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Abstract

A new species Parasa dusii Solovyev and Saldaitis from northern Yemen is described (holotype in Museum Witt, Munich; Germany). The species has tendency to lose the green pigment typical for other congeners. It is provisionally placed into the genus Parasa Moore, 1859 where it is closely related to P. divisa West, 1940, P. catori Bethune-Baker, 1911, P. marginata West, 1940, P. thamia Rungs, 1951, P. dentina Hering, 1932, P. ananii Karsch, 1896, and P. semiochracea Hering, 1933. The relationship of the new species to these African species suggests its secondary penetration into the Arabian Peninsula from an origin in tropical Africa. The problems of monophyly of the genus Parasa and several associated genera are briefly discussed. All important characters of the new species, and some related species, are illustrated.

Keywords: Parasa dusii
Abbreviations: BMNH, the Natural History Museum - London, United Kingdom; CASU, collection of Alexey Solovyev - Ulyanovsk, Russia; CASV, collection of Aidas Saldaitis - Vilnius, Lithuania; MNHN; Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle - Paris, France; MWM, Museum Witt, Munich - Germany; TL, type locality - ZMHB, Zoologisches Museum der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; Germany; “|”, a new line in the citations of labels

Correspondence: ^asolovyev_alexey@mail.ru, ^bsaldrasa@gmail.com

Received: 2 October 2009 | Accepted: 8 April 2010 | Published: 3 November 2010

Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.  

ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 190

Solovyev AV, Saldaitis A. 2010. A new species of the genus Parasa Moore (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae) from Yemen. Journal of Insect Science 10:190, available online: insectscience.org/10.190