Megacraspedus pusillus Walsingham, 1903

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 : 66-67

Megacraspedus pusillus Walsingham, 1903

Megacraspedus pusillus Walsingham, 1903: 266.

Examined material.

Paratype ♂, "Sierra Nevada Granada; SPAIN 3 VI 1901 Wlsm 86728" “Paratype” "Megacraspedus ♂ pusillus WLSM 2/3" "Walsingham Collection, 1910-427.", genitalia slide 33661 (BMNH). Non-type material. Spain. 1 ♂, prov. Granada, Sierra Nevada, El Parador NP, 2500 m, 21.vii.1980, leg. E. Traugott-Olsen, genitalia slide 5621 Traugott-Olsen; 1 ♂, prov. Granada, Sierra Nevada, Camino de Valeta, 1600 m, 13.vi.1986, leg. E. Traugott-Olsen; 1 ♂, prov. Granada, Sierra Nevada, 3.4 km SSE Güejar Sierra, 1830 m, 4.vii.2015, leg. J. Tabell, genitalia slide 16/1432 Huemer; 1 ♂, prov. Almería, Sierra de los Filabres, Calar Alto, 2130 m, 5.vii.2015, leg. J. Tabell (all ZMUC).

Redescription.

Adult. Male (Figure 51). Wingspan 12-13 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with scale brush of about length of segment 3, dark brown on outer and inner surface, white on lower and upper surface; segment 3 cream-white with brown tip. Antennal scape without pecten; flagellum dark brown. Head whitish brown with white neck; thorax and tegula as forewing. Forewing light grey-brown, darkest at base of costa; a narrow yellow line in fold with an indistinct elongate black dot; a distinct black dot at end of cell; fringes light grey. Hindwing grey with light grey fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. The black dot in the fold is absent in some specimens.

Male genitalia (Figs 186-187). Uncus moderately slender, approximately 1.7 times longer than maximum basal width, evenly tapered towards rounded apex; gnathos hook bulky, with longitudinal grooves, straight, slightly longer than uncus, apically strongly sclerotised, pointed; anterior margin of tegumen with deep V-shaped emargination, rounded pedunculi distinct; valva straight, moderately broad, extending slightly beyond base of gnathos, distorted apical part rounded; saccular area densely covered with setae, without separated sacculus; posterior margin of vinculum with deep medial emargination, broadly rounded lateral humps, suboval vincular sclerites with sclerotised posterior edge; saccus sub-triangular, with rod-like apex, ratio maximum width to length approximately 0.6, posterior margin with pointed mediolateral projections, separated by shallow incision, medial part with strongly sclerotised longitudinal ridge extending to middle of saccus, with weakly forked anterior end, lateral sclerites slightly longer than maximum width of saccus; phallus about length of tegumen, weakly curved, with weakly inflated coecum, distal two-thirds stout, with rod-like ventral sclerite extending to apex, broader and shorter dorsal sclerotisation with few minute teeth, ductus ejaculatorius with long and slender band-like interior sclerotisation.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus pusillus is characterised by its light grey-brown forewings with a distinct black dot at end of the cell. It is particularly similar to M. skoui sp. n. (Figure 52), but also to M. bidentatus sp. n. (Figure 44) and M. fuscus sp. n. (Figure 45). The male genitalia differ from those of M. skoui sp. n. (Figure 188) and M. spinophallus sp. n. (Figs 189-190) in the shallow medial incision of the posterior margin of the saccus and the shorter and less forked medial ridge, and the absence of a distinct row of dorsal and ventral teeth of the phallus.

Molecular data.

BIN BOLD:ACZ8007 (n = 1). The distance to the nearest neighbour M. spinophallus sp. n. is 8.4% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Southern Spain (prov. Granada and Almería).

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The few adults known to date have been collected from the middle of June to the second half of July, at altitudes from between 1600 and 2500 m.

Remarks.

Megacraspedus pusillus was described from four males collected in the Sierra Nevada on 2.vi.1901 (Walsingham 1903: 266).