Epermenia (Calotripis) albofasciata, Gaedike, 2020

Gaedike, Reinhard, 2020, New taxa and new records of Afrotropical Epermeniidae (Lepidoptera) with a distributional checklist, Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 70 (2), pp. 359-364 : 361

Epermenia (Calotripis) albofasciata spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EB6346C8-5761-4BFE-96F1-1FFD4B0A8FF0

Holotype: , Zimbabwe: Manicaland, Upper Bvumba , 1680 m, 19°07'15"S, 32°46'10"E, 4.vi.2016, [leg.] D. Agassiz & K. Larsen; Gen. präp. [genitalia slide] Gaedike 9681: BMNH.

Derivatio nominis: Named after the characteristic white

stripe on the forewing.

Diagnosis ( Fig. 2 ): Wingspan 16 mm; head pale creamy, laterally around eyes dark brown; labial palpus directed obliquely upwards, the first two segments on outside dark brown, on inside pale creamy, apical segment totally creamy, only with single dark scales; scape of antenna creamy too, pecten nearly invisible; thorax and tegulae somewhat darker creamy than the head, tegulae basally and thorax apically with dark brown scales; forewing nearly black with clear white pattern; dorsum with three tufts of raised scales at 1/3 (the largest), ½ and 2/3; a broad white stripe from base of dorsum oblique to costa in the basal third of wing, interrupted by black patch near the base; between first and third tuft from dorsum to cell a white area, the border to cell with some light brown scales, also white are a smaller patch on costa at ¾, a patch subapically, surrounded by black to apex and a thin stripe in the middle of termen; apically the cell with a small light brown patch, three black dots in the middle of wing, above the three tufts; hindwing shiny light grey.

Male genitalia ( Figs 8–10 ): Uncus long, straight, basally rounded and laterally with small bristles; tegumen more strongly sclerotized on edges and in the middle; valva as long as uncus + tegumen, ampulla straight, clearly shorter than cucullus, apically blunt, covered with numerous bristles, ventral edge somewhat more strongly sclerotized, the sclerotized border with a prolongation to cucullus; sacculus apically with thin pointed tip, phallus clearly shorter than valva, slightly curved, with very thin cornutus. Female genitalia: Unknown.

Remarks: Superficially distinguishable from the other Afrotropical members of the genus by the large wingspan and the characteristic forewing pattern. In the genitalia structure the clearly distinctive characters for this species are the basally rounded and bristled uncus and the straight and blunt ampulla.

Figures

Figs 1–2: 1 – Epermenia (Calotripis) larseni; 2 – Epermenia (Calotripis) albofasciata.

Figs 3–14: Epermenia minuta (female: 3 – segment VIII, 4 – signum); Epermenia larseni (male: 5 – uncus-tegumen, 6 – valva, 7 – phallus); Epermenia albofasciata (male: 8 – uncus-tegumen, 9 – valva, 10 – phallus); Ochromolopis xeropa (male: 11 – uncustegumen, 12 – valva, 13 – phallus); Ochromolopis namibica (female: 14 – segment VIII).