taxonID	type	description	language	source
A62687F2FFF5FF85FF643FB55F03E17D.taxon	discussion	Prior to its revision by Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013), Strigivenifera was considered to be monotypic ever since Hering (1937) synonymised S. albidiscalis (TL: DRC) with the type species S. venata (TL: Gabon), associating the respective female and male holotypes due to their similar external habitus. Matching males to a female holotype can be problematic in groups where external diagnostic characters are limited, and without the use of DNA barcoding it can sometimes be near-impossible to associate the two sexes. Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013) however, identified two males (one from DRC and one from Rwanda) as being conspecific with the female of S. albidiscalis based on the pattern and colouration of the wings and thus revived the species from synonymy; their conclusion is well supported by the barcodes of newly-sequenced males and a female found in the same regions (BOLD process ids.: ANLMN 8461 - 21 – ANLMN 8463 - 21), as well as clear differences in the male genitalia of this species and S. venata. Despite identifying and describing the male of S. albidiscalis for the first time, the authors also described two further species from roughly the same region of Central Africa: S. cruisa Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 (TL: Kenya) and S. livingstonei Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 (TL: DRC). A first issue with the description of these taxa is that no comparison with Hampson’s species is made despite their sympatric distribution and possession of an arcuate postmedial band of the hindwing. This lack of detailed diagnoses is problematic for identification purposes, with the only mention of difference in the external morphology being that S. cruisa is “ smaller and distinctly paler ” than S. livingstonei, a claim that cannot be considered a reliable distinguishing feature of two otherwise identical species. Even more surprisingly, any perceived differences in the male genitalia are not discussed despite a number of specimens of all three taxa having been dissected as listed in the materials section. When comparing the male genitalia of the holotypes of S. cruisa and S. livingstonei and the male of S. albidiscalis, the clasping apparatus of all three have an identical groundplan characteristically consisting of a valve which is wide at the base and sharply narrowing medially, and a juxta with two lobes which gradually taper. In addition, the distal end of the aedeagus bears a paired cluster of strongly sclerotised cornuti in all three species (it must be noted that use of the term “ cornuti ” in Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013) is in reference to spine-like structures on the distal end of the aedeagus and not within the vesica; the present paper follows this terminology). In particular, the holotype dissection of S. cruisa is identical to that of the illustrated S. albidiscalis, and S. livingstonei may only be perceived as different in the thickness of the juxta processes. However, the absence of illustrations of additional specimens in the review makes it difficult to account for any intraspecific variability, and thus it is unclear whether this feature justifies its distinctiveness. The only notable differences considered by the authors between S. cruisa and S. livingstonei are that the valve is “ digitate apically, and the aedeagus is large and bears a few cornuti ” in S. cruisa, although this statement is true of both species as observed in their figures. Again, the lack of detailed comparative diagnoses makes it extremely difficult to maintain both taxa as valid. In order to confirm the suspected synonymy of these three species, barcode-confirmed specimens were dissected and it was found that three male specimens from north-west Zambia (BOLD process ids. / gen. slide Nos.: ANLMN 8454 - 21 / TT 111; ANLMN 8460 - 21 / TT 112; ANLMN 8457 - 21 / TT 113) and one specimen from Nord-Kivu, DRC (BOLD process id. / gen. slide No.: ANLMN 8462 - 21 / TT 118) were identical in genitalia to each other and to those of S. albidiscalis, S. cruisa, and S. livingstonei (Figs. 1 – 3, 14 – 16). This result was considered surprising at first as there is a great deal of variation in the wing colouration of all these Central African specimens, implying that the darkness of the wings is not a reliable characteristic for distinguishing species in this genus, contrary to Kurshakov & Zolotuhin’s (2013) opinion; it also makes their comment on being able to identify species without needing dissection