellow ochre with fine hair-like scales and shiny; one pair of narrow tibial spurs present, outer spur in holotype 0.9 mm long, inner spur 0.8 mm. Forewing length of holotype 10.0 mm (wingspan 22.5 mm), paratypes 9.0‒12.0 mm, (wingspan 21.5–28.0 mm). Forewing upperside cream and pale ochre, not glossy; in male holotype terminal line and subterminal line dark cream and parallel to termen, from near apex to dorsum, not bent; CuA 2 pure white, broad, edged sepia above; only few striae of sepia along cream-coloured costa and on entire upperside; veins not distinctly coloured except CuA 2; cilia long, 1.3 mm, cream and white, shiny; lunules sepia along termen. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, cream, glossy, rarely costal margin with few sepia striae and subterminal line; costa honey-yellow. Hindwing upperside and cilia cream mixed with white, glossy; underside as in forewing but without striae, costa usually not darker. Abdomen: Cream mixed with white, glossy; abdominal tuft short, less than one-fifth of abdomen length. Genitalia (Figs 14d; 15d) with uncus lobes bearing rounded tips, long setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus not bent at middle, almost straight; gnathos arms with short, broad end; valvae broadly ovoid with broader base, costa without setae; sacculus very broad (one-third of width of valva) with few short and very long setae; weakly-sclerotized projection densely setose with shorter setae and rectangular tip slightly longer than single long thorn-like process below; latter not extending beyond costa, hollow, bent with an acuminate tip bearing few tiny setae; median sector of valva with setae on inner face but very long setae (appearing black) towards emargination, the latter extending 40% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process. Saccus elongate, slightly triangular, gently rounded caudally. Juxta as large as saccus with acuminate tips and a deep emargination (90% of length of juxta). Phallus as long as width of valva, not trumpet-like, slightly bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Head and Thorax: Essentially as described for male, except cream scales between eyes, eyes brown with large black patches; antenna 0.37-0.40× length of forewing, unipectinate, with bracnhes 1.0× width of shaft; a pair of narrow tibial spurs of unequal length, outer spur 0.9 mm, inner spur 0.7 mm; forewing length 16.0‒20.0 mm (wingspan 32.0‒41.0 mm); terminal and subterminal lines faint but present. Abdomen: Genitalia with papillae anales broad, dorsal part 8-shaped in posterior view, densely setose with long and short setae. Segment 8 with many long setae scattered along posterior margin, on dorsal side, and on entire surface, particularly near base of anterior apophyses; two narrow latero-ventral sclerotized bands, fused along posterior margin (in posterior view) and separated along anterior margin (in anterior view), narrow, but broadly rounded towards base of anterior apophysis. The bands covering ca. 30% of ventral side of segment 8. Dorso-anterior margin of abdominal plate entire, without emargination. Posterior apophysis straight with a broader base, 1.2× as broad as width of anterior apophyses. Anterior apophyses straight with a short and rounded tip. Posterior apophyses slightly shorter or of equal length to anterior apophyses. Ductus bursae and corpus bursae thinly membranous, lacking distinct processes; corpus brusae ca. 5.0× longer than width of segment 8 with a nearly rectangular end. Diagnosis. The male genitalia of Lukeniana butleri resemble those of L. mzuzuensis; both have a very broad sacculus at least one-third the width of the valva and a narrow, bent, thorn-like process. The two species differ in the shape of the valvae, broadly ovoid in L. butleri, but more narrowly ovoid, sometimes rectangular, in L. mzuzuensis. The male forewing is darker with greater contrasting ochre in the latter species, and uniformly pale cream in L. butleri. The inner side of the valva has long, scattered, black setae in L. butleri. Similar setae are found in L. lutztoepferi, L. michaelgrzimeki, and L. mzuzuensis, but in the latter three species there are more black setae, and basal edge of the uncus is not as straight as it is in L. butleri The female postabdominal structure of L. butleri has two diagnostic characters: (i) segment 8 has many long setae mainly on the dorsal part, near the base of the anterior apophyses, and along the posterior margin. The occurrence of many long setae on segment 8 is a character similar to, but more pronounced in, the configuration in species of Zambezia and even more pronounced in species of the genus Shimonia Lehmann & Rajaei, 2013. (ii) The corpus bursae is narrow, ca. 5.0× longer than the width of segment 8; hence, it is very large compared to the conspicuously pear-shaped corpus bursae of Zambezia madambae. Distribution. Lukeniana butleri is distrubted from Harare (Zimbabwe) to Marondera (formerly Marandellas), ca. 55 km to the southeast, and to Kadoma (formerly Gatooma), ca. 125 km southwest from Harare. Harare (elevation 1,458 –1,538 m) has a subtropical highland climate and is located on the northeastern Highveld plateau (elevation between ca. 1,200 ‒1,600 m) that runs diagonally from northeast to southwest Zimbabwe. The town lies on the Zimbabwean Craton and ca. 150 km south of the Mid-Zambezi Rift, and belongs to the Zambezian regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). Lukeniana butleri can be classified an Afromontane linking species (Figs 23e; 23f). Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana butleri is named in honour of Ronald Rhett Butler (born in Zimbabwe), who has been involved in the safari industry for 39 years, leading birding and wildlife tours in Zimbabwe and other African countries. Rhett was President of the Ornithological Association of Zimbabwe for six years. We are grateful to Rhett for sending specimens of this new species and for his habitat pictures presented herein., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 53-54, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Lehmann, I. & Rajaei, H. (2013) Description of a new genus and three new species of Metarbelidae (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea) from East and Central Africa, with notes on biogeography. Bonn zoological Bulletin, 62 (1), 100 - 110. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 79421","White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp."]}

Metarbelodes Strand, 1909 Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift Iris 22: 119 Type species: Metarbela ? umtaliana Aurivillius, 1901 (Entomologisk Tidskrift 22 (2): 127, Fig. 29), by monotypy. Diagnosis. Metarbelodes is considered monotypic at present. The male genitalia can be distinguished from other metarbelids by a long, hollow, well sclerotized, thorn-like process that originates at the costal margin and is bent strongly downwards towards the ventral edge of valva (autapomorphy). The base of the thorn-like process has a broad, long, open slit dorsally, with a weakly-sclerotized projection attached to it. The forewing has a strong, continuous, tubular CuP fold. Based on the latter, M. umtaliana is likely more closely related to Zambezia than to Lukeniana. Description. Head: Rough-scaled, with light ochre hair-like scales below compound eyes on fronto-clypeus in male; a pair of pits absent from lower fronto-clypeus, a pair of conical projections present on lower fronto-clypeus; pits behind labial palpi ovoid; labial palpi long, almost as long as eye diameter, consisting of three segments, 2 nd segment longest, 1.5–2.3 longer than the basal segment, 3 rd segment shortest, 0.5 length of basal segment; antenna bipectinate in male, branches narrow, 3.5 width of shaft, densely scaled cream; flagellum scaled, cream colored. Thorax: Densely covered with light ochre hair-like scales on patagia and tegulae, slightly glossy, tegulae not pronounced; crest on metathorax small, light ochre. Forelegs and midlegs ochre with long dense hair-like scales. Epiphyses absent. Hindlegs with one pair of narrow tibial spurs, slightly unequal in length (outer spur 1.4 mm, inner spur 1.3 mm); pretarsus with a pair of pulvilli. Forewing upperside with ground colour dark ochre mixed with cream, not glossy, with dark brown, sometimes almost black (= sepia) vertical striae along costa and on the outer half of the forewing upper side; a geometric design is absent (a geometric design was defined by Lehmann 2010b, e.g., the occurrence of any triangular-like or leaf-like patterns); a simple, not contrasting pattern is present and comprises a straight sepia terminal line, not parallel to termen, from near apex to dorsum, strongly bent towards base of wing at M 3; 1A+2A and discocellular vein sepia; CuA 2 is distinctly marked white or cream, narrow edged sepia above. Hindwing cream-coloured, glossy. Fringe long, cilia up to 1.5 mm, cream-coloured, glossy. Forewing venation (Fig. 1d; Fig. 9f) with 1A+2A long forked at base; CuP a strong, tube-like, continuous unsclerotized fold; basal part of CuA 2 originating from two-thirds of lower median; CuA 1 originating from hind margin of posterior cell , M 3 and M 2 originating from apical angle of posterior cell, both are separated at base; M 1 originating from anterior angle of median cell and close to base of a relatively large areole; R 5 originates from posterior angle of areole; R 4 +R 3 +R 2 on a long stalk that is originating from anterior angle of areole close to base of R 5; R 1 originating from anterior part of median cell; Sc more or less parallel to R 1. Hindwing—3A present; 1A+2A rudimentary; CuP present but weak; CuA 2 originating from two-thirds of lower median of posterior cell; CuA 1 originating from hind margin of posterior cell; M 3 and M 2 originating from apical angle of posterior cell, separated; M 1 +Rs originating from apical angle of anterior cell, long-stalked; a short bar present from Rs to Sc+R 1; a discocellular vein on both forewing and hindwing present. Retinaculum and frenulum absent. Abdomen: Externally primarily covered by cream and light ochre, hair-like scales; abdominal tuft cream, short, up to 0.25 length of abdomen. Male genitalia (Fig. 11c) with tegumen fused to vinculum, forming a firm ring. Uncus large, ovoid, comprised of a pair of narrowly rounded lobes, short setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus is not straight but has a crescent-shape in horizontal position at middle. Gnathos short, well above costa, covered with short toothlike processes at distal end, hand-shaped, not connected by a sclerotized band basally. Valva ovoid with broad base, costa lacking setae, inner side of median sector with few setae; large, setose, weakly-sclerotized projection attached to thorn-like process from near base of valva and along costal margin; thorn-like process prominent and hollow; at end of its base with long open slit dorsally where it is connected by a thin membrane to weakly-sclerotized projection; thorn-like process originating from outer side of valva near costa, and strongly bent downwards towards ventral edge of valva. Sacculus strongly reduced to one-third near base of valva. A short emargination (less than 25% length of valva) extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process. Transtilla absent; semi-transtilla short, rectangular with a somewhat leaf-shaped, attached to costa of valva and opposite of vinculum, without setae. Juxta nearly twice as large as saccus with two acuminate tips and a short process at each tip, deeply emargination between tips (90% the length of juxta). Vinculum broad at saccus, twice as large as the saccus, forming a plate-like structure. Saccus digitate, gently rounded caudally. Phallus simple, 1.5 longer than basal width of valva, slightly trumpet-shaped, bilobate, with a cleft at each end. Female postabdominal structure and genitalia unknown. Species richness. As defined herein, the genus includes only the type species, M. umtaliana., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 8-9, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Strand, E. (1909) Fam. Metarbelidae (Hollandiidae). In: Lepidoptera aus Deutsch-Ostafrika gesammelt von Herrn Oberleutnant Wintgens. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift \" Iris \", 22, 118 - 121.","Aurivillius, C. (1901) Diagnosen neuer Lepidopteren aus Afrika. Fam. Hollandiidae. Entomologisk Tidskrift, 22 (2), 126 - 128.","Lehmann, I. (2010 b) s. n. In: A revision of the genus Arbelodes Karsch (Lepidoptera: Cossoidea: Metarbelidae) from southeastcentral and southern Africa with the description of thirteen new species. Published by the author, Hamburg & Wismar, pp. 3 - 81, 8 b / w pls., 5 colour pls. Available from http: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / bibliography / 79419 (accessed 30 March 2021)"]}

Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza, Husemann, Martin (2023): 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 5267 (1): 1-106, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1

