Hellinsia haverineni Ustjuzhanin, Kovtunovich & Pototski, 2021

Ustjuzhanin, Petr, Kovtunovich, Vasyly, Pototski, Aleksander, Nupponen, Kari, Haverinen, Risto & Streltzov, Alexander, 2021, Two new species of plume moths (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) from Atacama Desert (Chile), Ecologica Montenegrina 45, pp. 16-23 : 19-20

Hellinsia haverineni Ustjuzhanin, Kovtunovich & Pototski sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FC7638B1-8266-47AE-B4AA-43FC14914038

Figs 4−5

Type material: Holotype, male, ( IZBE gen.pr. Nr. 3042360), CHILE ATACAMA, Huasco River valley by Huasco Bajo vill. 31.i.2017, 28°28'S, 71°09'W, 31m, K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg. ; Paratypes: 9 males, same data as holotype, K. Nupponen, R. Haverinen & A. Pototski leg. ( IZBE, NUPP, ZISP, CUK) .

Description: External characters. Head with collar of brown scales and white hairs on forehead. Thorax and tegulae ocher-yellow. Labial palpi thin, light-yellow, equal to longitudinal eye diameter in length. Antennae light-brown. Wingspan 16-19 mm, in holotype – 17.5 mm. Fore wings yellowish-brown, interspersed with tiny brown scales. Brown spot in base of cleft. Small brown strokes along inner margin of first and second lobe distally. Hind wings unicolorous, color the same as of fore wings. Hind legs pale-yellow, with spurs of different length.

Male genitalia: Valves asymmetric, left valve significantly wider than right valve. Saccular process on left valve thin, slightly concave, reaching middle of valve. Sacculus on right valve distally extended, long longitudinal fold in medium part of valve. Anellus arms of different length, right arm slightly longer, both arms apically acute. Saccus arched. Uncus narrow, thin, in length equal to saccular process of left valve. Tegumen short, v-shaped. Aedeagus almost twice shorter than valve, slightly concave, with narrow long cornutus.

Female: unknown.

Differential diagnosis. In the external characters of the adult and in the male genitals, the new species is most close to Hellinsia angulofuscus ( Gielis, 1991) , from which it differs in the absence of the long brown stroke on the costal margin on the fore wing above the cleft. The new species has a small round point in the cleft base, while in H. angulofuscus there is a long stroke there. The left valve in the new species is wide, significantly more extended than the right one, while in H. angulofuscus the left valve is narrow. The aedeagus in H. angulofuscus is swollen apically, while in the new species it is narrow.

Distribution: Chile, Atacama.

Flight period: January.

Etymology: The species Hellinsia haverineni is named in honor of a Finnish lepidopterologist Risto alias Ripa Haverinen, who is a member of the board of the Estonian Society of Lepidopterologists and member of many other countries lepidopterologists societies, always a helpful friend and member of dozens joint expeditions with Aleksander Pototski and Kari Nupponen.

Additionally, in the studied territory we have collected the following Pterophoridae species previously known for Chile but found in Atacama Desert for the first time:

Figures

Figure 4. Hellinsia haverineni Ustjuzhanin, Kovtunovich & Pototski sp. nov. Adult, male, holotype.

Figure 5. Hellinsia haverineni Ustjuzhanin, Kovtunovich & Pototski sp. nov. Male genitalia, holotype (IZBE gen.pr. Nr. 3042360).