Ahlbergia tricaudata Johnson

Ahlbergia tricaudata Johnson, revalidated status

(Figs. 14, 44, 79, 87, 114)

Ahlbergia frivaldszkyi tricaudata Johnson, 1992: 41, partium on holotype only, figs. 24C for male genitalia, 70F–G for habitus, TL: China; Tshikolovets & al., 2002: 94, synonymy for A. frivaldszkyi frivaldszkyi.

Ahlbergia ferrea: Omelko & Omelko, 1995: 225, figs. 9–14 for female characters and larva, fig. 15 for male genitalia, fig. 16 for female genitalia. (Misidentification).

Ahlbergia tricaudata: Korshunov, 1996: 43, partium on new status only, not the specimens identified; Tuzov, 2000: 119, partium on name only, not the specimens identified.

Ahlbergia frivaldszkyi ssp. tricaudata: Tuzov, 2000: 118, partium on name only.

Ahlbergia aleucopuncta: Tuzov, 2000: 120, pl. 56, figs. 13–15. (Misidentification).

Material. CHINA: Liaoning province: 3♂♂, 2♀♀ (CHH), Anshan City, Mt. Qianshan, V.2012, Q.-Y. Xu leg.; 1♂, 3♀♀ (CHH), Anshan City, Mt. Qianshan, 28.IV.2015, Q.-Y. Xu leg.; 5♀♀ (CZJQ), Fushun City, Xinbin County, Nanzamu, 12.V.2013; 1♀ (CZJQ), Benxi City, Tanggou, 23.V.2013. All specimens dissected.

Identification. This taxon was originally described as a subspecies of A. frivaldszkyi, based on a male holotype from China without further information, a female allotype from southwest Irkutsk, several male and female paratypes from Irkutsk, and a female paratype from Sayan Mountains. The holotype has the following peculiar characters which are however not shared with true A. frivaldszkyi: 1) androconial patch on forewing upperside markedly longer and wider; 2) hindwing underside with the darker basal half outlined by a contiguous white line which is regular in width from costa to dorsum; 3) valvae of male genitalia in ventral view with the lateral margins more apparently angled; and the most important 4) lower cornutus of phallus in male genitalia broader and more rounded at distal tip, and both upper and lower cornuti bearing a larger number of teeth which are more regular in size. The combination of these peculiar characters has also been found in a good number of specimens collected from Liaoning, Northeast China. Further research including a dissection of female genitalia proved that Johnson (1992) made a mistake in associating male holotype and female allotype of A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata. The true female genitalia of A. tricaudata stat. rev. (Figs. 113–115) possess a markedly shorter and more oblong lamella postvaginalis and more elongate ductus bursae than in A. frivaldszkyi.

Johnson’s (1992) mistake was due to the lack of material; he did not see any true female specimens of A. tricaudata. Moreover, he did not realize the importance of the features of cornuti for the specific discrimination of his Ahlbergia ferrea and A. frivaldszkyi groups as did all the subsequent authors (Omelko & Omelko 1995; Tuzov 2000; Tshikolovets et al. 2002). The female allotype of A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata belongs to A. frivaldszkyi; the distributional range of A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata was recorded by Johnson (1992) as overlapping the range of A. frivaldszkyi aquilonaria in some part of China and Sayan Mountains. All these make a correct identification of A. tricaudata impossible: Omelko & Omelko (1995) erroneously identified specimens of A. tricaudata as A. ferrea (Omelko & Omelko 1995: 229, figs. 15–16). Korshunov (1996) raised A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata to full specific rank without correctly identifying this taxon, and treated A. frivaldszkyi aquilonaria as a subspecies of A. tricaudata, despite the fact that the cornuti of A. tricaudata are markedly different from those of A. frivaldszkyi frivaldszkyi and A. frivaldszkyi aquilonaria; he just simply divided A. frivaldszkyi into two allopatric species, a western one and an eastern one without any evidence in genitalic morphology. Tuzov (2000) erroneously identified specimens of A. frivaldszkyi as A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata (Tuzov, 2000: pl. 56, figs. 7, 9), and A. tricaudata as A. aleucopuncta Johnson, 1992 (Tuzov, 2000: pl. 56, figs. 13–15). Tshikolovets et al. (2002) considered A. frivaldszkyi tricaudata as either individual variation or junior synonym of A. frivaldszkyi.

It becomes clear that Ahlbergia confusa Huang, Chen & Li, 2006 described from Jiangsu and Fujian, southern China is conspecific with A. tricaudata, sharing all the important male and female genital characters with it. Further on, two unnamed subspecies have been found from Hebei-Shanxi area and western Shaanxi respectively (Fig. 139).

Diagnostic characters. The following combination of genitalic characters proved to be unique for A. tricaudata: 1) lower cornutus of phallus a little wider than that of A. frivaldszkyi and A. ferrea, but narrower than that of A. leei; 2) distal margin of lower cornutus more regularly rounded than that of A. frivaldszkyi, and more arched than that of A. leei; 3) both upper and lower cornuti bearing a larger number of teeth which are more regular in size than those of A. frivaldszkyi; 4) lamella postvaginalis of female genitalia markedly shorter than in A. ferrea, A. frivaldszkyi and A. leei and more oblong in shape than in A. frivaldszkyi and A. leei; 5) lamella postvaginalis lacking apparent ventral convolutions which are well marked in A. frivaldszkyi, A. leei and A. ferrea.

Distribution. The holotype is labeled from China, without further information; it is assumed to be collected from some part of Northeast China, as specimens from Northeast China examined by us have external characters in common with the holotype. Beside the nominotypical subspecies from Northeast China, three other subspecies have been recognized: ssp. confusa from Jiangsu and Fujian; ssp. unnamed from Beijing, Hebei and Shanxi; ssp. unnamed from western Shaanxi. The distributional range of A. tricaudata widely overlaps that of A. frivaldszkyi, except for southeastern China where A. frivaldszkyi has not been found.