Lukeniana georgeadamsoni Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 7a, 17b urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C1FD23A2-F578-4C99-9C03-394BFF3B33D0 Type locality and repository: Kenya, the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (NMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Kenya, Eastern Province, Machakos District, Game Ranching and Research Limited, 25 August 1989, I. Lehmann leg., genitalia slide number 07/092012 I. Lehmann (NMK). Paratype male, Kenya, same locality, 15. March 1999, I. Lehmann leg., genitalia slide number 082000 I. Lehmann (first author’s collection). Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with pale orange-yellow and sepia-coloured shiny hair-like scales; long, dense hair-like scales between eyes; eyes entirely black; antenna 0.50 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 8.0 width of shaft, covered with ivory-yellow scales laterally, ivory-yellow scales dorsally; antennal tips slightly spatulate and with some long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi cream coloured. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae shiny with long hair-like scales of ochre mixed with ivory-yellow. Small ivory-yellow metathoracic crest. Hindlegs pale orange-yellow and ivory-yellow with fine hair-like shiny scales; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur ca. 1.0 mm. Forewing length in holotype 13.0 mm (wingspan 28.5 mm), in paratype 12.5 mm (wingspan 27.0 mm). Forewing upperside pale orange-yellow; costal margin sepia; entire forewing without distinctly coloured striae; along termen a broad band of ivory-yellow with small spots of sepia at ends of veins R 3 to CuA 2; CuA 2 presenting a broad pure white band, edged with dark ochre above; all remaining veins not distinctly coloured except partially ochre 1A+2A; cilia very long, 1.6 mm, shiny, light ochre. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, light ochre, glossy, costal margin sepia. Hindwing upperside pure white; cilia as in forewing; underside as in forewing. Abdomen: Dark ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, glossy; abdominal tuft very long, ca. 40% of abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 17b) with rounded uncus lobes, bearing short setae ventrally; gnathos arms slightly longer than basal width of valva and bent towards uncus; valva elongate (without a strongly bent upwards costal margin), rectangular, base only slightly broader than distal end of valva, costa with few long setae; sacculus broad with short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection setose, with a rectangular tip, slightly longer than single thorn-like process below; the latter narrow, long (but shorter than length of juxta and less than 50% of basal width of valva), strongly bent and well developed, hollow with an acuminate tip lacking setae; median sector of valva with short setae on inner side forming more than five rows from base of valva towards a short, ovoid emargination; latter extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process and extending 25% of length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent. Saccus as long as juxta, finger-shaped, narrow. Juxta small, long and narrow, much smaller than base of saccus, with two acuminate tips, each bearing a short process, deep emargination between tips, ca. 90% of length of juxta. Phallus trumpet-like and of medium length, slightly longer than width of valva, not bent at middle, bilobate with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. The narrow and delicate thorn-like process and the shape of the valva resemble those of L. chapmani. At least four characters separate L. georgeadamsoni from the latter species: (i) the very long abdominal tuft in the male, ca. 40% of abdominal length, is the longest among all species of Lukeniana treated herein; (ii) the valvae are elongate and rectangular as in L. chapmani, but have a broader base (almost equal to outer edge of uncus lobe); (iii) the phallus is of medium length, only slightly longer than the width of the valva, and not bent near the middle, hence, it is longer than in L. chapmani; (iv) the basal edge of the uncus is straight and not strongly bent at the middle as in L. chapmani. The forewing upperside is pale orange-yellow and the whole forewing is without distinctly coloured striae, which resembles the upperside of L. carolae. These species can be easily separated on the basis of the differences in the gnathos arms that resemble half of a hand in L. carolae, but are more completely palmate in L. georgeadamsoni. Distribution. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni is known from the Athi River-Kapiti Plains (Fig. 21d), located ca. 50 km east of the Kenya Rift and ca. 1.5 km west of the highest point of the Lukenia Hills (1,840 m) on the game ranch of Dr. David Hopcraft. The ranch is situated within the Somalia-Masai regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). Based on its known distribution, this species is provisionally classified an Afromontane linking species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana georgeadamsoni is named after the late Game Warden and Wildlife Conservationist George Alexander Graham Adamson (1906–1989), who, by the movie Born Free, was the one igniting the first authors love for Kenya in 1977 at the age of 13., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 40-42, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp."]}

Lukeniana friederikebauerae Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 4f, 16b urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 96219CA8-293F-49B0-9D62-5DF06CE86E00 Type locality and repository: Zamibia, the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo (NMZB). Material examined. Holotype male, Zambia, Lusaka (Lusaka Province, Lusaka District), 27.October.1967, R. C. Dening leg., Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia, on second label: “Dening 962A”, on third label: “Access.No. NMZ 4499”, genitalia slide number 09/082015 I. Lehmann (NMZB). Paratype female, Zambia, Lusaka (Lusaka Province, Lusaka District), 17 October 1965, no collector mentioned, Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia, on second label: number 535A, on third label: “Access. No. NMZ 4498”, genitalia slide number 17/092015 I. Lehmann (NMZB). Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with some light ochre hair-like scales, shiny; long, dense hair-like scales between eyes; eyes black; antenna 0.46 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6.0 width of shaft, branches covered with cream-coloured scales laterally, shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips slightly spatulate, densely scaled, bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae shiny, with long hair-like scales of light ochre, mixed with honey yellow. A small crest of light-cream mixed with ivory-yellow on metathorax. Hindlegs yellow ochre with fine hair-like scales, shiny; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.0 mm, inner spur ca. 0.6 mm. Forewing length of holotype 13.0 mm (wingspan 26.0 mm). Forewing upperside light ochre; costal margin and whole forewing with few very faded striae; termen with very faded lunules of ochre in both sexes; terminal line and a subterminal line faded or absent; CuA 2 ivory-yellow, edged sepia above; all remaining veins light ochre and indistinct from ground-colour; cilia long, 1.2 mm, light cream-coloured, shiny. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, ivory-yellow, glossy and without any lines; costal margin dark honey yellow, without striae. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow, shiny, cilia long, 1.1 mm; underside as in forewing but without a darker costal margin. Abdomen: Light cream-coloured, shiny; abdominal tuft short, one-fourth of abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 16b) with uncus lobes bearing rounded tips, emarginate with a truncate base, ventral setae short, basal edge of uncus nearly acute, outer edge slightly C-shaped; gnathos arms short, not touching upper edge of juxta, and unusually narrow but with a broad palmate end with long tooth-like processes; valvae narrow, rectangular, costa without setae; sacculus with few long and short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection setose with a rectangular end, the whole projection is longer than thorn-like process; latter hollow with an acuminate tip and no setae, strongly bent upward, long, extending slightly beyond costa; median sector of valva with short setae on inner side that form a row from base of valva to ovoid emargination; latter extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, 30% of length of valva. Saccus long, finger-shaped, without medial fold at middle; juxta unusually large and broad, 3.0 as broad as width of saccus, with acuminate tip on each side. Phallus longer than width of valva, not trumpetlike, several times strongly bent, e.g., in its central part, and with one end bent upward, slightly bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Head and Thorax: Essentially as described for male, except eyes olive; antenna 0.38 length of forewing, unipectinate, with branches 1.0 width of shaft and slightly longer towards tip; antennal tips very short, not bending towards apex; forewing length 17.5 mm (wingspan 37.5 mm); costal margin ochre. Tibial spurs ca. 1.1 mm (outer spur) and ca. 0.8 mm (inner spur). Abdomen: Genitalia with papillae anales broad, 8-shaped in posterior view, densely setose with both short and very long setae. Segment 8 with few scattered long setae, none along its posterior margin; two broad latero-ventral sclerotized plates present, both triangular with an acuminate end and broadest at middle medio-ventrally; outer plate covering ca. 65–75% of width of ventral side of segment 8. Dorso-anterior margin of abdominal plate without an emargination. Posterior apophysis straight, broad at posterior half, 2 as broad as width of anterior apophysis; posterior apophysis with process at posterior end; its dorsal edge uneven.Anterior apophyses straight and slightly shorter than posterior apophyses. Ductus bursae and corpus bursae thinly membranous without any distinct structures; corpus bursae pear-shaped with a short ductus bursae, one fourth length of corpus bursae. Diagnosis. Lukeniana friederikebauerae is most similar to L. madrandelei; both species have narrow, elongate valvae and elongate uncus lobes. The triangular basal edges of the uncus and the short gnathos arms that do not touch the coastal margin of the valva are also similar in both species. The species differ in the following characters: (i) the gnathos arms of L. friederikebauerae are the narrowest among the species of Lukeniana. The gnathos arms of L. madrandelei are broad along the entire length. (ii) The juxta is large in L. friederikebauerae, 3 larger than the finger-shaped saccus, while the juxta is small in L. madrandelei, 1.5 larger than the finger-shaped saccus. (iii) The emargination between the uncus lobes is as wide at its base as the tip of one lobe in L. friederikebauerae, but only half as wide as a tip of one lobe in L. madrandelei; (iv) in both species the postabdominal structure of the female has narrow and straight anterior apophyses pointing upward, and the shape of the posterior apophyses is similar with a much broader base, 3 as wide as the anterior apophysis in L. madrandelei and 2 as wide as the anterior apophysis in L. friederikebauerae. Two remarkable differences between females of both species are: (i) the posterior apophysis has no process at its posterior end in L. madrandelei, but bears a hook-like process in L. friederikebauerae; (ii) in the latter species the entire posterior edge of segment 8 has no setae. This is unique to L. friederikebauerae. Note that the venation differs between the two species: in L. friederikebauerae forewing veins R 3 +R 4 are separated from R 2, whereas in L. madrandelei R 3 +R 4 are not separated from R 2. Distribution. Lukeniana friederikebauerae is known from Lusaka (south-central Zambia) ca. 410 km south of the type locality of L. madrandelei. Lusaka (elevation 1,226 –1,305 m) is located on the Southern African Plateau. The vegetation map for south-central Africa (Wild & Barbosa 1968) shows Lusaka surrounded by a dry deciduous type of Zambezian miombo woodland (sensu White 1983). Lukeniana friederikebauerae is considered an Afromontane linking species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana friederikebauerae is named for Friederike Ursula Bauer, born in 1974, who worked intensively on understanding the formation of the Rwenzori Mountains. The first author is very grateful to Friederike for significant support and for her critical comments on text versions on the EARS used in Lehmann (2019b)., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Wild, H. & Barbosa, L. A. Grandvaux (1968) Vegetation map (1: 2 500 000 in colour) of the Flora Zambesiaca area. Descriptive memoir. M. O. Collins, Salisbury, Rhodesia, 71 pp. [Supplement to Flora Zambesiaca]","White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp.","Lehmann, I. (2019 b) First revision of the family Metarbelidae Strand, 1909 (Lepidoptera, Cossoidea Leach, 1815) and a phylogeny based on adult morphology of 60 genera from the Afrotropical and Oriental Region. Doctoral Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn, Bonn, 397 pp. [online-edition in bonndoc: https: // nbn-resolving. org / urn: nbn: de: hbz: 5 n- 55423]"]}

Lukeniana carolae Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 8e, 14b urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 44D15AE3-4A80-4721-8B7F-41C67496F1F9 Type locality and repository: Malawi, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB / ZFMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Malawi, Central Region, Ntchisi District, Mount Ntchisi, Ntchisi Forest Reserve, 1,560 m, 03–04 November 2012, R. J. Murphy leg., genitalia slide number 20/102013 I. Lehmann (ZFMK). Description. Male. Head: Ochre mixed with honey yellow, glossy; eyes black; antenna 0.43× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 5.0× width of shaft, densely covered with ochre scales laterally, shaft with ochre scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, densely scaled, bending towards apex; labial palpi honey-yellow, with few sepia scales dorsally. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long, honey-yellow, hair-like scales mixed with some ivory-yellow, glossy. A small ochre crest on metathorax. Hindlegs sepia mixed with fine hair-like scales of ochre, glossy; one pair of narrow tibial spurs of unequal length, outer spur ca. 1.2 mm, inner spur ca. 1.1 mm. Forewing length 15.0 mm (wingspan 34.0 mm). Forewing ground colour honey yellow in inner half, ochre in outer half; costal margin without striae of sepia; forewing with only few sepia striae instead of a subterminal line and a terminal line; sepia spots at ends of veins along termen; CuA 2 white, edged with broad band of sepia above; remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia long, 1.5 mm, ochre, shiny. Forewing underside roughly scaled near base of wing, pale ochre, glossy, costal margin ochre and honey yellow. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow, glossy; cilia and underside as in forewing but costal margin not distinctly coloured. Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, glossy; abdominal tuft short, ca. 25% of abdomen length. Genitalia (Fig. 14b) with uncus lobes bearing broadly rounded tips, densely covered with long and short setae ventrally and dorsally, basal edge of uncus not bent at middle; gnathos arms long, slightly longer than basal width of valva; valva broadly ovoid and short, not longer than outer edge of one uncus lobe, with a broader base; costa with few short setae; sacculus very broad (one-third width of valva) with long setae near base of thorn-like process; weakly-sclerotized projection setose, with a rectangular tip, longer than single thick thorn-like process below; the latter hollow with a rounded tip bearing no setae in its upper half; median sector of valva with short setae on inner side forming three rows from base of valva towards an ovoid emargination; latter extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, 35% of length of valva. Saccus smaller than juxta, narrow, finger-shaped with a broader base and a strong fold at middle. Juxta almost twice as large as saccus, broad with two acuminate tips, each bearing a short process at each tip, between tips a deep emargination (90% of length of juxta). Phallus slightly longer than width of valva, not trumpet-like, slightly bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. The genitalia of L. carolae are similar to those of L. mzuzuensis, sharing a short, thick thorn-like process that represents an extension of a very broad sacculus, at least as wide as one-third the width of the valva. The two species can be separated by the width of valva: unusually short in L. carolae, not as long as the outer edge of the uncus lobe; more elongate in L. mzuzuensis, 1.2× longer than the outer edge of the uncus lobe. The forewing upperside is honey yellow in L. carolae, and the entire forewing is without distinctly coloured striae, resembles that of L. georgeadamsoni; in contrast to the forewing upperside of L. mzuzuensis. Lukeniana carolae can be distinguished by two unique characters: (i) the ends of the gnathos arms are not palmate and rounded, but is elongate, and shaped resembling half of a hand; (ii) the scale-like projections at the end of the gnathos arms are short, only half the usual length in other species. Additional remarkable character states are the juxta almost twice as large as the saccus; and the uncus densely covered with setae both ventrally and dorsally. Distribution. Lukeniana carolae is known from Mount Ntchisi (also known as Nchisi) (elevation 1,645 m), located at the northeastern end of the Dowa Hills (Malawi), which is part of a massive ridge running northeast to southwest close to the edge of the Western Branch of the EARS, ca. 32 km west of Lake Malawi and the Malawi Rift. It belongs to the Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983), and L carolae is recognized as an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana carolae is named after the wildlife photographer Carol Cawthra Hopcraft. The first author is very grateful for many unforgettable months on the large game ranch owned by her and her husband, Dr. David Hopcraft, with the first experiences of Kenyan Lepidoptera and their free cheetah ‘Dooms’ on the Athi RiverKapiti Plains (cf. Hopcraft & Hopcraft 1997) during 1989 and 2002.

