Moths of Africa 5 

Revision of the genus Prasinocyma Warren, 1897 with description of 9 new subgenera, 189 new species and 29 new subspecies
(Geometridae, Geometrinae)

Author of volume 5: Axel Hausmann
340pp., 16 plates

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ISBN: 978-3-00-085916-8
Date of issue: 10. April 2026

This paper presents an integrated revision of the genus Prasinocyma Warren, 1897 which is restricted to the African continent, Madagascar and the southern Arabian Peninsula and which is one of the taxonomically most difficult and most diverse genera in Lepidoptera. More than 6000 specimens of African Prasinocyma were examined, of which 1981 specimens were submitted to DNA barcoding (COI 5’), with a sequencing success for 1701 specimens (86%). Based on this data set and on morphological key characters, 365 taxa (325 species and 40 subspecies) are validated. 189 species and 29 subspecies are described as new for science. DNA barcodes of 16 species (5%) with high genetic variability were divided into two or more BINs, pointing to the presence of further cryptic lineages, in five cases the BIN split reflects subspecific rank of the taxon in question. Barcodes of 41 species (13%) were assigned to 18 shared BINs, due to low interspecific divergence or genetic overlaps, while 24 of these BIN-sharing species (7%) showed constant, shallow interspecific COI divergences from their BIN-partner-species. Hence, 309 of 325 Prasinocyma species (95%) can be unambiguously be identified by their DNA barcodes, 285 species (87%) by their unique BINs. The morphological information from 1471 genitalia dissections and 72 micro CT-scans generally proved the validity of the DNA barcoding approach for naming species although up to 18% of the species diagnoses would have been erroneous when merely based on BIN concordance/discordance ignoring shallow barcode differences and morphology. With the present integrated taxonomic approach, the number of validated Prasinocyma species is raised from 115 species (as by 2015) to now 325 species. The genus is subdivided - mainly based on molecular evidence (mtDNA, nDNA) - into eleven subgenera (Prasinocyma, Amplocyma subgen. nov., Tandicyma subgen. nov., Megacyma subgen. nov., Paraprasina stat. n., Niphocyma subgen. nov., Bificyma subgen. nov., Corrucyma subgen. nov., Malgassocyma subgen. nov., Microcyma subgen. nov. and Claracyma subgen. nov.) some of them with subordinated species groups.