Amerila kiellandi sp

Amerila kiellandi sp.n.

Description
Male. Fw length 24 mm; wings, head, thorax and abdomen dorsally white; wings weakly scaled, partly transparent; fw costa with a long areole which extends from the base to about one third of the total winglength, broad at base and gradually tapering distally. Antennae black, red towards the base; tegulae with two faint black spots, one basally and one distally; legs pinkish red, outer sides of femora and tibiae white. Abdomen ventrally pale yellowish brown, the anterior margins of abdominal tergites III and IV with a band of dark, velvet-like scales.

V kiellandi.GIF (4393 Byte)

Male genitalia

view on leftside of vinculum and valva, lateral view	inner side of right valva	tegumen/uncus, dorsal view	aedeagus with vesica everted

Uncus small, broad triangular, and distally not pointed. Valvae large, oval-shaped, and distally rounded; outer surface without extrusible coremata; inner sclerotized process short, distally bent inwards and pointed, and with a group of spines on the outer side towards its base. Vesica distally with a single strong, relatively short and pointed, almost straight cornutus.

Distribution
East Africa; Tanzania; only known from the type locality.

Comments
With some reluctance we base the description of this new species on the single specimen available. The unique features of the male genitalia together with the phenotypic characters, however, clearly support species status. Superficially A. kiellandi is quite similar to A. mulleri, from which it is readily distinguished by the presence of the long fw areole.
The species is dedicated to the late Jan Kielland, a renowned worker on the butterflies of Tanzania, who also collected many moths at light traps among which was the holotype of this species.

Material
Holotype male: 35383, 22-9-67, Kampisa J.K., Mpanda, 1500 m / Genital-Präparat Nr. 96-24, Chr.Häuser / Holotypus, Amerila kiellandi Häuser & Boppré [presented to BMNH; abdomen dissected]. Type locality: TANZANIA: Mpanda, Kampisa.