Deleproctophylla tengri Zheng, Badano, H. Aspock & Liu 2026, sp. nov.

Deleproctophylla tengri Zheng, Badano, H. Aspöck & Liu sp. nov. Figs 3 C, 3 D, 17–21 Type material. Holotype • China: Xinjiang, Shihezi [石河子], Maangou Village [马鞍沟村], Mt. Jiangjunshan [将军山], 650 m, 6. VI. 2020, Haitian Song, 1 ♂ (IZCAS). Paratypes • Same locality as holotype, 18. VII. 2022, Rui Wang, 1 ♀ (IZCAS); • same locality as holotype, 14. VII. 2025, Yuchen Zheng and Rui Wang, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (CAU); • Kazakhstan: Alma-Ata (present Almaty), 1 ♀ (NHMW); • Kyrgyzstan: Narinskaya Obl. NE Naryn, Aral, 1500 m, 10. VII. 2000, Vladimir Dolin, 1 ♂ (HUAC); • Kyrgyzstan: 5 km NE of Ugut, 41°25.561'N, 74°52.358'E, 1616 m, 09. 07. 2013, L. Ábrahám and S. Ilniczky, 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀ (SCM); • Kyrgyzstan: 2 km S of Kala, 41°26.669'N, 72°12.873'E, 789 m, 03. 07. 2013, L. Ábrahám and S. Ilniczky, 6 ♀♀ (SCM); • Kyrgyzstan: Jalal-Abad Region, ca 7 km N of Tash-Kömür, 41°25'N, 72°15'E, 660 m, 20–21.06. 2003, R. Dobosz, 1 ♀ (Phot. 1) (USMB); • Tajikistan: Gorno-Badakhshan, S. side Saghirdasht Pass 10 km N. of Kala-i Khumb, 38°32'51.7"N, 70°48'1.6"E, 1850 m, T. and W. Garrevoet, 1 ♀ (RMNH). Larval material. China: Xinjiang, Shihezi, 5 km south of the Shihezi City, 686 m, 20. V. 2025, Ziyang Ni (ZCAU). Diagnostic characters. Metafemur unmarked; forewing with acute apex, hyaline, without marking; hindwing subtriangular, posterior margin angled; hindwing marking generally as shade along crossveins, extending on RP; male ectoproct median branch basally wide, gradually bifurcating, subtriangular shape. Description. Size (mm, based on 2 specimens). Head + thorax length 6.9; antenna length 11.22–14.15; fore wing length 20.1–21.2; fore wing width 6.1–6.5; hindwing length 15–16; hindwing width 5.7–6.2. Head. Vertex dark brown; setae dense, long, pale (Fig. 17 C). Para-ocular band pale yellow. Frons yellow, medially with a dark brown spot; setae dense, long, pale. Clypeus and labrum yellow; setae long, pale (Fig. 17 B). Mandible yellow, transitioning to dark brown apically. Labium and palp yellow. Antenna pedicel with dense pale and dark setae, flagellomeres generally dark brown; club basally dark brown, gradually transitioned to pale yellow to the tip (Fig. 17 A). Thorax. Cervical sclerite yellow, with a pair of dark markings. Pronotum black, lateral margin yellow; setae long, pale. Mesonotum black with yellow markings: an anterior transversal pair, a median triangular pair and two lateral pairs; mesoscutellum mostly black, medially with a pair of yellowish markings, posterior margin yellow (Fig. 17 C). Pleurae pale yellow (Fig. 17 D). Legs. Pro- and mesothoracic legs pale yellow, tarsi each generally pale yellow and distally dark brown; hind tarsus mostly dark brown. Coxae with thin pale setae; femora and tibiae with thin pale setae and ventral thicker blackish setae; tibial spurs narrow, blackish; tarsi with robust blackish setae (Fig. 17 D). Wings. Forewing long, apex acute. Pterostigma with three to four forked and unforked brown veinlets; membrane brown. Presectoral area with five to six crossveins. RP with four branches. MA gradually curving toward hind margin in distal portion. MP - CuA area with ~ 3 irregular rows of cells. Anal area hind margin straight; axillary lobe slightly pronounced. Forewing venation largely brown, paler toward wing base; Sc pale yellow, paler toward distal part; R pale yellow, darker toward distal part. Forewing membrane hyaline (Figs 3 C, 3 D, 17 A). Hindwing subtriangular, broadest at RP fork; hind margin angular curved narrowing toward rounded apex. Presectoral area with two crossveins. RP with three branches. MA largely straight, slightly curved toward hind margin distally. MP - CuA area with ~ 2 irregular rows of cells. Hindwing venation brown, paler near wing base and distally. Hindwing membrane hyaline, hindwing marking generally as shade along crossveins, extending on RP (Figs 3 C, 3 D, 17 A). Abdomen. Tergites black, each with a caudal pair of yellowish markings. Sternites yellow. Pleural membrane brown with large paler markings. Male genitalia. Ectoproct narrow, with branch in apical half, basally wide, gradually bifurcating, subtriangular shape. Setae of ectoproct long, dark brown; setae on branch limited to tip, dense, black, stout, curved, and spine-like; setae only on tip of ectoproct, black, stout, curved, and spine-like (Fig. 18 A – C). Tergite 9 sub-rectangular in lateral view, with ventral projection; setae long and black, longer and denser on projection. Sternite 9 wide trapezoid in ventral view; setae thin, spine-like on median part (Fig. 18 B, C). Gx 11 arch-shaped, external tip rounded, slightly curved downward in lateral view; gp 11 lightly sclerotized forming a shallow median furrow, with short setae; gx 9 strongly sclerotized, with upward fold, widely hook-like in lateral view (Fig. 18 F – J). Female genitalia. Ectoproct elongated; setae long, black. Tergite 9 sub-rectangular. Gx 9 longer than wide; setae