Lukeniana jankiellandi Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 8a, 17f urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2A2549A9-479D-4B61-BC60-0BFFDCAFAE0A Type locality and repository: Tanzania, the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway (NHMO). Material examined. Holotype male, Tanzania, Katavi Region, Mpanda District, Luega village, 25 August 1972, J. Kielland leg., label number A. Bjørnstad 42079, genitalia slide number 20/022012 I. Lehmann (NHMO). Description. Male. Head: ochre; eyes brown with small black spots; antenna 0.56× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6.0× width of shaft, densely covered with ochre scales laterally, shaft with ochre scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, densely scaled, bending towards apex; labial palpi dark ochre, without sepia dorsally. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long shiny hair-like ochre scales. Small ochre metathoracic crest. Hindlegs ochre with fine hair-like scales, shiny; one pair of narrow tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur ca. 1.0 mm. Forewing length 12.5 mm (wingspan 28.0 mm). Forewing upperside with a pale appearance, predominantly pale ochre, costal margin without striae of sepia; forewing with only one pale subterminal line; pale spots of sepia at terminus of veins; CuA 2 narrow, white, edged with broad band of sepia above, extending on lower median of cell to base of forewing; all remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia very long, 1.9 mm, ochre, shiny. Forewing underside roughly scaled near base of wing, light cream-coloured, glossy, costal margin ochre. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow; cilia and underside as on forewing. Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, glossy; abdominal tuft ca. 25% abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 17f) with broadly rounded uncus lobes, outer edge C-shaped, inner edge triangular, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus deeply bent at middle, triangular; gnathos arms short, their horizontal edge only 50% length of basal width of valva, but almost touching coastal margin of valva; valva broad at base, ovoid, costa straight with few setae; sacculus broad, with long setae but only near base of thorn-like process; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae and broad rectangular tip longer than single thick and long thorn-like process below; the latter strongly curved upward, hollow, with a rounded tip and no dots with tiny setae; base of thorn-like process broad; a second thorn-like process present; median sector of valva with few rows of short setae on inner face; a short, broad, rounded emargination extending ca. 25% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process; entire ventral side of valva slightly C-shaped. Saccus short, triangular, narrow with an acuminate tip. Juxta larger than saccus, broad with two acuminate tips, each bearing a broad flag-like process, emargination between tips extending 90% length of juxta. Phallus long, 1.5× length of valva, not trumpet-like, bent near middle, bilobate with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Lukeniana jankiellandi is most similar to L. bergsteni. The two share a second well developed thorn at the base of the thorn-like process and an invaginated basal edge of the uncus. The uncus tips are narrowly rounded in L. bergsteni but broadly rounded in L. jankiellandi. The gnathos arms are long in L. bergsteni, 1.3× the length of basal width of valva, but not longer than the basal width of valva in L. jankiellandi. The emargination above the thorn-like process is only 25% of the width of valva in L. jankiellandi, but 35% in L. bergsteni. Diagnostic characters of L. jankiellandi include the uncus with broadly rounded lobes; the horizontal hand-like part of the short gnathos arms only ca. 50% of width of the valva at its base; and the narrowly rectangular semi-transtilla. Distribution. Lukeniana jankiellandi is known only from Luega (or Lwega) (elevation 1,235 m), a remote village located in the Mwese Division of the Mwese Highlands, ca. 25 km east of the south-eastern border of Mahale Mountains National Park in western Tanzania, ca. 40 km east from Lake Tanganyika and the Tanganyika Rift, and within the Zambezian regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). The original vegetation is wetter Zambezian miombo woodland. Lukeniana jankiellandi can be classified as an Afromontane linking species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. The species is named in honour of the naturalist Jan Gabriel Adalbert Kielland (1923‒1995) who died tragically in a road accident near Dar es Salaam. Jan began studying Tanzanian butterflies seriously after 1969 and described all 1,120 species in his major work “Butterflies of Tanzania ” (Kielland 1990), including 144 taxa new to science. He authored numerous progress reports to the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology with appeals for the conservation of unique forest habitats (Bjørnstad 1998), many of them decimated within a few years until present. Jan lived in Luega village for 14 years (Anders Bjørnstad pers. com. to I.L. in 2013)., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on page 47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp.","Kielland, J. (1990) Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House Publishers Melbourne and London, 363 pp., including 68 colour pls.","Bjornstad, A. (1998) In Memoriam Jan Kielland (1923 - 1995). In: Congdon, C. & Collins, S., Kielland's Butterflies of Tanzania Supplement. African Butterfly Research Institute (Nairobi, Kenya) and Union des Entomologistes Belges, Tervuren, pp. 1 - 143, six colour pls."]}

Lukeniana rajaeii Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 3e, 10b, 13d urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 318C7422-38B6-47CD-ACA9-57EA7B67CB32 Type locality and repository: Ethiopia, the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany (SMNS). Material examined. Holotype male, Ethiopia, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (during the 1960s until 1995 Gamu Gofa Province), today Gamo Gofa administrative zone, formerly Semien Omo (= North Omo) zone, Gidole, 0534′ N (correct: 0538′–0539′ N), 3726′ E (correct: 3721′ E), 2,200 m, 23 February–05 March 1960, W. Richter leg., no genitalia dissection done (SMNS). Paratypes: one male, Ethiopia, same data as holotype, genitalia slide number 23/052015 I. Lehmann (SMNS); one male (the largest and most intact specimen and described/figured herein), Ethiopia, same data as holotype, genitalia slide number 26/082015 I. Lehmann (SMNS). Description (based on largest paratype). Male. Head: Honey-yellow, shiny, with long hair-like scales on the lower part of the frons; eyes vinaceous brown with small black spots; antenna unusually long (0.50-0.53 length of forewing), bipectinate, with branches 4.5 width of shaft, branches and shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips with slightly longer scales, bent towards apex; labial palpi honey yellow. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with shiny, long hair-like scales of honey-yellow mixed with ochre and cream with few small patches of sepia. Metathorax with small crest of cream-coloured scales. Hindlegs yellow ochre mixed with sepia, with fine shiny hair-like scales; one pair of narrow tibial spurs present, outer spur 1.0 mm, inner spur 0.9 mm. Forewing length of holotype 15.0 mm (wingspan 31.5 mm), of paratypes 15.5 mm and 14.0 mm (wingspan 32.5 and 29.5 mm). Forewing upperside light honey yellow, not glossy; a broad white band below CuA 2, twice as broad as sepia band above, extending from near base of forewing to CuA 2 and dorsum; costa from base of wing along half its length honey-yellow with few weak striae of sepia; a faded terminal line almost parallel along termen, subterminal line and postmedial line dark ochre, almost continuous from costa to CuA 2 and slightly bent towards base of wing between R 5 and M 2; veins not distinctly coloured; cilia long, 1.2 mm, cream-coloured, shiny; lunules faded or absent along termen. Underside of forewing rough-scaled, cream-coloured, without striae, glossy; only costal margin darker, honey-yellow mixed with few sepia striae. Hindwing upperside and cilia light cream, glossy, 1.2 mm long. Underside light cream, costa light ochre without striae. Abdomen: Mainly honey-yellow mixed with cream, shiny; abdominal tuft short and less than one-third of abdomen length. Genitalia (Fig. 13d) one of the largest of any congener. Uncus subrectangular, outer edge slightly C-shaped near basal edge, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus bent at middle; gnathos arms slightly longer than width of valva, not touching coastal margin of valva, bent towards uncus and connected posteriorly with a thin membrane, probably not chitinized; valva broadly rectangular, costa nearly straight but bent upward at middle, semi-transtilla subrectangular, without setae; sacculus with few short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae, broad rounded tip slightly longer than short thorn-like process below; thorn-like process appearing reduced and slightly curved upward, hollow, tip rounded, no dots, without tiny setae, its base 0.7 as broad as weakly-sclerotized projection above, and without a second thorn-like process; median sector of valva with very few short setae on inner side; short, broad, ovoid emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, ca. 25% length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus half as large as juxta, finger-shaped with a rounded tip; vinculum very broad, plate-like, opposite saccus (plate-like structure 12 x larger than saccus). Juxta narrow, tall (1.5 as tall as width of juxta) with two acuminate tips, emargination between tips very deep, 90% length of juxta. Phallus short, as long as width of valva, slightly trumpet-like, bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft on each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Lukeniana rajaeii has two unique character states: each lobe of the uncus has a nearly equally broad basal edge and upper edge and hence, the lobe has an rectangular shape; and the upper width of the uncus lobe is the broadest, if compared to all congeners, with ca. 80% of width of valva in ventral view. Other diagnostic characters include: the thorn-like process is thick and much reduced in its length, it is the shortest in the genus; and the thornlike process has a broader base, but strongly reduced since it is only 0.7 as broad as the weakly-sclerotized projection above, hence this base is the smallest among the genus. L. raymondrevellii shares character states with L. rajaeii due to the rectangular shape of the uncus and valvae, and due to the thorn-like process that is less pronounced, representing a somewhat transitional character state. Hence, both species share a less developed, thorn-like process that is weakly sclerotized in L. raymondrevellii, but slightly stronger sclerotized in L. rajaeii. Major differences between the species are the lower half of the vein of the anterior cell, that always occurs between M 1 and M 2 in the hindwing, is not obsolete in the holotype and in the paratypes of L. rajaeii; the aedeagus is broad and short, not longer than the width of valva in L. rajaeii, but narrow and ca. 20% longer than the width of valva in L. raymondrevellii; the basal edge of one uncus lobe is ca. 1.9 longer than the upper edge of the same uncus lobe in the latter species but of almost equal length in L. rajaeii; the ventral end of the gnathos arms is much narrower if compared to the basal width of the gnathos arms in L. raymondrevellii but the ventral end is broader in L. rajaeii; the inner side of the gnathos arms is cut in L. raymondrevellii; and the thorn-like process is narrow and has an acuminate tip in the latter species but is broad with a rounded tip in L. rajaeii. Distribution. Lukeniana rajaeii is known from Gidole on the southern Ethiopian Plateau, ca. 10 km southwest of the southern tip of Lake Chamo and ca. 150 km north from the frontier to Kenya. Gidole (elevation 1,852 –2,259 m) is located within the Southern Main Ethiopian Rift (SMER) sensu Keranen & Klemperer (2008) and in the “high rainfall interval” of 1332–2331 mm of the physiographic unit Southwestern Plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands sensu Friis (1992). Lukeniana rajaeii can be classified as an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. The new species is named in honor of Hossein Rajaei Shoorcheh, Lepidoptera curator and researcher at the State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart. The first author is grateful to Hossein for significant help during studies for his doctoral dissertation on Metarbelidae at the ZFMK, Bonn.

