Magnificus ignatevi Grehan & C. Mielke 2025, sp. nov.
Magnificus ignatevi Grehan & C. Mielke, sp. nov. [Tiger Hill Red Bat Moth टाइगर हिल रातो चमेरे मोथ] (Figs 2a–b, 9c, 10a–c, g, 11c, g–h, 12c, 14a–d) Type material. Holotype ♂ (Figs 2a–b): / INDIEN WB, 2400 m, Darjeeling, Tigerhill, 10.-12.VII.1986, leg. W. Thomas; ZSM. Diagnosis. Similar to M. florianii sp. nov. and M. miniatus by presence of central longitudinal, curved dark brown line on the forewing. Distinguished from these species by yellowish-brown shading towards apex of hindwing, compared with homogenous white hindwings of M. florianii sp. nov., and yellowish-brown hindwings of M. miniatus. Description. Male (Figs 2a–b). Wingspan: ~ 48 mm; forewing length: 25 mm, width: 11 mm; hindwing length: 20 mm, width: 10 mm. Head (Fig. 9c, 10a). Covered with yellowish-brown piliform scales. Eyes prominent, at least ¾ head width in dorsal view, vertex narrow. Antenna with 20 flagellomeres. Labial palps single segmented, twice as long as wide, variation in width possibly indicative of fusion. Vom Rath’s organ not evident (Fig. 10a). Thorax. Body and legs covered with pale reddish-brown scales. Venation (Fig. 11c) as for female M. florianii sp. nov. Dorsal forewing ground color pale golden-yellow with scattered darker shading and scattered ovoid spots edged with brown (Fig. 12c); narrow, bright white lines towards apex, bifurcating at apex between Rs1-Rs2, along outer margin between veins, and between costal margin and Sc; dark brown shading forming longitudinal band across anterior cubital cell; central dorsal scales lamellar, ovoid with blunt distal point (Figs 11g –h). Dorsal hindwing; pale yellowish white basally and centrally, darker yellowish-brown towards apex, yellowish-brown marginal scales. Ventral fore and hindwing pale yellowish-brown (Fig. 2b). Legs (Fig. 10b): meta-leg length subequal to pro-leg, leg length ratio pro: meso: meta: 1: 1.2: 0.9. Pregenital abdomen (Figs 10c, 10g). Anterior portions of tergum and sternum II, including the tergosternal sclerite, not recovered intact, tergum II with lateral ridge, sternum III strongly sclerotized (Fig. 10c). Tergum and sternum VIII weakly sclerotized, sternum SVIII sub-rectangular, slightly wider posteriorly posterior margin convex, anterior margin with narrow strongly sclerotized patch each side of median (Fig. 10g) Genitalia (Figs 14a–d). Pseudotegumen broad, anogenital rim smooth other than short, sclerotized posteroventral process, pseudoteguminal arms narrow, elongate, meeting medially. Tegumen weakly sclerotized, narrow sub-triangular, medially diffuse. Valva setose, C-shaped; sacculus and distal valva subequal length, apex rounded. Fultura superior weakly sclerotized, rectangular, longer than wide, fultura inferior rectangular less sclerotized, posterior margin rounded with broad, shallow medial concavity. Saccus strongly sclerotized, narrow, anterior margin founded, posterior margin with deeply incised medially with shallow triangular process either side. Female. Unknown. Habitat and Phenology. Habitat unknown. Within region of forested hills (Joseph 2018). The July record corresponds to the month of highest precipitation and within a range of highest temperatures during the peak monsoon period (Sahu et al. 2025). Etymology. Named for Nikolai Ignatev for his contributions to the taxonomy of Hepialidae. A noun in the genitive case. Distribution. Known from the type locality only, Tiger Hill, Darjeeling, India (Fig. 17).
Institutions
- Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov (UZ)
- Altai State University (RU)
- Yunnan University (CN)
- National Research Tomsk State University (RU)
- Hadassah Medical Center (IL)
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M (DE)
- McGuire Institute (US)
- Yunnan Institute of Environmental Sciences (CN)
- Nature Research Centre (LT)
- Open Polytechnic (NZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2025-08-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16987337
- Primary Topic
- Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00