Ethmia randycurtisi Phillips

Phillips-Rodriguez, Eugenie, Powell, Jerry A., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2014, A synopsis of the genus Ethmia Huebner in Costa Rica: biology, distribution, and description of 22 new species (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Depressariidae, Ethmiinae), with emphasis on the 42 species known from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, ZooKeys 461, pp. 1-86 : 42-43

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Depressariidae

Ethmia randycurtisi Phillips sp. n. Figures 40, 85, 130, 166

Diagnosis.

This species can be distinguished by the long ochreous spines below apex of valva in male genitalia.

Description.

Male: FW length 13.3-13.4 mm (n = 2). Head: Labial palpus elongate, reaching crown, white, with black areas basal of segment II and segment III; proboscis front and crown whitish occipital tufts black at mid-dorsum, yellow lateral tufts. Thorax: Whitish, pronotum with 4 black spots on posterior half; collar and base of tegula black. FW ground color whitish with a series of elongated dark markings, the most conspicuous: a sinuate middle line from base almost to termen, expanding into a costal dark blotch reaching costa anteriorly and above tornus posteriourly; two dots at posterior half: one before middle and one bellow costal blotch. HW ground color whitish, pale brown towards margin; costal pinch fold present. Abdomen: Pale brownish, genital scaling pale ochreous. Genitalia (Fig. 85) with basal process broad; valva with apex produced into a short plume, a group of three to four long ochreous spines just below apex.

Female: FW length 13.3-15.5 mm (n = 2). Head and thorax: As described for male, HW unmodified. Abdomen: Genitalia (Fig. 130) with sterigma narrow; antrum with a narrow sclerotized band posteriorly; signum deeply notched.

Holotype.

Male: INBCRI0003101969, Costa Rica: Cartago, Paraíso, P.N. Tapantí, Send. La Pava 1400 m, 1.iv.1999, Roberto Delgado. Deposited in INBio. Paratypes: Costa Rica: Cartago: Paraíso, P.N. Tapantí Macizo de la Muerte, Administración 1200 m, 1M 1.xi.1999, R. Delgado; Sector Represa, Puente del Rio Porras, 300 m SE, 1660 m, 1F 1.ix.1999, 1F 1.viii. 2001, R. Delgado. Puntarenas: Monteverde, Est. La Casona 1520 m, 1M 1F 1.i.1994, N. Obando, 1F 3-17.ix. 1994, K. L. Martínez (INBio, EME, USNM).

Distribution and biology.

Ethmia randycurtisi has been collected in Costa Rica (Fig. 166) from 1200 to 1600 m in Cordillera Volcánica de Tilarán and Cordillera Volcánica Central. The food plants and immature stages are unknown.

Etymology.

Ethmia randycurtisi is named in honor of Randy Curtis of Arlington, Virginia and The Nature Conservancy, for his continuous encouragement, financial support, and advice on behalf of INBio’s germination in Santo Domingo de Heredia, the endowment establishment for ACG, and the ACG conservation activities of Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs.