Tasmantrix Gibbs

Gibbs, George W., 2010, establishment of five new genera from Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 2520, pp. 1-48 : 21-22

Key to the species of Tasmantrix Gibbs , gen. nov.

Wing maculation alone ( Fig. 1 ) cannot satisfactorily distinguish between all species of Tasmantrix , hence a combination of forewing patterns, antennal morphology and male genitalic characters are used here.

1. Forewing with a white transverse fascia at mid-length continuous from costa to termen (the ‘ calliplaca - type’ macu- lation) ( Fig. 1 A) ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

- Forewing with white fascia at mid-length but not forming a continuous costa to termen band ................................. 2

2. Forewing transverse fascia at mid-length represented by two independent white fasciae, one on costa, one on termen ( Fig. 1 F); male segment 9 sclerite a complete ring ......................................................... tasmaniensis Gibbs , sp. nov.

- Forewing with an elongate ‘J’-shaped fascia extending from base to termen at mid-length ( Fig. 1 C); male sclerite 9 incomplete dorsally .................................................................................................................. lunaris Gibbs , sp. nov.

3. Male valvae forked with upper and lower arms .......................................................................................................... 4

- Male valvae simple ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

4. Male valvae fused together in ventral mid-line, forming a rigid semicircular clasper; lower valve fork apex bearing 6-8 specialised setae with recurved tips; a small lunular S8 remnant present ......... calliplaca (Meyrick) , comb. nov.

- Male upper and lower valve arms separated by wide semicircular emargination; both arms bearing a dense array of specialised recurved setae with brush tips; lacking S8 remnant .................................................. thula Gibbs, sp. nov.

5. Male tergum 10 divided into two lobes..................................................................................... fragilis Gibbs , sp. nov.

- Male tergum 10 simple, hood-like ............................................................................................................................... 6

6. Male valvae simple, bearing a dense area of long curved setae (‘retro-setae’) with brush borders on their inner sur- face ......................................................................................................................................... phalaros Gibbs , sp. nov.

- Male valvae with broad club-like apices, bearing a dense area of coarse ‘retro-setae’ on inner surface ....................... ............................................................................................................................................. nigrocornis Gibbs, sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Adult moths from life: A, Tasmantrix. calliplaca (Meyrick), male; B, T. fragilis sp. nov., male; C, T. lunaris sp. nov., male; D, T. nigrocornis sp. nov., male; E, T. phalaros sp. nov., male; F, T. tasmaniensis sp. nov., male; G, T. thula sp. nov., female; H, Zealandopterix zonodoxa (Meyrick), male. (All to scale, white scale bars = 1 mm)