Lukeniana obliqualinea (Bethune-Baker, 1909) Figs 3b; 3c; 9b; 13b; 11e Metarbela obliqualinea Bethune-Baker, 1909. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History (8)3(17): 425. Material examined. Holotype male, Kenya, Nairobi (today Nairobi Province), 18 February 1906, F. J. Jackson leg., genitalia slide number “Cossid 49 BMNH ” (Fig.11). Additional specimens: one male, Kenya, Nairobi, February 1928, Dr. van Someren leg., on second label: “van Someren collection 1959–468”, genitalia slide number 26/082012 I. Lehmann (NHMUK); one male, Kenya, same locality, March 1958, R. H. Carcasson leg., genitalia slide number 16/032008 I. Lehmann (NMK); one male, Kenya, Nairobi, Kabete, 25 February 1973, Dr H. Politzar leg., genitalia slide number 15/082014 I. Lehmann (ZSM); one male, Kenya, Nairobi, Loresho Ridge, March 1975, M.P. Clifton leg., genitalia slide number 04/042016 I. Lehmann (NMK); one female, Kenya, Nairobi, Loresho Ridge, April 1975, M.P. Clifton leg., genitalia slide number 19/022008 I. Lehmann (NMK); one female, Kenya, Nairobi, Ngong, February 1954, Mast. Coulson leg., genitalia slide number 27/052015 I. Lehmann (NMK); one male, Kenya, Fort Hall (today Murang’a), April 1967 (or 1957?), P. Sounders (?) leg., genitalia slide number 31/052016 I. Lehmann (NMK). Re-description. Male. Head: Ochre; long and dense hair-like scales between compound eyes; eyes brown with small black spots; antenna 0.50‒0.52 length of forewing, bipectinate, with antennal branches 5 width of shaft, covered with cream-coloured scales laterally; antennal shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips slightly spatulate, with two long scales bending towards apex in male; labial palpi ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long hair-like ochreous scales. A small ochreous crest with intermixed creamcoloured scales on metathorax. Hind legs ochre with fine hair-like scales, shiny; a pair of narrow, long tibial spurs of unequal length, outer spur ca. 1.2 mm, inner spur ca. 1.0 mm in male. Forewing length 13.0‒ 13.5 mm (wingspan 28.5‒31.0 mm). Forewing upperside ochre; termen with sepia striae; oblique terminal line and subterminal lines of sepia, more or less parallel from near apex to end of CuA 1; CuA 2 broad and ivory-yellow, edged sepia above; all remaining veins slightly distinctly coloured ochre in female except 1A+2A; base of forewing in female faint sepia, less visible in males; cilia long, 1.5 mm, shiny ochre. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, light ochre, glossy, costal margin slightly darker and with few striae. Hindwing upperside and cilia cream, glossy, cilia long, 1.5 mm; underside as in forewing but without striae. Abdomen: Mainly hair-like scales of ochre mixed with cream, shiny, abdominal tuft short, one-fifth of abdomen length. Genitalia (Fig. 13b) with uncus lobes almost rectangular, inner edge with a pointed apex, many long and short setae ventrally, emargination between lobes 30–40% of surface of one uncus lobe, basal edge of uncus in ventral view slightly bent at middle; gnathos arms broad and long (slightly longer than basal width of valva), bent, not extending towards upper half of juxta; valvae with a broad base, slightly ovoid, costa with few short setae, sacculus with long and short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection moderately setose, setae long, rectangular tip of the weakly-sclerotized projection touches the thick thorn-like process below, latter with few setae, bent and well developed, hollow with a rounded tip; median sector of valva with short setae on inner side that form rows from base of valva towards an ovoid emargination between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process and extending 55% length of valva, ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus larger than juxta, broad, triangular, tip broadly rounded. Juxta broad with two acuminate tips, each with a short process at its apex, emargination between tips deep, 90% length of juxta. Phallus not trumpet-like, slightly longer than width of valva, bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at both ends. Female. Head: Essentially as described for male; except antenna 0.30 length of forewing, unipectinate, with antennal branches 1.0 width of shaft, antennal tips very short, acuminate, slightly longer than hair-like scales bending towards apex. Thorax: Essentially as described for male, except length of hindleg tibial spurs ca. 1.3 mm (outer spur) and ca. 0.9 mm (inner spur); forewing length 21.0 mm (wingspan 45.0 mm); forewing including costal margin with sepia or dark ochre striae, termen with sepia lunules; terminal, subtermina, and postmedial lines and sepia-coloured veins rendering reticulate appearance. Abdomen: Genitalia with papillae anales broad, 8-shaped in posterior view, densely setose with long and short setae. Segment 8 with some short setae on upper surface and along posterior margin; one broad triangular ventrolateral sclerotized band tapering towards base of anterior apophysis covering almost 100% of ventral side of segment 8; another, narrow band behind; the latter narrowest at its centre and completely fused with the other band posteriorly but open anteriorly. Hence, both bands look like two plates partly fused along its posterior margin, but not fused along its anterior margin. Dorso-anterior margin of abdominal plate without an emargination. Posterior apophyses narrow, of equal width and slightly sinuate towards dorsal side of segment 8; anterior apophyses almost straight, slightly shorter than posterior apophyses. Corpus bursae pear-shaped with a shorter ductus bursae both thinly membranous and have no distinct characters. Diagnosis. Lukeniana obliqualinea is larger and has shorter and broader forewings in both sexes than L. lutztoepferi sp. nov., which also occurs in Nairobi. It has the following unique characters in the male genitalia: the saccus is short and very broad (its width is equal to its length) with a broadly obtuse tip and without a slit which is present in L. lutztoepferi, in which the saccus is longer than wide; and the female postabdominal structure has posterior apophyses that are narrow, with a short posterior end with a wing-like process on each side. The rectangular shape of the uncus and the thick, short thorn-like process resemble those of L. rajaeii which can be easily distinguished from the former two species by the broad, rectangular valvae, that are ovoid in L. obliqualinea and L. lutztoepferi; the small saccus with a broad plate of the vinculum opposite of the former, this plate is entirely absent in L. obliqualinea and L. lutztoepferi; the uncus that is not elongate but very elongate in lutztoepferi; and the largest wing size among males with a very broad and white coloured CuA 2 in the forewing of L. rajaeii. Lukeniana obliqualinea is the closest relative of L. kakamegaensis sp. nov., occurring ca. 250 km further northwest of Nairobi. Distribution. Lukeniana obliqualinea is known from areas in and around Nairobi, extending ca. 76 km north to Murang’a (south-central Kenya). Nairobi (elevation 1,655 –1,895 m) is situated on the drier East African Plateau ca. 25 km east of the Kenyan Rift. The former rises from the bushland-covered Somalia-Masai plains and belongs to the Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983). Based on its distribution, L. obliqualinea can be classified as an Afromontane near-endemic species (sensu White 1983). Habitat. See Appendix 1.

Lukeniana michaelgrzimeki Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 5b, 5c, 10a, 16d urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 40073D25-07E7-472C-8774-89022C1D8722 Type locality and repository: Tanzania, the Zoological State Collection, Munich (ZSM). Material examined. Holotype male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Arumeru District, Mount Meru, Momella, 1.600‒ 1.800 m, 20‒31 January 1964, W. Forster leg., genitalia slide number 24/082012 I. Lehmann (ZSM). Paratypes: one female, same locality and elevation, 01–10 February 1964, W. Forster leg., genitalia slide number 10/082014 I. Lehmann (ZSM); one male, same locality, elevation, date and collector, no genitalia dissection done (ZSM). Description. Male. Head: Yellow-ochre; eyes brown with black patches; antenna 0.48 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6 width of shaft, covered with ivory-yellow scales laterally, shaft covered with ivory-yellow scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate with two longer scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long hair-like scales of cream mixed with yellow ochre, glossy. A small crest of ivory-yellow on metathorax. Hindlegs ochre with fine hair-like scales, shiny; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.2 mm, inner spur ca. 1.0 mm. Forewing length of holotype 12.5 mm (wingspan 27.5 mm). Forewing upperside ochre with few sepia striae, costal margin sepia with few darker striae; termen with lunules of sepia; a slightly bent subterminal line of sepia from near apex to end of CuA 2, with a square design between M 1 and M 2 (possibly a variable character); at upper end of CuA 2 a narrow and almost straight line of sepia to costal margin; CuA 2 broad, ivory-yellow with pure white, edged by a narrow band of sepia above; all remaining veins not distinctly coloured; upper base of forewing dark ochre in both sexes; cilia very long, 2.0 mm, yellow-ochre, shiny. Underside of forewing roughly scaled, primarily ivory-yellow, ochre along costa, glossy, subterminal line not visible. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow mixed with pure white, glossy, cilia colour as in forewing, very long, 2.0 mm in both sexes; underside as in forewing. Abdomen: Ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, shiny; abdominal tuft one-fifth of abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 16 d) with uncus represents a pair of broad rounded lobes, outer edge slightly C-shaped, basal edge pointed as well as strongly bent at middle towards emargination of uncus, emargination small, width slightly broader than tip of uncus lobe; lobes densely covered with long setae ventrally; gnathos arms long (almost 1.2 basal width of valva), but not touching coastal margin of valva, slightly bent towards uncus; valva ovoid, broader at base, costa slightly bent, with few long setae; sacculus with long setae; weakly-sclerotized projection with a prickly appearance due to many long setae, tip rounded, its end is equal in length to thickly sclerotized, narrow and short thorn-like process; latter slightly bent, hollow, with a rounded tip and many dots with tiny setae; from base of thorn-like process to beginning of sacculus edge S-shaped ventrally; median sector of valva with scattered long setae on inner side; long, broad, ovoid emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, ca. 40% length of valva; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus as long as juxta, digitate, narrow, rounded distally. Juxta broad with two acuminate tips, each bearing a thorn-like process, emargination between tips deep, 90% length of juxta. Phallus long, 1.2 length of valva, almost trumpet-like, strongly bent near narrower end, bilobed, cleft on one end. Female. Head and Thorax: Essentially as described for male, except antenna unipectinate, slightly bipectinate towards tip; branches of antenna 1 width of shaft; antenna 0.41 length of forewing; scales of patagia and tegulae not shiny; lunules of termen faded compared to those of male; forewing length 21.5 mm (wingspan 46.5 mm). Abdomen: Genitalia with papillae anales broad, dorsal part 8-shaped in posterior view, densely covered with long and short setae. Segment 8 with scattered long setae along posterior margin and on entire surface; two broad latero-ventral sclerotized bands, completely fused along posterior margin and separated along anterior margin by a rectangular end towards base of anterior apophysis; bands covering more than 100% of ventral side of segment 8 (in ventral view) and are thickly sclerotized. Dorso-anterior margin of abdominal plate without an emargination. Posterior apophysis straight with slightly broader base 1.5 as broad as width of base of anterior apophysis. Anterior apophyses straight, rounded at tip. Posterior apophyses and anterior apophyses of almost equal length. Ductus and corpus bursae broad, thinly membranous and without any processes or distinct characters; corpus bursae elliptical, ca. 3.0 as long as anterior apophysis. Diagnosis. One character in male genitalia shared by L. michaelgrzimeki and L. lutztoepferi is the dense covering of the ventral side of the uncus with long setae. However, the species most similar to L. michaelgrzimeki with respect to the male genitalia is L. kammeri (diagnosis below). Lukeniana michaelgrzimeki has three characters unique among all Lukeniana species: (i) the thorn-like process of the valva has many dots with tiny setae; (ii) the weakly-sclerotized projection has a prickly appearance due to many long setae; and (iii) the costa and the sacculus have scattered long setae. In the female postabdominal structure cover the ventral bands more than 100% of the ventral side of segment 8 (in ventral view). They are similar in shape and structure to those of L. mikerobertsi. The corpus bursae is elliptical in L. michaelgrzimeki but round in L. mikerobertsi. Additionally, the base of the posterior apophysis is only 1.5 broader than the width of the base of the anterior apophyses in L. michaelgrzimeki, but 4 broader than the width of the base of the anterior apophyses in L. mikerobertsi. Distribution. Lukeniana michaelgrzimeki is known only from Momella (also “Momela”, elevation ca. 1,432 – 1,610 m), which is mostly within the Arusha National Park, and located ca. 55 km southwest of Mount Kilimanjaro on the eastern foothills of Mount Meru (north-central Tanzania) (Fig. 19). The species is considered an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana michaelgrzimeki is named for the German cinematographer Michael Grzimek (1934‒ 1959). Grzimek died near the Sanjan River Gorge during the filming of “Serengeti Shall Not Die” when he collided with his legendary Dornier 27 (rebuilt in the year 2000 on the Schacksdorf-Finsterwalde Airport) with a Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture, Gyps rueppellii (A.E. Brehm, 1852), once a commonly occurring species (Brown et al. 1982) now at risk of extinction (Nature Kenya 2016)., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 28-29, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Brehm, A. E. (1852) Beitrage zur Ornithologie Nord-Ost-Afrika's, mit besonderer Rucksicht auf die in Europa vorkommenden Arten der Vogel. In: Baldamus, E. (Ed.), Naumannia - Archiv fur die Ornithologie. Band 2. Heft 3. s. n., Stuttgart, pp. 38 - 51.","Brown, L. H., Urban, E. K. & Newman, K. (1982) The Birds of Africa. Vol. 1. Academic Press, London and New York, xiii + 521 pp.","Nature Kenya (2016) Africa's vultures are sliding towards extinction warns BirdLife. Nature net (Nature Kenya Newsletter), Dec 2015 - Jan 2016, 1 - 2."]}

