Thylacosceles clavata, Guan, Wei & Li, Houhun, 2016

Guan, Wei & Li, Houhun, 2016, Thylacosceles Meyrick new to China, with descriptions of four new species (Lepidoptera: Stathmopodidae), Zootaxa 4158 (2), pp. 213-220 : 218

Thylacosceles clavata sp. nov.

( Figs. 5 , 11 )

Type material. CHINA: Holotype ♂, Bakaxiaozhai (101°13′E, 21°58′N), Menglun Town , Mengla County, Xishuangbanna , Yunnan Province, 620 m, 5.viii.2010, leg. Yinghui Sun and Lixia Li, genitalia slide No. GW 14006.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 5 ) with wingspan 7.5 mm. Face and vertex pale yellowish brown; occiput silvery white, tinged with ochreous yellow scales, with metallic luster. Labial palpus with first and second palpomeres grayish white on inner surface, pale yellowish brown on outer surface; third palpomere entirely pale yellowish brown. Antenna with scape silvery gray, tinged with pale ochreous; flagellum yellowish brown. Thorax grayish brown; tegula silvery white, tinged with yellowish white. Forewing pale silvery white in basal 4/5, pale ochreous yellow in distal 1/5; costal margin pale ochreous yellow along basal 1/5; ill-defined pale ochreous yellow marking between middle and 3/4 of cell reaching costa anteriorly; cilia pale brown. Hindwing and cilia pale grayish brown. Legs dominantly creamy white: fore femur and tibia pale brown on outer surface, tarsus pale yellowish brown; mid tibia yellowish white apically, tarsus with tufts of yellowish white scales at apexes of basal four tarsomeres, black apically; hind tibia dorsally with yellowish white bristles in basal 1/3, with long dark brown bristles in distal 2/3, with tufts of blackish brown scales and whorls of long yellowish white bristles apically; tarsus with scattered pale brown scales on outer surface of basal two tarsomeres, brown on distal three tarsomeres, with yellowish white bristles at apex of each tarsomere. Abdomen silvery white on dorsal and ventral surfaces.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 11 ). Uncus broad at base, slightly narrowed to 2/3, then abruptly thinned to 5/6, distal 1/6 short clubbed, blunt apically, with long hairs laterally. Gnathos subtriangular, narrowly rounded apically. Tegumen about twice length of uncus, branched from posterior 1/3, slightly narrowed anteriorly; posterior half folded inward laterally. Valva uniformly wide, costa slightly concave medially, ventral margin slightly arched; ampulla short clubbed; sacculus about 2/3 length of valva, narrowly banded, nearly uniform in basal 2/3, slightly narrowed in distal 1/3, apically reaching ventral 2/5 of cucullus; cucullus subrectangular, bluntly rounded at apex, about half length of valva. Vinculum narrowly banded; saccus extremely short, about 1/8 length of uncus. Juxta warhead shaped; anellus lobes clavate, narrow basally, dilated distally, about twice length of juxta, with dense short setae. Aedeagus about same length as valva, almost uniformly wide; cornutus large, long spicular, about 1/2 length of aedeagus, located in distal half.

Female unknown.

Diagnosis. This new species is similar to T. pithanodes Bradley, 1961 in the forewing having a costal spot. It can be distinguished by the pale silvery gray forewing, and in the male genitalia by the apex-rounded cucullus and the almost uniformly slender aedeagus. In T. pithanodes , the forewing is brown, the cucullus is straight at apex and the aedeagus is tapering to apex. This new species is also similar to T. nephroides sp. nov., but can be distinguished by the subtriangular gnathos, the subrectangular cucullus, and the aedeagus having no process at apex. In T. nephroides sp. nov., the gnathos is tongue shaped, the cucullus is nearly nephroid, and the aedeagus has a process at apex.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin clavatus (clavate), referring to the shape of the anellus lobes in the male genitalia.

Figures

FIGURES 1 − 7. Adults of Thylacosceles species. 1 − 4, T. nephroides sp. nov., holotype, ♂: 1, head (dorsal view); 2, head (lateral view, paratype, ♂); 3, hindleg; 4, adult; 5, T. clavata sp. nov., holotype, ♂; 6, T. cuneiformis sp. nov., holotype, ♀; 7, T. ellipsoidala sp. nov., holotype, ♂. (Scale bars = 2.0 mm).

FIGURES 10 − 14. Genitalia of Thylacosceles species. 10, T. nephroides sp. nov., holotype, ♂, slide No. GW 14002; 11, T. clavata sp. nov., holotype, ♂, slide No. GW 14006; 12, T. cuneiformis sp. nov., paratype, ♂, slide No. GW 14004; 13, ditto, holotype, ♀, slide No. GW 14005; 14, T. ellipsoidala sp. nov., holotype, ♂, slide No. GW 14003. (Scale bars = 0.2 mm, 13 = 0.5 mm).