rather doubtful. Further support that these three species are conspecific can be found in the results of the phylogenetic analyses. All of the specimens identified as S. livingstonei and S. cruisa by Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013) (BOLD process ids.: LBEOW 2045 - 11; LBEOW 2046 - 11; LIMBC 811 - 11 – LIMBC 813 - 11; LIMBC 817 - 11; LIMBC 819 - 11; LIMBC 820 - 11; LIMBC 853 - 11) recovered closely within a clade alongside other Central African specimens (BOLD process ids.: ANLMN 8452 - 21 – ANLMN 8463 - 21). The APWD between all specimens in this clade was 1.9 %, and, given the sympatric distribution with no external distinguishing characters, this difference cannot be considered large enough for several distinct taxa. The phylogenetic reconstructions may support the idea that this species could be undergoing speciation, as several smaller, geographically grouped clusters were recovered; however, due to a clear lack of constant differences in external habitus and male genitalia, it is believed that these taxa represent a single, widespread species with a great degree of intraspecific variability. Given the morphological and genetic evidence as presented, both S. livingstonei and S. cruisa are here synonymised with S. albidiscalis: S. livingstonei Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 syn. n., S. cruisa Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 syn. n.	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF85FF643E045802E669.taxon	discussion	Another problematic set of species which is addressed here is S. eborea Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 and S. ocellaris Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013. Both of these taxa were described from Ivory Coast (note the TL of the former should be Grand-Béréby and the latter Danané but both are misspelt / mis-transcribed in the original description) and exist in sympatry throughout West Africa. In the male genitalia, the clasping apparatus and aedeagus are identical, with the only difference being the presence of one or two very small, thin cornuti on the aedeagus in S. eborea, which is absent in the related species. Indeed, the presence or absence of cornuti is in most cases a very good species character (Anzaldo et al. 2014). However, through dissections of barcoded specimens from near the type locality (BOLD process ids. / gen. slide Nos.: ANLMN 8466 - 21 / TT 123; ANLMN 8471 - 21 / TT 114; ANLMN 8472 / TT 115; ANLMN 8477 - 21 / TT 116; ANLMN 8465 - 21 / TT 141; ANLMN 8478 - 21 / TT 140) which recovered with S. eborea paratypes (BOLD process ids.: LIMBC 838 - 11; LIMBC 839 - 11), this character trait was determined to be insufficient for diagnosing the two species, with two of these specimens possessing a single cornutus on the aedeagus (Figs. 4 – 5, 17 – 18) whilst it was absent in the others (Figs. 6 – 7, 19 – 20); it should be noted that every other aspect of the genital morphology was identical. The reason why the cornuti may not be present in some specimens is speculative; it may just be a variable feature (e. g. in Przystałkowska & Przybyłowicz 2018), or it may have been lost during copulation (as suggested by Evenden et al. 2003) or the transportation of dried specimens. The latter explanation is probable as the cornuti of this species is often singular and incredibly thin, and thus could be easily broken when the juxta and the aedeagus protrudes out of the end of the abdomen as observed in the vast majority of specimens in the ANHRT collections (Fig. 27). For these reasons, S. eborea and S. ocellaris are treated as conspecific and a new synonymy is presented herein: S. ocellaris Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 syn. n. Interestingly, the single paratype specimen of S. ocellaris (BOLD process id.: LIMBC 850 - 11) included in Kurshakov & Zolotuhin’s (2013) phylogeny from the Western Area Peninsula of Sierra Leone was recovered with two other ANHRT specimens (BOLD process ids. / gen. slide Nos.: ANLMN 8474 - 21 / TT 121; ANLMN 8475 - 21 / TT 122) from the same locality, in a completely separate clade to S. eborea. Given that S. ocellaris has here been synonymised with S. eborea, an undescribed species exists in apparent allopatry to S. eborea. It is likely that Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013) made an incorrect assumption regarding the specific characters of S. ocellaris based on their single barcoded specimen but it is difficult to understand why they did not designate that barcoded specimen as the holotype. The difference in DNA with the otherwise near-identical West African species is