Lukeniana hausmanni Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 6d, 12d urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C195A4C6-F91B-4BDD-A141-76C057E1C04F Type locality and repository: Zamibia, the Zoological State Collection, Munich (ZSM). Material examined. Holotype male, Zambia, Northern Province, Mbala District, 30 km southeast from Mbala, 905′21 S, 3127′65 E (= ca. 23 km southeast Mbala and ca. 1.4 km southeast Chalumba village), 13 October 2009, J. Lenz leg.; second label (barcode): “BC ZSM Lep33737”; third label: genitalia slide number 17/052015 I. Lehmann (ZSM). Paratype male, Zambia, Northern Province, same locality, same date and collector; second label: “BC ZSM Lep33735”; third label: genitalia slide number 08/122015 I. Lehmann (ZSM). Description. Male. Head: Yellow-ochre mixed with some shiny sepia-coloured hair-like scales; long, dense hair-like scales between eyes; eyes vinaceous brown with small black patches; antenna 0.56‒0.58 length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6.5 width of shaft, covered with cream-coloured scales laterally, shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, and with two long scales bending towards apex; labial palpi cream coloured, slightly longer than eye diameter. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with and long, shiny cream-coloured hair-like scales; a small cream-coloured metathoracic crest with ivory-yellow scales intermixed. Hindlegs yellow-ochre with fine, shiny hair-like scales; in holotype and paratype two pairs of narrow tibial spurs present on hindlegs, outer spur of lower pair of holotype ca. 1.0 mm, inner spur ca. 0.7 mm, outer spur of paratype ca. 0.8 mm, inner spur ca. 0.5 mm; outer spur in upper pair of holotype ca. 0.9 mm, inner spur ca. 0.3 mm, outer spur of paratype ca. 0.6 mm, inner spur ca. 0.2 mm. Forewing length in holotype 12.0 mm (wingspan 25.5 mm), in paratype 11.5 mm (wingspan 25.0 mm). Forewing upperside cream-coloured mixed with ochre; costal margin without striae; termen without lunules or faded lunules; terminal and subterminal lines absent in both males; CuA 2 light ochre, edged broadly with sepia above; all remaining veins cream-coloured hence indistinct; cilia long in forewing and hindwing, 1.2 mm in both males, cream coloured, glossy. Underside of forewing roughly scaled with many fine hair-like cream-coloured glossy scales; costal margin dark ochre, without striae. Hindwing upperside cream coloured, glossy; underside as in forewing. Abdomen: Cream-coloured mixed with ochre, shiny; abdominal tuft short, one-fifth abdomen length. Genitalia (Fig. 12d) with uncus lobes subtriangular, with short and long setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus almost straight (slightly bent at middle, ventral view); gnathos arms 1.4 longer than basal width of valva; valva rectangular, costa with few setae; sacculus with few setae; inner side of valva with short setae except in centre, weakly-sclerotized projection setose, with a subrectangular tip longer than single thorn-like process below; the latter well developed, hollow, thick, bent and with few scattered tiny setae; long, rounded emargination extending 45% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus long, narrowly acuminate, attached to a broader ventral part of vinculum that forms no plate. Juxta not longer than saccus, with two acuminate tips, each bearing a tiny process, between tips a deep emargination extending 90% of length of juxta. Phallus short, 1.2 as long as width of valva, not trumpet-like, not bent at middle, bilobate with cleft on each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Lukeniana hausmanni has two characters that separate it from all remaining species of Lukeniana: the hindlegs have two pairs of tibial spurs, of which the inner spur of upper pair is strongly reduced; and the lobes of the uncus are nearly triangular with rounded tips. Two characters in the shape of the uncus lobes and saccus are similar only to L. enaiposha (see diagnosis). Both species have a well-developed, thorn-like process and no platelike structure associated with the vinculum, from which the thorn-like saccus originates. Distribution. Lukeniana hausmanni is known only from Chalumba village (elevation 1,565 m, average annual rainfall ca. 1200 mm), located near, but still on, the northeastern edge of the Southern African Plateau south of the Tanganyika Rift and ca. 20 km south of the Albertine Rift Region (sensu Plumptre et al. 2007) in the Zambezian regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983) (Fig. 20d). Lukeniana hausmanni is considered an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Lukeniana hausmanni is named after Dr. Axel Hausmann, head of the Lepidoptera Section of the ZSM. The first author is grateful to Axel for his support during the studies on the Metarbelidae, and for the comprehensive loans of more than 50 undescribed species from the collections at the ZSM., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 35-36, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Plumptre, A. J., Davenport, T. R. B., Behangana, M., Kityo, R., Eilu, G., Ssegawa, P., Ewango, C., Meirte, D., Kahindo, C., Herremans, M., Kerbis Peterhans, J., Pilgrim, J. D., Wilson, M., Languy, M. & Moyer, D. (2007) The biodiversity of the Albertine Rift. Biological Conservation, 134, 178 - 194. https: // doi. org / 10.1016 / j. biocon. 2006.08.021","White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp."]}

Zambezia jennyhuntae Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 1a, 11b urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 104208C8-200E-4FAA-BA78-45FA36FBB05E Type locality and repository: Zimbabwe, the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo (NMZB). Material examined. Holotype male, S. Rhodesia (‘ Southern Rhodesia’ since 1901, today Zimbabwe), Mashonaland, Umtali (today Mutare, Mutare District, Manicaland Province), no date, no collector mentioned on label, “Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia”, “Access. No. 4495”, genitalia slide number 01/062015 I. Lehmann (NMZB). Paratypes: male, same locality, no date, no collector mentioned, “Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia”, “Access. No. 4497”, genitalia slide number 19/092015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); male, S. Rhodesia, Marandellas (today Marondera, Marondera District, Mashonaland East Province), October. 1960, no collector mentioned, “Nat. Museum S. Rhodesia”, “Access. No. 4474”, genitalia slide number 03/052015 I. Lehmann (NMZB); male, Zimbabwe, Harare (Harare District, Harare Province), private garden in Highlands suburb (North-Eastern Region), called “Fawlty Towers”, 16.September. 2014, R. Butler leg., genitalia slide number 17/052015 I. Lehmann (ZFMK). Description. Male. Head: Honey-yellow mixed with shiny cream; long hair-like scales between eyes; eyes brown with black patches; antenna 0.48‒0.43× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 4× width of shaft, branches and shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally and laterally; antennal tips not spatulate, with long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi honey yellow. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with shiny, long hair-like scales of honey yellow mixed with ochre, sepia and pale cream. Small crest of pale cream on metathorax, glossy. Hindlegs yellow ochre with fine hair-like scales and a shiny; one pair of narrow tibial spurs present, unequal in length, outer spur 1.1 mm, inner spur 0.9 mm long. Forewing length of holotype 14.0 mm (wingspan 31.0 mm; 31.0‒33.0 mm in male paratypes). Forewing upperside contrasting with sepia coloured lines and striae on ochre ground colour, not glossy; a broad white band below CuA 2, latter broadly edged sepia above; sepia subterminal line straight, originating near costa, terminating at CuA 1, costa honey-yellow with sepia striae; many striae, all slightly oblique, on upperside, none forming continuous lines; veins not distinctly coloured; cilia long, 1.5 mm, pale cream, shiny; sepia spots at ends of veins along termen. Forewing underside roughly scaled, cream, with striae along costa and a faded subterminal line, slightly glossy; costal margin darker, honey-yellow mixed with sepia. Hindwing upperside cream, glossy; cilia as in forewing, costa of underside honey yellow. Abdomen: Honey-yellow with cream, glossy; abdominal tuft one-third of abdomen length. Genitalia (Fig. 11b) with uncus bearing rounded tips, outer edge slightly C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, wide emargination between tips of uncus lobes, almost three times as wide as upper half of uncus lobe, densely covered with short and long setae mainly along outer ventral edge, basal edge of uncus with a crescent-shaped bend at middle; gnathos arms long, touching costal margin of valva and connected posteriorly with a thin unsclerotized membrane, hand-like ends of gnathos arms not covered with tooth-shaped processes dorsally, tooth-like processes present only ventrally, narrow; valva ovoid, slightly broader at base, costa straight and with few setae, very few setae on semi-transtilla; sacculus very narrow with few long setae near base, absent from half of ventral edge towards very short thorn-like process; weakly-sclerotized projection extending half the length of costa, covered with short and long setae, with a rectangular tip not longer than short thorn-like process below; thorn-like process slightly curved upward, hollow, with a truncate tip and no dots with tiny setae, base broad and short, not as broad as width of weakly-sclerotized projection, and without a second thorn-like process; dorsal side of base of thorn-like process with tiny open slit attached to weakly-sclerotized projection; median sector of valva with few scattered short setae and two rows of setae on inner side; a long narrow ovoid emargination extending ca. 40% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus smaller than juxta, triangular with a rounded tip, vinculum broader opposite saccus, forming a small plate slightly larger than saccus. Juxta broad with two acuminate tips, emargination between tips very deep (90% length of juxta). Phallus broad, 1.2× length of valva, not trumpet-like, slightly bent near middle, bilobed with cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Zambezia jennyhuntae is most similar to Z. diredaouaensis and Z. madambae. All share a very short, sclerotized, thorn-like, similarly shaped (volcano-like) process and a short, weakly-sclerotized projection not extending beyond the thorn-like process. The following three characters are shared with Metarbelodes umtaliana: (i) a thorn-like process with a broad sclerotized hollow base; (ii) a dorsally-open slit at the edge of this sclerotized base, connected by a thin membrane with the weakly-sclerotized projection; and (iii) the sacculus very narrow or absent. A unique combination of the following characters separates Z. jennyhuntae from all other species: (i) the gnathos-arms are covered at the hand-like end with many narrow tooth-like processes, particularly along edges; (ii) the uncus has broad lobes with rounded tips; and (iii) the emargination of the uncus is not deep, but almost as broad as the outer edge of one uncus lobe. Distribution. Zambezia jennyhuntae is known from the Highveld of Zimbabwe (Harare, Marondera) and from Mutare (Manica Gap/Bvumba Mountains). Marondera (Fig. 23a, formerly Marandellas), at an elevation of 1,611 – 1,654 m, is located ca. 55 km southeast of Harare on the northeastern Highveld Plateau and at the main road and railway line from Harare to Mutare. The area belongs to the Zambezian regional centre of endemism (sensu White 1983) and to the Southern Miombo Woodlands ecoregion (sensu Burgess et al. 2004). Zambezia jennyhuntae is considered an Afromontane linking species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. Zambezia jennyhuntae is named in honour of Jennifer Jane Hunt (born in Broken Hill, now Kabwe, Zambia), a social worker specializing in palliative care and bereavement. We are grateful to her for arranging the transportation of the box with Metarbelidae from the collections of the NMZB to London in May 2015., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 62-64, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp.","Burgess, N. D., D'Amico Hales, J., Underwood, E., Dinerstein, E., Olson, D., Itoua, I., Schipper, J., Rickketts, T. & Newman, K. (Eds.) (2004) Terrestrial ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: a conservation assessment. World Wildlife Fund (United States), Island Press, Washington, xxiii + 499 pp."]}

