Meganola pyrrhomorpha Hacker, 2012

(Figs 41–42, 81, 101)

Meganola pyrrhomorpha Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 398. Type locality: Ethiopia, Oromia Prov., Bonga. Holotype, ♂ (coll. Hacker /ZSM).

= Meganola tabbertiella Hacker & Hoppe, 2012, Esperiana 17: 414, syn. n.

= Meganola amaniella Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 409, syn. n.

= Meganola fuscostriata Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 411, syn. n.

Material examined. Ivory Coast. 1 ♂, 174m, Tai NP., Tai Research Station, 05°49’59.8”N, 07°20’32.0”W, 14– 23.XI.2015, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg., ANHRT:2017.16, slide No.: LGNA 138 ♂; 1 ♂, 3 ♀, 1171 m, Mt Tonkoui Peak, N07°27’15,2”, W07°38’12,5” 1–8.XI.2015, Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P. & Ruzzier, E., ANHRT:2017.16, slide Nos: LGNA 232 ♂, LGNA 48 ♀, LGNA 49 ♀, 145 ♀; 1 ♂, same site, but collected at 9–16.IV.2016 by Aristophanous, M. and Moretto, P., ANHRT:2017.17, slide No.: LGNA 565 ♂. Sierra Leone. 1 ♀, Baoma, Goderich, 8°25’41”N, 13°15’47”W, leg. R.W. Goff, 18.III.2015, ANHRT:2019.1, slide No.: LGNA 171 ♀. Liberia. 2 ♂, 530m, Lofa County, Foya Proposed Protected Area, 7°56’36”N, 10°16’36”W, 10–19.xi.2017, MV Light Trap (125W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. & Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, slide Nos: LGNA 548 ♂, LGNA 552 ♂; 1 ♀, 1165m, Nimba Mts camp, ENNR, Nimba county, 7°31’45”N, 8°31’37”W, 03–13.xii.2017, Light Trap (blended bulb 250W), Aristophanous, M., Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G., Smith, L. leg., ANHRT:2017.33, slide No.: LGNA 553 ♀; 1 ♀, 1000–1100m, Nimba Mts., ENNR, Nimba county (Cellcom road), 7°32’45.9”N, 8°31’21”W, 27.iii–04.iv.2017, Light Trap (250W blended bulb) & Cold Cathode UV light bucket trap (8W), Sáfián, Sz., Simonics, G. leg., ANHRT:2017.36, slide No.: LGNA 546 ♀ (ANHRT).

Remarks. M. pyrrhomorpha Hacker, 2012 is a rather characterless small moth, rendering it difficult to identify. It resembles other highly similar species (e.g. M. spermophaga, M. illaudata, M. antennata) requiring the examination of the genitalia for reliable identification. The most important distinctive features in the male of the species are the conspicuously curved valva with a heavily sclerotized, broad costal margin, the long, distally slightly curved, apically dilated and broadly rounded harpe, the short aedeagus bearing a short, curved carinal process and the single, short and thin spike-like cornutus of the vesica. The most distinctive features in the female are the short, narrow, distally asymmetrical antrum, the short, rounded lateral protrusion at the distal end of the very long and membranous ductus bursae and the elongate ovoid scobinated plate of signum bursae. As several species described in Hacker et al. (2012) share these characters without any detectable distinctive features, the following species are considered to be mere synonyms of M. pyrrhomorpha: M. tabbertiella Hacker & Hoppe, 2012 syn. n., M. amaniella Hacker, 2012 syn. n. and M. fuscostriata Hacker, 2012 syn. n. The validity of several further, externally very similar species is supported by minor, but stable differences in the genitalia. These species are as follows: M. spermophaga (Fletcher, 1962), M. stictographa Hacker, 2012, M. amphigrapha Hacker, 2012, M. foviferoides (Poole, 1989), M. pedata (Fletcher, 1962) and M. obscuritata Hacker, 2012. It is worth noting that the externally strikingly different M. loxoleuca (Fletcher, 1958) and M. loxodentata Hacker & Hoppe, 2012 belong to the same species-group based on the configuration of their genitalia.

Distribution. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, D.R. Congo, Kenya, Ghana (Hacker et al. 2012), Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast (Hacker 2014). The specimens from Liberia represent new country record.