striking, with an APWD of 6.2 %, and even more unexpectedly, the Western Area Peninsula specimens recovered as a sister to the Central African S. albidiscalis with APWD of 5.9 % albeit with weak support values. Based on this evidence, the description of a new species Strigivenifera smithi sp. n. is provided herein:	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	description	Figs. 8 – 10, 21 – 23	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	materials_examined	Holotype: Male, “ SIERRA LEONE 180 m / Western Area Peninsula / Forest Reserve 17. x. 15 / N 08 ° 20 ’ 57 ”; W 13 ° 10 ’ 42 ” / Light Trap R. Goff coll. / leg. Smith, R & Takano, H ” // “ ANHRTUK / 00164007 ” // “ African Natural History / Research Trust / ANHRT: 2018.18 ” // “ ANHRT / 01010 ” // “ Gen. slide No. / TT 122 / prep. By T. R. Taberer ”. BOLD process id.: ANLMN 8475 - 21. Paratypes: Sierra Leone. 1 male, Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve, 180 m, 08 ° 20 ’ 57 ” N, 13 ° 10 ’ 42 ” W, 21. ix. 2015, Smith, R., Takano, H. leg., gen. slide No. TT 121, BOLD process id.: ANLMN 8474 - 21; 1 male, same site, 24. x. 2015, Goff, R. leg., gen. slide No. TT 139 (ANHRT).	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	description	Description: Adult morphology: Male. Forewing length 21 – 23 mm. Head and palps ochreous-orange, clypeus beige, antenna black, bipectinate. Patagium beige. Thorax uniformly beige, dorsally with large central ochreous-orange ovoid patch with narrower, shorter ochreous-orange tegula patch. Legs ochreous-orange, tibia with beige hairs. Abdomen uniformly banded with beige and ochreous-orange hair scales. Upperside: forewing broad with rounded apex, ground colour beige but basal half strongly diffused with dark greyish-brown scales; veins strongly highlighted in brown along their entire length; discal spot pale beige, margin slightly diffuse; postmedial band pale brown, kinked at vein M 1 curving inwardly; fringe long, brown. Hindwing ground colour identical to forewing except for a paler region along the costal margin; veins strongly highlighted in brown only beyond the postmedial band; postmedial band broader than that of forewing, brown, arcuate, terminating at vein M 1; fringe long, brown. Underside: both wings uniform beige with reflective scales basally and along the veins; fringe pale brown. Forewing with small, brown discoidal marking; postmedial band weakly-defined, bolder towards costal margin. Hindwing postmedial band weakly-defined medially and boldest towards dorsum. Female. Unknown. Male genitalia. Uncus elongate, tapered, rounded and strongly sclerotised apically. Tegumen relatively narrow. Gnathos comprised of two slender, apically rounded distal processes and two thin, apically rounded proximo-lateral processes. Juxta with large, lobe-like base, and with two narrow, elongate, triangular, distally pointed and posteriorly heavily sclerotised caudal lobes accompanying aedeagus laterally. Vinculum broad, rounded. Valve triangular, wide at base, narrowing and rounded distally. Aedeagus slightly curved, thick, medium-long, proximally surrounded with heavily sclerotised manica fused ventrally to caudal lobes of juxta, distally weakly sclerotised, almost globular, with medial split, sometimes with a pair of very fine, thin cornuti. Vesica tubular, membranous. Female genitalia. Unknown.	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. The new species is identical in external appearance to S. eborea and cannot be readily distinguished. In the male genitalia, the species are again near-identical, except for the more intense sclerotisation along the posterior margin of the juxta caudal lobes in the new species; given the configuration of the aedeagus with the juxta, this is likely to be an important character directly linked to the copulation process. In addition, the juxta processes of S. smithi are slightly broader and shorter than in S. eborea. The largest distinction between the species can be seen in the barcoding data, but they can be easily distinguished geographically as S. smithi is likely to be restricted to the Western Area Peninsula of Sierra Leone. When compared with the other West African Strigivenifera species, S. oris Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013, the new species is generally slightly darker in appearance, and the hindwing postmedial band is much more curved and is darker in colour; in this case, the straight band of S. oris is very constant across specimens and is thus a good diagnostic character. In the male genitalia, the valve is markedly narrower and more rounded distally in the new species, and the caudal lobes of the juxta are much longer and more sclerotised posteriorly. Again, these species do not exist in sympatry and so specimens with good provenance cannot be confused. Genetic information. The new species has been designated to the BIN BOLD: ABU 6138 (n = 3). The average intraspecific variation of this species is 0.2 %. The nearest neighbour to S. smithi is the Central African sister species S. albidiscalis with an APWD of 5.9 %, although it should be noted that the taxon sampling for this genus is incomplete.	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	etymology	Etymology. This new species is dedicated to Richard Smith, founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the African Natural History Research Trust, in grateful acknowledgment of my placement at the institution which has enabled me to study the family Chrysopolomidae.	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFF4FF81FF6439305F6AE585.taxon	distribution	Distribution. This species is presumably endemic to the Western Area Peninsula of Sierra Leone, a narrow chain of mountains comprised of mostly closed-canopy, evergreen forest, peaking at 900 m above sea level. It contains the only remaining patch of tropical rainforest in western Sierra Leone, and due to its isolation, several endemic species have been recorded from this range (Okoni-Williams et al. 2001).	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
A62687F2FFFFFF8FFF64384E594DE3C5.taxon	discussion	Given the variation in external morphology as previously noted, a final pair of Strigivenifera with almost identical male genitalia described by Kurshakov & Zolotuhin (2013) is addressed here: S. bartschi Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 (TL: Kenya) and S. tatooifera Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 (TL: DRC; note the holotype locality on the distribution map of S. tatooifera is incorrect). When considering just the adult morphology of the illustrated holotypes, the difference between these two species is clear as S. tatooifera is considerably darker than the related species with more intensive colouration. However, as outlined previously, the absence of further illustrations of each species makes it difficult to understand the level of intraspecific variation, as was found in S. albidiscalis. The striking similarities in the male genitalia are as follows: the juxta processes are extremely long and thin, the valve is wide and gradually tapers, there is a complete lack of cornuti, and the distinct aedeagus possesses two moderately sclerotised projections at the distal end. This final characteristic is perhaps the most diagnostic, as in all other Strigivenifera species the distal portion of the aedeagus is membranous and very weakly sclerotised. Unfortunately, the differential diagnoses provided by the authors lack details and only briefly compares the external morphology of S. bartschi with S. albidiscalis, S. oris, S. neo Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 and S. tatooifera, whilst S. tatooifera is compared only with S. oris and S. neo; it should be noted that neither S. oris nor S. neo occur in sympatry with S. bartschi or S. tatooifera. The comparison of the near-identical genital morphology of S. bartschi and S. tatooifera was surprisingly neglected by the authors. The only noticeable difference between the male genitalia of S. bartschi and S. tatooifera is in the shape of the ventral edge of the valve: in S. bartschi, this edge is slightly more truncate whilst it is more rounded in the allied species. In order to investigate whether this was mere variation, two barcode-confirmed specimens from Nord-Kivu, DRC were dissected (BOLD process ids. / gen. slide Nos.: ANLMN 7890 - 21 / TT 125; ANLMN 7892 - 21 / TT 124) and compared to S. bartschi from the type locality (BOLD process ids.: LIMBC 814 - 11 – LIMBC 816 - 11; LIMBC 818 - 11). The results showed an intermediate valve shape between both species (Figs. 12 – 13, 25 – 26), as also found in a paratype of S. tatooifera (Figs. 11, 24), while every other feature of the entire male genitalia remained identical. Furthermore, the APWD between the DRC and Kenyan specimens was just 0.9 %. From this, it is herein concluded that S. bartschi and S. tatooifera are synonymous and the latter is synonymised with the former: S. tatooifera Kurshakov & Zolotuhin, 2013 syn. n.	en	Taberer, Tabitha R. (2022): An updated review of the genus Strigivenifera Hering, 1937 (Lepidoptera Zygaenoidea: Chrysopolomidae) with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 5168 (1): 51-62, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.4
