Cryptolechia malacobyrsa, Meyrick, 1921

Wang, Shuxia & Zhu, Xiaoju, 2020, Study of the genus Meleonoma Meyrick, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae) from China, with descriptions of fifteen new species, Zootaxa 4838 (3), pp. 331-357 : 344

The malacobyrsa -group

Diagnostic characters. Adult with forewing length running from 5.5 to 9.8 mm, length approximately 2.5−3.2 times of the maximum width. Forewing broad lanceolate; ground color yellow, with a wide dark median fascia, with a distinct dark discal and a plical spot, as well as a discocellular spot that is often merged within the median fascia; terminal dots distinct, dark. Male genitalia: uncus more or less conical or rod-shaped; gnathos absent; valva bladeshaped in most species; transtilla dilated roundly or enlarged irregularly; sacculus entirely separated from valva. Female genitalia: ductus bursae membranous or partly sclerotized; corpus bursae ovate to rounded, with 1−2 signa.

Species of the malacobyrsa -group are similar to those of the facialis- group in having a yellow forewing, but can be distinguished by the forewing having a median fascia but lacking a costal spot and an apical patch; in the facialis- group, all the species have a costal spot and an apical patch but lack a median fascia.

Four species of the malacobyrsa -group have been recorded in China before this study: M. malacobyrsa ( Meyrick, 1921) , M. microbyrsa ( Wang, 2003) , M. dorsoprojecta ( Wang, 2006) and M. robusta ( Wang, 2006) . In the present paper, we describe six new species, and report the female of M. microbyrsa ( Wang, 2003) for the first time.