Zambezia diredaouaensis Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 2c, 9d, 14f urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 0E5B98AB-034A-4760-ABB2-5FECFA508EBE Type locality and repository: Ethiopia, the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (NMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Ethiopia, Dire Daua (formerly also known as Dire Daoua, now Dire Dawa, chartered city of Dire Dawa), February 1964, R. Hill leg., genitalia slide number 05/052015 I. Lehmann (NMK). Description. Male. Head: Honey-yellow, shiny; long hair-like scales between eyes; eyes brown with small black spots; antenna unusually long, 0.57× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 5× width of shaft, branches and shaft covered with cream-coloured scales dorsally; antennal tips with long scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi honey yellow. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae shiny, long, hair-like scales of honey yellow mixed with ochre and cream. A small crest of cream scales on metathorax. Hindlegs yellow ochre with fine, shiny, hair-like scales; a pair of narrow tibial spurs of unequal length, outer spur 1.1 mm, inner spur 0.9 mm. Forewing length 16.0 mm (wingspan 35.0 mm). Forewing upperside pale ochre, not glossy, with very broad, white patch below CuA 2, extending from base of CuA 2 to dorsum, broadest at dorsum, covering one-third the width between base of wing and CuA 2, narrowly edged sepia above; costal white patch from base of wing to half its length honey yellow, lacking striae; a few striae parallel to termen, or representing very faint subterminal and postmedial lines; veins not distinctly coloured; cilia very long, 2.1 mm, shiny pale cream; lunules faint or absent along termen. Underside of forewing rough-scaled, cream, without striae, glossy; costal margin darker, honey-yellow mixed with sepia. Hindwing upperside and cilia glossy pale cream, cilia 2.1 mm long. Underside as in forewing. Abdomen: Honey yellow mixed with cream, glossy; abdominal tuft less than one-third abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 14f) with uncus nearly rectangular, outer edge slightly C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with short setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus with a crescent-shaped bend; gnathos arms slightly longer than width of valva, not touching coastal margin of valva, bent towards uncus, hand-like ends connected posteriorly with a thin membrane, not sclerotized; valva broadly ovoid, costa oblique, a broad transverse semi-transtilla with many setae; sacculus with long setae near base of thorn-like process; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae and a broad rectangular tip, equal in length to single narrow and very short thorn-like process below extending not beyond upper edge of weakly-sclerotized projection; thorn-like process slightly curved upward, hollow, with an acuminate tip and no dots with tiny setae, base very broad, 2× as wide as weakly-sclerotized projection above, and without a second thorn-like process; median sector of valva with few scattered short setae on inner side; a short, broad, ovoid emargination extending between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process, ca. 30% of length of valva; ventral side of valva slightly bent at middle. Saccus smaller than juxta and triangular shaped with a rounded tip; vinculum very broad, opposite the saccus with plate-like structure that four times larger than saccus. Juxta broad with two acuminate tips, emargination between tips very deep, 90% length of juxta. Phallus 1.2× length of valva, not trumpet-like, strongly bent near middle, bilobed with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. The genitalia of Zambezia diredaouaensis are largest of any in the genus. Based on the shape of the uncus, Zambezia diredaouaensis is related to L. obliqualinea. However, other features, e.g., the large wing size and pattern elements (i.e., the large white patch below CuA 2 in the forewing), suggest a closer relationship to L. rajaeii. A large white patch below CuA 2 also occurs in L. stueningi. Of taxonomic relevance are not characters of any wing “pattern”, but characters of the male genitalia shared with Z. jennyhuntae and Z. madambae: (i) an extremely short sclerotized thorn-like process with a truncate tip; (ii) a very broad base of this process that covers half the valva (volcano- shaped); (iii) a short weakly-sclerotized projection not extending beyond the thorn-like process. Characters shared with Metarbelodes umtaliana, Z. jennyhuntae and Z. madambae include the following: (i) dorsally an open slit at the base of the thorn-like process where it is connected by a narrow membrane to the weaklysclerotized projection; and sacculus very narrow or absent. Three characters separate Z. diredaouaensis from the latter two species: (i) the fold of the CuP vein in the forewing is weak and not continuous; (ii) the basal edge of the sclerotized thorn-like process is 2× as broad as the weakly-sclerotized projection above; and (iii) the vinculum appears very broad opposite the saccus since it is four times larger than the saccus. Distribution. Zambezia diredaouaensis is recorded only from Dire Dawa (Ethiopia) (elevation 1,119 –1,325 m), which is located ca. 41 km northwest of Harar and on the escarpment zone north and below of the ca. 1,500 m rim of the Harar Plateau that extends from the Chercher Mountains southeast of the Awash Plain to the area of Hargeysa in the West (Braukämper 1983). The area belongs to the Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism. Zambezia diredaouaensis is considered an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. The new species is named after Dire Daoua (now called Dire Dawa, Ethiopia)., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on pages 57-58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["Braukamper, U. (1983) Notes on the Islamicization [Islamization] and the Muslim Shrines of the Harar Plateau. In: Labahn, T. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Somali Studies, University of Hamburg 1 st to 6 th August 1983. Vol. II. Archaeology and History. Helmut Buske Verlag, Hamburg, pp. 145 - 174."]}

Lukeniana andreashempi Lehmann, Zahiri & Husemann sp. nov. Figs 7e, 17d urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 65E1D339-BAEA-43F9-BADC-006DBB1E7618 Type locality and repository: Tazania, the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (NMK). Material examined. Holotype male, Tanzania, Arusha Region, Arumeru District, Mount Meru, 03°14′48″S, 36°50′37″E, 1,677 m (corrected elevation based on label data is 1,715 m), 31 January 2010, S.C. Collins leg., genitalia slide number 28/012012 I. Lehmann (NMK). Description. Male. Head: ochre; eyes brown with small black patches; antenna 0.55× length of forewing, bipectinate, with branches 6× width of shaft, covered with ivory-yellow scales laterally, shaft covered with ivoryyellow scales dorsally; antennal tips not spatulate, and with two slightly longer scales, bending towards apex; labial palpi ochre. Thorax: Patagia and tegulae with long shiny hair-like ochre scales. Small ivory-yellow metathoracic crest. Hindlegs ochre with fine shiny hair-like scales; one pair of narrow, long tibial spurs present, outer spur ca. 1.1 mm, inner spur 0.9 mm. Forewing length 11.0 mm (wingspan 24.0 mm). Forewing upperside largely pale orange-yellow mixed with ochraceous-orange towards base; very few ochre striae present near termen; costal margin sepia with very few ochre striae; termen without lunules, glossy; CuA 2 very broad, pure white, edged sepia band above 1/3 width of white band; 1A+2A sepia near base; remaining veins not distinctly coloured; cilia very long, 1.7 mm, ivory-yellow, shiny; underside ivory-yellow and ochre along costa, glossy. Hindwing upperside ivory-yellow with pure white, glossy; cilia concolorous with forewing, very long, 1.7 mm; underside as in forewing. Abdomen: Mainly ochre mixed with ivory-yellow, shiny; abdominal tuft short, ca. one-fifth abdominal length. Genitalia (Fig. 17d) with rounded uncus lobes, outer edge C-shaped, inner edge rounded at base, lobes densely covered with both short and long setae ventrally, basal edge of uncus not bent at middle; gnathos arms long, ca. 1.3× basal width of valva, and almost touching coastal margin of valva, slightly bent towards uncus; valva very broad at base, ovoid, costa without setae; sacculus with few short setae; weakly-sclerotized projection with short setae and broad rectangular tip, slightly shorter than single thick, short thorn-like process below, latter only slightly bent, hollow, with rounded tip and no dots with tiny setae, base broad with a second thorn-like process, ventral edge not S-shaped near base; median sector of inner valva with scattered short setae; a long, broad, ovoid emargination extending ca. 40% of length of valva between weakly-sclerotized projection and thorn-like process; ventral side of valva not bent at middle. Saccus finger-shaped, shorter than length of juxta, latter broad with two acuminate tips, each bearing a thorn-like process, emargination between tips 90% length of juxta. Opposite saccus a rectangular plate. Phallus long, 1.2× length of valva, slightly trumpet-like, bent near middle, bilobate with a cleft at each end. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis. Lukeniana andreashempi is most similar to L. bergsteni and L. utaheidenreichae; the three share a similarly rounded shape of the uncus lobes and ovoid, broad-based valvae. Lukeniana andreashempi can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: (i) the forewing upperside largely pale orange-yellow mixed with ochraceous-orange (such colours are unique among Lukeniana species treated here); (ii) the valva lacking a S-shaped ventral edge near the base of the broad, thorn-like process, unlike the S-shaped ventral side near the base of the thorn-like process in L. bergsteni and L. michaelgrzimeki; (iii) the costal margin of the valva more strongly bent downwards (like a deep “C”) in L. andreashempi; (iv) the uncus with the widest emargination among all three species, three times broader than the tip of uncus; and (v) the basal edge of the uncus strongly bent at the middle in L. bergsteni, but straight in L. andreashempi Distribution. Lukeniana andreashempi is known from Mount Meru (Tanzania), the southeastern foothills and slopes of which support Dry transitional montane forest (sensu White 1983). This species can be classified as an Afromontane near-endemic species. Habitat. See Appendix 1. Etymology. The new species is named in honour of Dr. Andreas Julius Hemp, University of Bayreuth, a botanist whose research on the Chagga home gardens on Mount Kilimanjaro documented both high biodiversity and an ancient and sustainable form of agroforestry where degradation of the native biota is rare, despite rapid population growth. We are very grateful to Andreas and to his wife Claudia for providing information on the vegetation of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, and for several photographs presented herein., Published as part of Lehmann, Ingo, Zahiri, Reza & Husemann, Martin, 2023, 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, pp. 1-106 in Zootaxa 5267 (1) on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5267.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7840783, {"references":["White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa: a Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco / AETFAT / UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Natural Resources Research No. XX. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp."]}

Nikara castanea Moore, 1882 (Figs 1–6, 15, 16, 19, 20) Nikara castanea Moore, 1882, Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the collection of the late Mr. W.S. Atkinson 2: 126, pl. 4, fig. 24 (Type locality: [NE India, north of West Bengal, Darjeeling] “ Darjiling ”). Material examined. INDIA: 1 male, [north of West Bengal, Darjeeling] Darjiling, Moore Coll. 94-106, NHMUK unique number: 014165090, gen. slide No.: NHMUK010316228 (prepared by Volynkin) (NHMUK); 1 female, [Sikkim] Sikhim, IX.1909. F. Moller. 1910-140, NHMUK unique number: 014165091, gen. slide No.: NHMUK010316229 (prepared by Volynkin) (NHMUK); THAILAND: 1 female, Changwat Chiang Mai, Mt. Doi Phahompok, 17 km NW of Fang, 2100m, 15.VIII.1999, leg. T. Csővári & L. Mikus, gen. slide No.: AV6401 (prepared by Volynkin) (WSO); 1 male, Chiang Mai, Mt. Doi Phahompok, 18 km NW Fang, 2100m, 10–11.IX.1999, leg. A. Szabo & Zita (MHB); VIETNAM: 4 females, Prov. Lao Cai, 1920m, Fan-si-pan Mts, Sa Pa, 4 km W Cat Cat, January–March 1998, leg. Frontier organization (HNHM); CHINA: 3 male, Shaanxi, 1480m, North from Foping, N33°42.546 ″, E107°56.418 ″, 3–5.viii.2006, Floriani & Saldaitis leg., gen. slide No.: AV5595 (prepared by Volynkin) (ASV, AFM); 1 female, Chong Guanmian Shan, 25.viii–15.ix.2000, 1500m, [local] collector leg., gen. slide No.: AV6435 (prepared by Volynkin) (HSV). Remarks. According to the original description (Moore 1882), the type female should be stored in the collection of O. Staudinger which is currently housed in MfN. Unfortunately, we could not locate the type specimen, probably it is lost. However, the topotype male specimen deposited in NHMUK was examined by the second author of the present paper. Diagnosis. The species can easily be distinguished from the congeners by the amber brown area along the anal forewing margin fused with the amber brown postmedial and subterminal areas. The differences between N. castanea and N. cupreomicans are discussed in details below in the diagnoses of the latter species. Re-description. External morphology of adults (Figs 1–6). Head and thorax dark brown, with suffusion of shiny bluish scales. Male antenna filiform. Forewing length is 15–18 mm in males and 16.5–17 mm in females. Subbasal and medial areas of forewing dark brown with suffusion of shiny bluish scales medially and along the costa but amber brown with slight suffusion of shiny bluish scales along the anal margin. Orbicular stigma narrowly elliptical, encircled with shiny bluish scales. Reniform stigma nearly circular, encircled with shiny bluish scales. Postmedial line smoothly curved medially. Postmedial area amber brown. Subterminal area pale amber brown with intense suffusion of shiny bluish scales. Cilia pale brown. Hindwing greyish brown, slightly paler at base. Discal spot reniform, indistinct. Abdomen brown. Male genitalia (Figs 15, 16). Uncus elongate, slender, laterally flattened, dorso-ventrally curved, dilated subapically, apically pointed with tiny claw-like tip. Tuba analis with heavily sclerotised and rugose scaphium. Tegumen shorter than valva. Juxta shield-like, with rounded apical depression and tiny round basal incision. Vinculum ca. 1.5 times shorter than tegumen, with thin but well-sclerotised arms, Vshaped with pointed tip. Pleurite present, as a curved and apically rounded, plate-like extension of vinculum. Valva elongate and narrow (length to width ratio ca. 5.5:1), with nearly parallel margins. Costal margin slightly convex subbasally. Corona present. Sacculus short (ca. 0.2 of valva length) and narrow (ca. half of basal section of valva width). Clavus finger-like with rounded tip. Aedeagus elongate, nearly straight, with short (ca. 0.2 of valva length) and apically rounded distal carinal process ventrally. Vesica with long (longer than main chamber), sack-like ventral diverticulum having two short lobes apically. Subbasal cluster of cornuti band-like, consisting of numerous tiny short cornuti. Female genitalia (Figs 19, 20). Papillae analis sclerotised, posteriorly tapered with rounded tips, weakly setose. Apophyses rod-like, thin. Apophysis anterioris ca. 1.25 times longer than posterioris one, dilated apically. Ostium bursae with membranous margin. Ductus bursae short (ca. 0.75 of apophysis anterioris length), membranous, tubular. Corpus bursae strongly elongate (ca. 6.5 times longer than ductus bursae), narrow (length to medial section width ratio ca. 1:3.3), membranous, with elliptical rugose sclerotised plate postero-laterally at right side. Appendix bursae short (ca. 1/10 of corpus bursae length), broadly conical with rounded apex, positioned postero-laterally at left side. Distribution and bionomics. The species is known from eastern Himalaya (north-eastern India), northern Thailand (Chiang Mai Province), northern Vietnam (Lào Cai Province) (Moore 1882; Hampson 1910; Kononenko & Pinratana 2013, as Chrysonicara aureus), and China (Shaanxi) (new country record). In China, the species was collected at light in the beginning of August at altitudes around 1500 meters in a small river valley surrounded by hills overgrown with a forest of various deciduous trees and bushes (Fig. 24)., Published as part of Saldaitis, Aidas, Volynkin, Anton V., Speidel, Wolfgang & Zahiri, Reza, 2022, A review of the genus Nikara Moore and its transfer to the Stiriinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), pp. 201-219 in Zootaxa 5205 (3) on pages 208-209, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5205.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7305945, {"references":["Moore, F. (1882) s. n. In: Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the collection of the late Mr. W. S. Atkinson. Part 2. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, pp. 89 - 198.","Hampson, G. F. (1910) Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum. Vol. 9. Catalogue of the Noctuidae in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum, London, 552 pp.","Kononenko, V. S. & Pinratana, A. (2013) Moths of Thailand. Vol. 3. Part 2. Noctuoidea. An illustrated catalogue of Erebidae, Nolidae, Euteliidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) in Thailand. Brothers of St. Gabriel in Thailand, Bangkok, 625 pp."]}

