Drepanogynis insciata (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875), a South African geometrid moth lost to science rediscovered after more than 140 years (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae)

The geometrid moth <i>Drepanogynis insciata</i> (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) has been known only from two specimens in the Natural History Museum, London, UK: the holotype male collected before 1875 from South Africa, and a second male specimen without date and collecting locality data but probably collected before 1879. Unexpectedly, 13 specimens of this species-long considered lost to science-were observed in four locations between 2020 and 2023 in the Western Cape, near the type locality of the species. These observations were based on photographs available on iNaturalist, apart from a single male attracted to light, which was collected and vouchered for study from the Western Cape on 28 January 2022. We illustrate <i>D. insciata</i> and the newly collected specimen using both classical dissection and non-destructive micro-CT imaging. Phylogenetic analysis based on the multi-gene maximum-likelihood method places the species within Ennominae, tribe Drepanogynini. DNA barcodes reveal its nearest genetic neighbor to be <i>Drepanogynis smaragdaria</i> Krüger, 2002, with 5.9% sequence divergence. We discuss the conservation implications of this rediscovery.

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Journal
ZooKeys
Published
2025-12-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.171904
Primary Topic
Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Drepanogynis insciata (Felder &amp; Rogenhofer, 1875), a South African geometrid moth lost to science rediscovered after more than 140 years (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae)

Pasi Sihvonen, Hossein Rajaei, Axel Hausmann, Hermann S. Staude et al.
ZooKeys
Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
article

Drepanogynis insciata (Felder &amp; Rogenhofer, 1875), a South African geometrid moth lost to science rediscovered after more than 140 years (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae)

Pasi Sihvonen, Hossein Rajaei, Axel Hausmann, Hermann S. Staude, Max Söderholm, Kyung Min Lee
article en

Abstract

The geometrid moth <i>Drepanogynis insciata</i> (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) has been known only from two specimens in the Natural History Museum, London, UK: the holotype male collected before 1875 from South Africa, and a second male specimen without date and collecting locality data but probably collected before 1879. Unexpectedly, 13 specimens of this species-long considered lost to science-were observed in four locations between 2020 and 2023 in the Western Cape, near the type locality of the species. These observations were based on photographs available on iNaturalist, apart from a single male attracted to light, which was collected and vouchered for study from the Western Cape on 28 January 2022. We illustrate <i>D. insciata</i> and the newly collected specimen using both classical dissection and non-destructive micro-CT imaging. Phylogenetic analysis based on the multi-gene maximum-likelihood method places the species within Ennominae, tribe Drepanogynini. DNA barcodes reveal its nearest genetic neighbor to be <i>Drepanogynis smaragdaria</i> Krüger, 2002, with 5.9% sequence divergence. We discuss the conservation implications of this rediscovery.

ZooKeysVol. 1261
University of Helsinki (FI), Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart (DE), eThekwini Municipality (ZA), Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (DE)
Helsingin Yliopisto
Openalex Percentile: Top 60%
Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
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