Revisional notes on Grammodora Aurivillius, 1927 with the descriptions of two new species from Angola and Tanzania (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae: Lasiocampinae: Selenepherini)

Abstract

Investigations into the lappet moth genus Grammodora Aurivillius, 1927, hitherto considered monotypic, have resulted in the description of two new species from Angola and Tanzania: G. angolana sp. n. and G. smithi sp. n. Despite variability in the COI-5P locus of mtDNA, stability in the habitus and genital morphology have enabled the accurate delimitations of the species, and biogeographic interpretations are presented based on locality data mined from numerous museum and private collections. It appears the former is an isolated western vicariant of G. nigrolineata (Aurivillius, 1895) whilst the latter, previously believed to be a pale form of G. nigrolineata, is allopatrically (or potentially parapatrically) distributed with it in Tanzania.