Nikara cupreomicans (Draudt, 1950), comb. nov. (Figs 7–10, 17, 21) Lasiplexia cupreomicans Draudt, 1950, Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 40 (1): 102, pl. 7, fig. 8 (adult) (Type locality (hereby fixed by lectotype designation): [SW China, Yunnan, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Adunzi] “A-tun-tse”). Type material examined. Lectotype (hereby designated) (Fig. 7): female, “A-tun-tse (Nord Yünnan) | Mittlere Höhe (ca. 4000m) | 20.7.1936 H. Höne ” / pink label “ Holotype | Lasiplexia | cupreomicans | ♀ Draudt.” / “ Lasiplexia | cupreomicans | ♀ Draudt.” (ZFMK). Additional material examined. CHINA: 4 males, 2 females, Li-kiang [Lijiang], North Yunnan Province, H. Höne [leg.], with the following dates: 11.VIII.1934 (2 males), 12.VIII.1934 (1 male), 23.VIII.1934 (1 male) and 29.vii.1934 (1 female), and 7.VIII.1934 (1 female), unique numbers ZFMK Lep. 153596 and 153599 (males, dissected by Si-yao Huang), gen. slide Nos. AV 6639 and AV6640 (females) (prepared by Volynkin) (ZFMK); 4 males, E Sichuan, 30 km SE from Ping Wu, 1420m, N32°20.725 '', E104°36.650 '', 7.viii.2006, Floriani & Saldaitis leg., gen. slide No. AV 5596 (prepared by Volynkin) (AFM, ASV & JSL); 3 males, 1 female, the same locality and collectors but 1.viii.2006, gen. slide Nos. AV 5597 (male) and AV6403 (female) (prepared by Volynkin) (AFM & ASV); 2 females, N Sichuan, 20 km N of Maoxian, 1820m, N31°46.310 '', E103°42.898 '', 30.vii.2006. Floriani & Saldaitis leg. (AFM); 1 female, Shaanxi, 1480m, North from Foping, N33°42.546 '', E107°56.418 '', 3–5. viii. 2006, Floriani & Saldaitis leg. (AFM). Notes. (1) In the original description, Draudt (1950) mentioned several female specimens from A-tun-tse (with the date “20. VI.[19]36”) and two females from Li-kiang (with the dates “8 und 13.VIII.[19]34”), which are syntypes. In ZFMK collection, no specimens with such label data were found. However, we found a female labeled as ‘Holotype’ from A-tun-tse collected at 20.VII.1936 which let us to assume that Draudt made a typo in the citation of the date (June instead of July). In order to stabilize the nomenclature, we hereby designate this specimen as lectotype. (2) The type and topotype specimens housed in ZFMK are faded and lack the shiny bluish suffusion which is present in the fresh specimens collected by the senior author of the present paper. Diagnosis. The species is reminiscent of N. castanea, but can be distinguished by the absence of a wide brown area along the anal forewing margin which is present in N. castanea. Additionally, the terminal area of N. cupreomicans is brownish grey (brown in N. castanea), and the orbicular stigma is nearly circular (whereas it is narrowly elliptical in N. castanea). The male genital capsule of N. cupreomicans differs from that of N. castanea in the subapically slightly dilated uncus (it is strongly dilated in N. castanea), the somewhat narrower juxta (in proportion to the tegumen-vinculum complex width) and the presence of a harpe which is absent in N. castanea. The aedeagus of N. cupreomicans is ca. 2 times narrower than in N. castanea and has the narrower and somewhat shorter carinal process. The vesica of N. cupreomicans is much narrower (in proportion to the aedeagus width) than that of N. castanea, lacks a ventral diverticulum (present in N. castanea) and bears a row of tiny denticles subbasally and a row of various-sized spine-like cornuti distally and medio-laterally whereas N. castanea has a dorsal cluster of short but robust spinules subbasally and lacks cornuti distally. Additionally, the vesica ejaculatorius of N. cupreomicans is narrower than in N. castanea (in proportion to the vesica width). The vesica structure of N. cupreomicans is similar to that of N. plusiodes, the detailed comparison is provided in the diagnosis of the latter species. Compared to N. castanea, the vesica of N. cupreomicans lacks an elongate ventral diverticulum but bears an elongate row-like cluster of spine-like cornuti medially (N. castanea, there is a short cluster subbasally). The female genitalia of N. cupreomicans differ clearly from those of N. castanea by the somewhat wider and less elongate papillae anales (they are narrow and more heavily sclerotised in N. castanea) and the markedly (ca. 2 times) longer corpus bursae which is narrowed posteriorly and medially and drop-like dilated anteriorly (whereas it is sack-like in N. castanea). Additionally, in N. cupreomicans, the posterior section of the corpus bursae has a broad globular postero-lateral protrusion (absent in N. castanea), and the sclerotised plate is markedly shorter and narrower than in castanea. The appendix bursae of N. cupreomicans is short, with thick gelatinous walls and positioned sub-postero-ventrally, whereas that of N. castanea is broader, membranous and is positioned postero-laterally on the left side. Description. External morphology of adults (Figs 7–10). Antennae of both sexes filiform. Head and thorax dark brown, with suffusion of shiny bluish scales. Forewing length 15 mm in males and 15–16 mm in females. Sexual dimorphism limited: female has somewhat wider forewing than male. Forewing ground colour dark brown. Antemedial line double, dark brown, narrow, sinuous. Postmedial line dark brown, slightly curved. Cell dark brown between the spots. Orbicular stigma circular, encircled with shiny bluish scales. Reniform stigma moderately broad, encircled with shiny bluish scales. Subcostal area dark brown with five various sized spots with intense shiny bluish suffusion. Postmedial area with intense amber suffusion. Subterminal area brownish grey with intense shiny bluish suffusion. Cilia brown. Hindwing brown, discal spot small, circular, dark brown, indistinct. Abdomen brown. Male genitalia (Fig. 17). Uncus elongate, narrow, laterally flattened, dorso-ventrally curved, somewhat dilated subapically, apically pointed with tiny claw-like tip. Tuba analis moderately broad, with heavily sclerotised and rugose scaphium. Tegumen moderately wide, shorter than valva. Juxta shield-like, with wide rounded apical depression and tiny round basal incision. Vinculum ca. 1.5 times shorter than tegumen, with thin but well-sclerotised arms, Vshaped with pointed tip. Pleurite present, as a curved and apically rounded, plate-like extension of vinculum. Valva elongate and narrow (length to width ratio 5:1), with nearly parallel margins. Costal margin convex subbasally. Corona present, consisting of robust setae. Sacculus short (ca. 1/4 of valva length) and narrow (ca. half of basal section of valva width). Clavus narrowly triangular with rounded tip. Harpe short (its length to valva width ration 1:3.8), narrowly triangular and apically pointed. Aedeagus elongate, slightly downcurved medially, with short (ca. 1/5 of aedeagus length) and apically rounded distal carinal process ventrally. Vesica sack-like, approximately equal in length with aedeagus, projecting dorsad, bearing lateral row of tiny denticles subbasally, and row of various sized spine-like cornuti extending from medial section to the base of vesica ejaculatorius and terminating by a robust thorn-like cornutus apically. Female genitalia (Fig. 21). Papillae anales trapezoid with rounded corners, setose. Apophyses thin, rod-like, equal in length. Ostium bursae with membranous margins. Ductus bursae as long as apophyses, narrowly tubular, membranous. Corpus bursae extremely long, narrowed posteriorly and medially and drop-like dilated anteriorly, with globular and membranous lateral protrusion posteriorly on the right side. Posterior sclerotised plate of corpus bursae elongate and narrow. Appendix bursae broadly conical with wide and rounded apex and thick gelatinous walls, positioned sub-posteriorly on the ventral side of corpus bursae. Distribution and bionomics. The species is known from Yunnan, Sichuan and south-western Shaanxi Provinces of China. In Sichuan, the species was collected at early August at the altitude of approximately 1400 meters in the scarce mountain mixed forest dominated by various deciduous trees, bamboo and bushes and located in between small agriculture fields (Fig. 25).

