153 Nachr. entomol. Ver. Apollo, N. F. 21 (3): 153–162 (2000) A new species of the miranda-group of the genus Loepa from Taiwan (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) Shen-Horn Yen, Wolfgang A. Nässig 1 , Stefan Naumann 2 , and Ronald Brechlin Shen-Horn Yen, Department of Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, UK; e-mail: s.yen@ic.ac.uk Dr. Wolfgang A. Nässig, Entomologie II, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; e-mail: wnaessig@sng.uni-frankfurt.de Dr. Stefan Naumann, Potsdamer Strasse 71, D-10785 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: DrSNaumann@aol.com Dr. Ronald Brechlin, Wilhelmstrasse 21, D-17309 Pasewalk, Germany; e-mail: R.Brechlin@t-online.de Abstract: Loepa mirandula n. sp., a new species of the miranda-group of the genus Loepa, is described from Tai- wan, with biological, phenological and biogeographical information provided (holotype ♂ in Senckenberg-Museum, Frankfurt am Main). It appears to be endemic to the island of Taiwan. It differs from the continental species L. miranda Atkinson in Moore, 1865 mainly in smaller size and genitalia morphology; external habit is similar. In addition, advances in taxonomic problems of some congeneric members are also discussed. First, Loepa yunnana Mell, 1939 is revised and treated as a species separate from L. miranda (stat. rev.). Second, Loepa sakaei Inoue, 1965 from the Japanese Ryukyu Archipelago is confirmed as a separate species belonging to the katinka-group of the genus. Last, the systematic status of Loepa formosensis Mell, 1939 (the second Loepa species inhabiting the island of Taiwan, provisionally treated as a separate species here; syn. formosibia Bryk, 1944) is discus- sed; its relationship to L. kuangtungensis Mell, 1939 from adjacent S.E. China is not yet clear. Eine neue Art aus der miranda-Gruppe der Gattung Loepa von Taiwan (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) Zusammenfassung: Eine neue Art aus der miranda-Gruppe der Gattung Loepa wird beschrieben: Loepa mirandula n. sp. (Holotypus ♂ im Senckenberg-Museum, Frankfurt am Main). Es handelt sich nach bisherigem Kenntnisstand um einen Endemiten der Insel Taiwan. Die neue Art unterscheidet sich von L. miranda Atkinson in Moore, 1865 hauptsächlich in der geringeren Größe sowie in der Genitalmorphologie; habituell sind beide Arten sehr ähnlich. Weiterhin wird Loepa yunnana Mell, 1939 revidiert und als separate Art interpretiert (stat. rev.). Loepa sakaei Inoue, 1965 vom japanischen Ryukyu-Archipel ist eine separate Art und gehört zur katinka-Gruppe der Gattung. Die zweite Loepa-Art von Taiwan, Loepa formosensis Mell, 1939 (Syn. formosibia Bryk, 1944), ist entweder eine eigene Art oder konspezifisch mit der kontinentalen L. kuangtungensis Mell, 1939 von den benachbarten Provinzen Südostchinas; der Status ist nicht entschieden, sie wird vorläufig als separate Art geführt. Introduction The genus Loepa Moore, 1859 contains more than 20 species of colourful yellowish saturniids in South, South- east and East Asia. Early revisionary work was provided by Mell (1939), Roepke (1953) and Holloway (in Bar- low 1982: 192). During a series of studies on its species, which intend to lead to an overall revision of the genus, the second author has attempted to clarify the Loepa fau- nas of specific geographical regions of Southeast Asia, e.g. the Philippines (Nässig & Treadaway 1988, 1997, 1998), Java (Nässig & Suhardjono 1989), and Sumatra (Nässig et al. 1989, 1996). Additional studies from continental Asia have been conducted by Pinratana & Lampe (1990) for Thailand, by Brechlin (1997) for northern Vietnam, by Naumann (1998) for China and by Brosch et al. (1999, together with a lectotype designation) for Laos and Cambodia. According to our present knowledge of the genus (Nau- mann 1995: 83, Nässig & Treadaway 1998: 389), a pro- visional infrageneric grouping of the species of Loepa is helpful for diagnosis and further phylogenetic investiga- tion. Three species-groups are here recognized though their monophylies are to be proved in the future: 1. The oberthuri-group is possibly the most basal lineage within the genus. Two species are known: oberthuri (Leech, 1890) (nec “oberthueri”, misspelling by several authors), known from different areas of continental China (Naumann 1998), and anthera Jordan, 1911 from N.E. India (Jordan 1911, Seitz 1926), China (Naumann 1998), Laos (Brosch et al. 1999), and northern Viet- nam (Nässig 1994). This group, comprising the prob- ably two largest species of the genus, is characterised by the salmon-reddish pattern elements on the wings unknown from all other species. Larval morphology and foodplant association is still unknown (except for some unverified remarks by Zhu & Wang 1983, who claimed that L. oberthuri feeds on Rutaceae: Citrus reticulatus). The genitalia of the two species are quite different, but show largely plesiomorphic conditions (uncus shorter, not much fused, etc.). Presently we think that this group may be a paraphyletic residue rather than a monophyletic assembly. 2. The miranda-group, according to our present knowl- edge consisting of about 8–10 species. The monophyly of this group is clearly demonstrated by the nearly complete fusion of the uncus to its top and some pat- tern elements; the larval morphology is only known of L. miranda Atkinson in Moore, 1865 itself (Ragus, unpublished). Its species are distributed mainly in mountains of continental Asia, but including Taiwan. Two subgroups, not necessarily both of them mono- phyletic, may be distinguished: the miranda-subgroup to the South and the damartis-subgroup to the North. 1 54th contribution to the knowledge of the Saturniidae. 2 5th contribution to the Saturniidae fauna of China (4th contribution: 1999, Galathea, Berichte des Kreises Nürnberger Entomologen, Suppl. 6: 72–80).