long. Tergite 8 subrectangular. Gx 8 wider than long, with long setae. Gp 8 flatted; setae thin (Fig. 18 D, E). Diagnosis of 3 rd instar larva. Dorsal head yellowish brown, with many dark brown spots, spots on the middle part relatively sparse, anteromedially with a dark brown marking. Dorsal segments 1–7 medially with a pair of short dark brown stripes, laterally scattered with irregular dense dark brown markings (Fig. 20). Description of 3 rd instar larva. Size (mm). Body length (excluding mandible): 15.74; head length: 3.83; head width: 4.07; mandible length: 4.06. Head. Wider then long, laterally with short setae (Fig. 21 A, B). Clypeo-labrum generally brown, concave internally; anterior margin covered with some dolichasters. Dorsal side of head capsule yellowish brown, with many dark brown spots, spots on the middle part relatively sparse, anteromedially with a dark brown marking; head ventrally yellowish brown, with many short dolichasters, pore developed. Ocular tubercle prominent and large, apical part with a tiny projection. Antennae brown (Fig. 21 A, B). Mandible nearly as long as head width; dorsal mandible basally pale brown, gradually darkening to the distal part; ventral mandible generally dark brown. Mandible basally with three or four pseudo-teeth and three interdental mandibular setae; second tooth largest and close to the third tooth; first tooth longer than third tooth; two pseudo-teeth between first and second teeth (Fig. 21 A, B). Thorax. Laterally with short setae. Pronotum generally pale pink, laterally pale yellow, scattered with some dark dots, posterolaterally with a pair of black markings, covered with tiny dark dolichaster. Mesothorax generally pale yellow, with spiracles present on short stout black sclerotized tubercle, lateral margin dark brown. Meso- and metathoracic setiferous processus scolus-like, distally constrict. Anterior mesothoracic setiferous processus longer than the posterior pair (Fig. 21 C). Legs. Pale yellowish brown, densely covered by short setae. Abdomen. Pale yellow. Dorsal segments 1–7 medially with a pair of short dark brown stripes, laterally scattered with irregular dense dark brown markings. Each ventral segments 1–7 pale, laterally scattered with many dark spots, ventral segments 2–7 medially with a dark spot. Each segment 1–7 with a pair of dorsal scolus-like processus and a pair of ventral short scolus-like processus. Abdominal segment 9 pale yellow, long trapezoid, twice as long as wide, developed rastra with four pairs of digging setae (Fig. 21 D). Distribution. Asia: China (Xinjiang); Kazakhstan (Almaty Region); Kyrgyzstan (Jalalabad and Narinsky Region); Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region) (Fig. 25). Etymology. The species name tengri is derived from the Turkic word “ tengri, ” meaning sky or heaven. The species was found in the surrounding area of the Tianshan Mountains (also known as the Tengri Tagh Mountains), a mountain range whose name, across various language families, signifies “ Mountains of sky or heaven ”. Thus, the name tengri reflects both the geographical origin of the species and the celestial meaning of the term in Turkic languages. The species epitheton is a substantive and an apposition to the genus. Comparative notes. Deleproctophylla tengri can be readily distinguished from the congeners by the median branch of the male ectoproct is subtriangular and distinctly broad at the base (Fig. 18 A – C). The larva of D. tengri sp. nov. exhibits all the diagnostic larval features of the genus and differs only slightly from the known congeners D. australis and D. dusmeti (Figs 5, 20, 21). The main distinguishing feature of D. tengri compared to its western counterparts is the paler head capsule, which is distinctly mottled dark brown dorsally and paler ventrally (Fig. 21 A, B). In contrast, the larvae of D. australis and D. dusmeti, which are virtually indistinguishable from each other, are characterized by a uniformly dark head capsule (Fig. 5). Biology. Deleproctophylla tengri inhabits arid hills (Fig. 19 A, B). The larva of this new species was observed preying on a Parnassius apollonius Eversmann, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) on a hillside meadow (Fig. 19 C). Remarks. This new species is endemic to the surrounding area of the Tianshan Mountains. We suspect that the specimens of D. variegata from Kyrgyzstan examined by Krivokhatsky et al. (2015) (without figure) are probably conspecific with this new species, considering that the record from Kyrgyzstan belongs to the same fauna as this new species (we also designated a paratype from Kyrgyzstan). Furthermore, Krivokhatsky et al. (2015) and Kerimova et al. (2023) also mentioned that D. variegata occurs in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which might represent the same situation mentioned above. Nikolajev (2006) wrongly reported D. variegata from Takuma sands from the Ili River Valley (Almaty Region). The picture included in the publication confirms that the record most likely refers to D. tengri.