Genus Nikara Moore, 1882 Nikara Moore, 1882, Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the collection of the late Mr. W.S. Atkinson 2: 126 (Type species: Nikara castanea Moore, 1882, by monotypy). = Chrysonicara Draudt in Seitz, 1937, Die Grossschmetterlinge der Erde. Supplementum 3: 262 (Type species: Chrysoptera aureus Bang-Haas, 1927), syn. nov. Remarks. The genus Chrysonicara was erected for the species aureus whereas the species plusiodes was described under the genus Nikara. Examination of the type specimens of the two species displayed their conspecificity to each other therefore we hereby synonymize aureus with plusiodes Moreover, C. plusiodes is obviously congeneric with the type species of the genus Nikara sharing all the key generic characters listed below. Thus, we hereby synonymize Chrysonicara with Nikara. Diagnosis. The members of the genus vary in their wing colouration and patterns but are readilydistinct from most of Stiriinae distributed in North America. Nikara plusiodes is reminiscent of the North American Plagiomimicus Grote whereas N. castanea and N. cupreomicans are only vaguely similar to the West Palaearctic Stilbia Stephens (illustrated by Ronkay et al. (2001)) in their forewing shape and pattern, and more reminiscent of the distantly related Amphipyra Ochsenheimer. All three species have a shiny suffusion on their bodies and forewings, the feature also occurring among many North American members of the subfamily. Species of Nikara also have a frontal process typical of Stiriinae (Poole 1995) but lack a terminal claw on the foretibia typical of the North American genera. In the male genitalia, species of Nikara share the synapomorphy of the subfamily recognized by Poole (1995), namely the shape and spination of the vesica which is generally ovate and somewhat elongate having a basal row of short, stubby cornuti and a more distal, diffuse patch of elongate and thin cornuti. The male genitalia of Nikara have simplified valvae structure also typical of species in the North American stiriine genera (illustrated by Poole (1995)) but differing in the presence of a scaphium and a well-developed corona of long robust setae, whereas the latter are weak or absent in the North American species and Stilbia (illustrated by Ronkay et al. (2001)). The claspers of N. castanea and N. plusiodes lack a harpe (similar to members of Chalcopasta Hampson and Xanthothrix H. Edwards) whereas a short harpe is present in N. cupreomicans, but positioned in the basal third of the valva, whereas valvae of other Stiriinae bear a harpe in the middle or in the distal third. Additionally, the valvae of Nikara have a well-developed, elongate clavus which is very short in most of the North American stiriines but quite elongate in certain species of Stilbia. The female genitalia of Nikara are characterised by the elongate corpus bursae having a sclerotised plate or rugose area similar to most of the North American members of the subfamily. The female of the type species of the genus has elongate and heavily sclerotized papillae anales which are also common among the North American species (illustrated by Poole (1995)) while N. cupreomicans and N. plusiodes have shorter and weakly sclerotized papillae anales similar to those of Stilbia species (illustrated by Ronkay et al. (2001)). Re-description. External morphology of adults (Figs 1–14). Medium-sized moths, forewing length 15–18 mm in males and 15–19 mm in females. Antennae of both sexes filiform. Forewing wide. Ground colour from brown, with golden shine or suffusion of shiny bluish scales. Pattern elements in subbasal and medial areas indistinct. Male genitalia (Figs 15–18). Uncus elongate, narrow, laterally flattened, dorso-ventrally curved, somewhat dilated subapically, apically pointed with tiny claw-like tip. Tuba analis with heavily sclerotised and rugose scaphium. Tegumen without peniculus. Juxta shield-like, with wide rounded apical depression and tiny round basal incision. Vinculum more or less equal in length to tegumen, with pointed tip. Pleurite present, as a curved and apically rounded, plate-like extension of vinculum. Valva elongate and narrow (length to width ratio from 3.8:1 to 5:1). Corona present, consisting of a row of strong setae. Sacculus short (ca. 1/4 of valva length) and narrow (ca. half of valva base width). Clavus finger-like. Harpe absent or present as short (ca. 1/4 of valva width), narrowly triangular process near the ventral margin of valva. Aedeagus elongate, with short (ca. 0.1–0.2 of aedeagus length) and rounded coecum and short (ca. 1/6 of aedeagus length) and apically rounded distal carinal process. Vesica sack-like, may have large (longer than the main chamber) ventral diverticulum, bearing clusters of numerous spine-like or thorn-like cornuti of various sizes. Female genitalia (Figs 19–23). Papillae anales trapezoidal with rounded corners, setose. Apophyses thin, rod-like, more or less equal in length; apophysis posterioris with posterior sclerotised plate protruding to ovipositor. Ostium bursae with membranous margins. Ductus bursae tubular, membranous. Corpus bursae sack-like or elongate, with membranous walls, bearing sclerotised plate posteriorly or sclerotised area medially. Appendix bursae broadly conical with wide and round apex and thick gelatinous walls, positioned in different parts of corpus bursae in different species. Distribution and bionomics. The genus is known from eastern Himalaya (northeastern India), northern Indochina (northern Thailand and northern Vietnam) and south-western and central China (Yunnan, Sichuan and Shaanxi Provinces). The preimaginal stages are unknown. Species of the genus occur at medium altitudes ranging from 1400–2100 m and inhabit mesophilous biotopes (Figs 24, 25) whereas most of North American Stiriinae and the West Palaearctic Stilbia are xerophilous (Poole 1995; Ronkay et al. 2001)., Published as part of Saldaitis, Aidas, Volynkin, Anton V., Speidel, Wolfgang & Zahiri, Reza, 2022, A review of the genus Nikara Moore and its transfer to the Stiriinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), pp. 201-219 in Zootaxa 5205 (3) on pages 207-208, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5205.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7305945, {"references":["Moore, F. (1882) s. n. In: Descriptions of new Indian Lepidopterous Insects from the collection of the late Mr. W. S. Atkinson. Part 2. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, pp. 89 - 198.","Bang-Haas, O. (1927) Horae Macrolepidopterologicae Regionis Palaearcticae. Vol. 1. Verlag O. Staudinger & Bang-Haas, Dresden, 128 pp., pls. 1 - 11.","Ronkay, L., Yela, J. L. & Hreblay, M. (2001) Hadeninae II. Noctuidae Europaeae. Vol. 5. Entomological Press, Soro, 352 pp.","Poole, R. W. (1995) Noctuoidea: Noctuidae (part), Cuculliinae, Stiriinae, Psaphidinae (part). In: Dominick, R. B., Ferguson, D. C., Franclemont, J. G., Hodges, R. W. & Munroe, E. G. (Eds.), The Moths of America North of Mexico. Fascicle 26. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, pp. 1 - 249."]}

Nikara plusiodes (de Joannis, 1914), comb. rev. (Figs 11–14, 18, 22, 23) Nikara plusiodes de Joannis, 1914, Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 1914: 183, fig. 67 (Type locality: [China, Yunnan, Dali] “ Yun-nan, Tali ”). = Chrysoptera (Plusia) aureus Bang-Haas, 1927; Horae Macrolepidopterologicae Regionis Palaearcticae 1: 91, pl. 10, fig. 42 (Type locality: [China, Yunnan, Yanmen] “ China occ. mer.: Tsekou ”), syn. nov. Type material examined. Photographs of the syntype of Nikara plusiodes (Fig. 11): male, “Tali | Yun-nan” | Nicara | plusioides | type ♂. de Joan.” | red label “ syntype ” | “ Nikara | plusiodes Joan. | Bull. Soc. ent. | Fr., 1914, p. 419” | “1920–1932 | coll. L. & J. de Joannis | Muséum Paris” | QR-code label “ MNHN, Paris | EL29378” (MNHN). Lectotype of Chrysoptera (Plusia) aureus (hereby designated) (Figs 12, 22): female, “ Tsekou | Th. Monbeig | 1909.” | “ Chrysoptera (Plusia) | aureus O. B.- Haas ” | pink label “ Type ” | “ex coll. 1/1 | Bang-Haas ” | “Horae Macrolep. | Vol. I. abgebildet | t. 10 f. 42 | beschrieb. p. 91” | red label “Prp. Nr.: 12223 NKM f | Holotypus | Chrysonicara aureus | (Bang-Haas, 1927) | China, Type / Tsekou | (Plusia) aureus O. B.- Haas / Horae | Macrolep. Vol. I Abgebildet T 10. 42 | Beschrieb. p. 91/ex coll. Bang- | Haas, 1/1, Manbeig Th. 1900/ | Prp. Behounek, 2017” (MfN). Other material examined. CHINA: 1 male, [Yunnan, Lijiang] Li-kiang, ca. 2000m, Prov. Nord-Yuennan, 31.VII.1934, H. Höne, gen. prep. by Kononenko (ZFMK); 1 female, Yuennaniu, 5.IV.1934, H. Höne (ZFMK); 1 female, Yunnan, Tali, 1913-412, 3, unique number NHMUK 014165092, gen. prep. No. NHMUK010316230 (prepared by Volynkin) (NHMUK). Remark. In the original description of Chrysoptera (Plusia) aureus, Bang-Haas (1927) cited 3 males which are syntypes. However, in the MfN collection, we found only one female syntype specimen which indicates that the sex was incorrectly determined by the author for at least one specimen. In order to stabilize the nomenclature, we hereby designate this specimen as lectotype. Diagnosis. The species can be easily distinguished from the congeners by its ‘Plusiinae-like’ external appearance characterised by the elongate forewing apex, the nearly straight postmedial line, and the subterminal and terminal forewing areas ochreous with a slight golden sheen. Additionally, the basal and medial forewing areas of N. plusiodes are monotonous brown with a thin dark brown antemedial line strongly angled in the cell, whereas it is indistinct in N. castanea and N. cupreomicans. The orbicular and reniform stigmata are indistinct, whereas they are encircled with shiny bluish scales in the congeners. The male genitalia of N. plusiodes is most similar to that of N. castanea due to the absence of a harpe, but differs clearly in the subapically less dilated uncus, and the less elongate valva with a convex costal margin (whereas it is nearly straight in N. castanea). The vesica structure of N. plusiodes is reminiscent of that of N. cupreomicans, but the main chamber of the vesica of N. plusiodes is broader, the subbasal row is shorter and consisting of conspicuously longer spines, and the cornuti of the medio-distal row are conspicuously more robust. The female genitalia of N. plusiodes are distinguished from those of N. castanea and N. cupreomicans by the corpus bursae having two lateral protrusions, and the appendix bursae positioned lateroanteriorly and having a sclerotised rugose area basally which is extending into adjacent areas of the corpus bursae. Re-description. External morphology of adults (Figs 11–14). Antenna filiform in both sexes. Body brown with ochreous suffusion. Forewing length 17 mm in males and 18–19 mm in females. Forewing broadly triangular with rounded apex and somewhat convex outer margin. Forewing ground colour brown in antemedial and medial areas and pale ochreous with intense golden suffusion postmedially. Antemedial line dark brown, thin, sinuous and medially curved, diffuse. Medial line thin and indistinct, dark brown, protruding outwards and strongly angled medially. Postmedial line alomst straight, oblique, terminating at costa near apex, dark brown inwardly and ochreous with golden suffusion outwardly. Subterminal line indistinct, sunuous, represented by brown suffusion in postmedial area medially. Terminal line thin, continuous, dark brown with golden suffusion. Forewing cilia brown. Hindwing pale ochreous with brown suffusion. Hindwing pale ochreous with admixture of brown scales. Male genitalia (Fig. 18). Uncus elongate and slender, laterally flattened, downcurved subbasally, somewhat dilated distally, apically tapered with tiny claw-like tip. Tuba analis with heavily sclerotised and rugose scaphium. Tegumen shorter than valva, with arms fused in posterior half. Juxta shield-like with wide rounded apical depression. Vinculum ca. 1.5 times shorter than tegumen, with thin but well-sclerotised arms, V-shaped with pointed tip. Valva elongate and narrow (length to width ratio 4.1:1), with nearly parallel margins distally and convex dorsal margin sub-proximally. Corona present, consisting of robust setae. Sacculus short (ca. 1/4 of valva length) and narrow (ca. half of basal section of valva width). Clavus narrowly triangular with rounded tip, somewhat curved medially. Phallus elongate, slightly downcurved medially and somewhat dilated distally, with broad (ca. 2/3 of its length) base of ductus ejaculatorius. Vesica sack-like, approximately equal in length with aedeagus, projecting dorsad, bearing basal transverse row of short but robust spines, and lateral elongate lengthwise cluster consisting of 14 short but robust spine-like cornuti proximally, several much larger thorn-like cornuti distally and terminating by the largest cornutus apically. Female genitalia (Figs 22, 23). Papilla analis trapezoid and weakly setose. Apophyses elongate and thin, more or less equal in length, apophysis anterioris thicker than apophysis posterioris. Ductus bursae tubular, narrow, membranous. Corpus bursae with two postero-lateral semiglobular protrusions (with ca. twice larger anterior one), and semi-elliptical anterior end protruding anteriorly. Appendix bursae semi-globular, positioned anterio-laterally on left side, with sclerotised rugose area basally which protruding into adjacent areas of corpus bursae. Distribution. The species is known from Yunnan Province of China (Bang-Haas 1927; de Joannis 1914)., Published as part of Saldaitis, Aidas, Volynkin, Anton V., Speidel, Wolfgang & Zahiri, Reza, 2022, A review of the genus Nikara Moore and its transfer to the Stiriinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), pp. 201-219 in Zootaxa 5205 (3) on pages 212-213, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5205.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7305945, {"references":["Joannis, J. de (1914) Description d'une nouvelle espece de Noctuelle du Yun-nan appartenant au genre Nikara [Lep.]. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France, 1914, 419 - 421. [in French] https: // doi. org / 10.3406 / bsef. 1914.25639","Bang-Haas, O. (1927) Horae Macrolepidopterologicae Regionis Palaearcticae. Vol. 1. Verlag O. Staudinger & Bang-Haas, Dresden, 128 pp., pls. 1 - 11."]}

Article published in the journal Tropical Lepidoptera Research.

Keegan, Kevin L., Rota, Jadranka, Zahiri, Reza, Zilli, Alberto, Wahlberg, Niklas, Schmidt, B. Christian, Lafontaine, J. Donald, Goldstein, Paul Z., Wagner, David L. (2021): Toward a Stable Global Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) Taxonomy. Insect Systematics and Diversity (AIFB) 5 (3): 1-24, DOI: 10.1093/isd/ixab005, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixab005