Megacraspedus tokari, Huemer, Peter & Karsholt, Ole, 2018

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 : 42-43

Megacraspedus tokari sp. n.

Examined material.

Holotype ♂, "CROATIA [Dalmatia region] Konjevrate 200 m 25.06.2006 leg. Z. Tokár” "Megacraspedus sp. det. Zdenko Tokár” "DNA Barcode TLMF Lep 16630" (RCZT). Paratypes. Croatia. 2 ♂, same data as holotype; 1 ♂, same data, but 25.vi.2003; 8 ♂, same data, but 28.vi.2003; 2 ♂, same data, but 6.vi.2005; 1 ♂, Gorne Bilišane, 6.vii.2004, leg. Z. Tokár; 1 ♂, Bilišane, 23.vi.2006, leg. Z. Tokár; 1 ♂, same data, but 15.ix.2007, genitalia slide 14/1384 Huemer (all RCZT); 2 ♂, Krk isl. Str. Krk-Vrbnik, 20.vii.1988, leg. G. Baldizzone (TLMF); 1 ♂, Krk isl., Punat-Stara Bavka, Trstenova, 18.vii.2013, leg. G. Baldizzone (RCGB); 2 ♂, Krk isl., Mt. Hiam, Branušine, 22.vi.2013, 180 m, leg. G. Baldizzone (RCGB; ZMUC).

Description.

Adult. Male (Figure 28). Wingspan 10 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with scale brush shorter than segment 3, brown on outer surface, whitish brown on inner surface, otherwise white; segment 3 about same length as segment 2, white. Antennal scape with pecten of a few hairs; flagellum black, indistinctly ringed with light brown. Head cream-coloured; thorax and tegula cream-coloured mottled with brownish. Forewing brown mottled with some yellow-white, especially along dorsum; a distinct white stripe along costa; fold yellowish; fringes light grey. Hindwing grey with light grey fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. The examined specimens show no variation, but worn specimens become light greyish.

Male genitalia (Figure 166). Uncus moderately broad, 1.5 times as long as maximum basal width, sub-trapezoidal, weakly tapered to rounded apex; gnathos hook slender, straight, about one-quarter longer than uncus, with curved and pointed apex; anterior margin of tegumen with moderate, broadly rounded emargination, medially with longitudinal ridge, extending from anterior edge beyond middle of tegumen; pedunculi small, rounded, with sclerotised ridge; valva straight, slender, basally wider, apical part contorted, rounded, extending to about base of gnathos, saccular area covered with setae, with hardly separated sacculus, fused with valva; posterior margin of vinculum with shallow medial emargination, weakly rounded lateral humps, vincular sclerite suboval, posteriomedial edge strongly sclerotised; saccus moderately large, broadly V-shaped, with rod-like apical fifth, ratio maximum width to length approximately 0.9, posterior margin with broadly rounded projections, separated by V-shaped emargination, medial part of saccus with short sclerotised ridge, furcated at approximately one-third length of saccus, lateral sclerites approximately 0.8 times length of maximum width of saccus; phallus about length of tegumen, moderately stout, with bulbous coecum, distal two-thirds weakly curved, tapered apically, with rod-like ventral sclerotisation.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus tokari sp. n. is characterised by cream-coloured head and its brown forewings with a white costa and without further markings. Its small size separates it from similar looking species. The male genitalia differ from other species of the M. dolosellus species group particularly by the furcated ridge of the saccus and the weakly curved phallus.

Molecular data.

BIN BOLD:ACM1095 (n = 1). The distance to the nearest congeneric neighbour M. cuencellus is 10%, the distance to the nearest BIN in BOLD, Monochroa scutatella ( Müller-Rutz, 1920), is 9.2% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Croatia.

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The adults have been collected from late June to the middle of September at low altitudes.

Etymology.

The species name (a noun in the genitive case) is dedicated to Zdenko Tokár, Slovakia, who collected most of the type series of this species and numerous other valuable specimens used for our study.