Alucita anna Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, 2024

Ustjuzhanin, Petr, Kovtunovich, Vasily & Prozorov, Alexey, 2024, Alucitidae (Lepidoptera) - a new family for the fauna of Ethiopia, Ecologica Montenegrina 71, pp. 1-4 : 2

Alucita anna Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich , sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EB812C62-13D1-406A-B667-F4DB00728E87

Figs 1–3

Type material: Holotype male, ( ZISP, gen.pr. Nr 1999). ETHIOPIA Southern Nations, Turmi, Emerald Lodge 4.9694 N, 36.4969E, 915 m, 26−30. IV. 2012, R. Beck leg.

External characters. Head with yellow hairs. Labial palpi 1.5 times longer than eye diameter in length, bent forward and up, like tusks. Antennae yellow, slightly serrated. Wingspan 19 mm. Wings color light-brown. Series of elongated brown spots along costal edge of fore wing. Other lobes of all wings with elongated brown portions alternating with light yellowish portions. Fringe on wings light-yellow. Legs pale-yellow.

Male genitalia. Uncus distally extended, apically with oval notch. Gnathos long, lanceolate, slightly narrowing to apex, equal to uncus in length. Gnathos arms short. Valves quite short, basally extended, smoothly narrowing to apex, poorly sclerotized. Anellus arms equal to gnathos in length and width, apically bluntly rounded and bent inwards. Aedeagus thick, straight, slightly shorter than all genital fittings, with clusters of spiky cornuti located distally.

Female unknown.

Diagnosis. In the light-brown color of the wings, the new species is similar to Alucita rhaptica (Meyrick, 1920) , but clearly differs in the male genital structure. In the shape of the valves, uncus and gnathos, it mostly resembles Alucita balioxantha (Meyrick, 1921) , from which it differs in the less deep notch on the uncus tip, more narrow anellus arms, aedeagus slightly longer than all genital fittings, while in A.balioxantha the anellus arms are wider than gnathos, and the aedeagus is significantly shorter than all the genital fittings in length.

Flight period. April.

Distribution. Ethiopia.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Anna Dulepinskaya (Novosibirsk region, Russia), the wife of the first author of this article.

Figures

Figure 1. Alucita anna Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. Adult (Holotype, ZISP).

Figure 2. Alucita anna Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. Male genitalia (Holotype, ZISP, gen.pr. № 1999).

Figure 3. Alucita anna Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. Type locality: South West Ethiopia: Turmi, Emerald Lodge (photo by A. Prozorov).