Megacraspedus pentheres Walsingham, 1920

Huemer, Peter & Karsholt, Ole, 2018, Revision of the genus Megacraspedus Zeller, 1839, a challenging taxonomic tightrope of species delimitation (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae), ZooKeys 800, pp. 1-278 : 155-156

Megacraspedus pentheres Walsingham, 1920

Megacraspedus pentheres Walsingham, 1920: 10.

Examined material.

Paratype ♂, "Basses Alpes S FRANCE 22.viii.1913 Wlsm. 1913-390 95935" “Paratype” "Megacraspedus pentheres Wlsm. PARATYPE", genitalia slide 33662 (BMNH). Non-type material. France. 1 ♂, Dep. Alpes-Maritimes, Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée, 510 m, 4.viii.2000, leg. J. Nel, genitalia slide 11757 Nel (TLMF).

Description.

Adult. Male (Figure 130). Wingspan 11.5 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with scale brush longer than segment 3, creamy on inner and dorsal surface, outer surface creamy brown, covered with mid-brown tipped creamy scales; segment 3 shorter than segment 2, cream white with darker mottling. Antennal scape with pecten of about five hairs; flagellum light brown ringed with dark grey. Head, thorax and tegula cream-white mottled with light brown scales; thorax and tegula as forewing. Forewing light yellow-brown mottled with brown- and black-tipped scales, especially in apical part; costa blackish near base; a black dot in fold and two in middle of wing and at end of cell; some black scales along termen; fringes greyish. Hindwing grey with light grey fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. The examined specimens show only slight variation. One specimen has a fourth black dot in the forewing. The pecten is easily lost as demonstrated from a specimen with 3 hairs on one and 5 hairs on the other side.

Male genitalia (Figure 248). Uncus moderately small, basally contricted, suboval, slightly shorter than maximum sub-basal width, apex evenly rounded; gnathos hook stout, about length of uncus, weakly curved, medially widened, with ventromedial ridge, apically pointed; tegumen with medially confluent sclerotised anterior ridges, anterior margin with broad and moderately shallow emargination, additional small shallow excavation medially; pedunculi small; valva long, extending to about apex of uncus, slender digitate, distally weakly curved with rounded apex; saccular area with few microtrichia, without separate sacculus; posterior margin of vinculum with shal low medial emargination, weakly rounded lateral humps, vincular sclerites oblonge, moderately slender; saccus broadly sub-triangular, with broadly V-shaped outer edge, evenly tapered to pointed apex, moderately short, ratio maximum width to length about 1, posterior margin shallowly arched, with indistinct medial emargination, medial part smooth, without sclerotised ridge, lateral sclerites short, approximately 0.6 times length of maximum width of saccus; phallus with bulbous coecum, distal three-fifths stout, straight, sclerotised sub-apical ridge with about five small teeth.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus pentheres is characterised by light yellow-brown forewings with three black dots and black scales along termen. It closely resembles M. tristictus (Figure 48) (with which it shares the light yellowish colour of the forewings), but the dot at the end of the cell is largely reduced and there are several small dark spots in the terminal area, which are absent in M. tristictus . It is furthermore similar to M. neli sp. n. (p 59). The male genitalia differ from all other species of the M. pentheres species group in the absence of a sacculus.

Molecular data.

Not available, barcoding failed.

Distribution.

France (Dep. Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The type-series was collected in the middle of August at an altitude of ca. 900 m; a further specimen dates from early August.

Remarks.

Megacraspedus pentheres was described from seven males collected by Walsingham at Annot, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France (Walsingham 1920). The label dates of the examined paratype disagree with the dates published in the original decription, as ’9–12.VIII.1913’.