Megacraspedus peslieri, 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 : 175-176

Megacraspedus peslieri sp. n.

Examined material.

Holotype ♂, "France Pyr.[enees]-Or.[ientales] Conat (Bel Loc) 13-IX-2017 880 m Peslier leg." "P. Huemer GEL 1274 ♂" (TLMF). Paratypes. France. 2 ♂, same data as holotype, but genitalia slide 32197 Nel (MHNT, RCSP). Spain. 1 ♂, prov. Huesca, Peñalba, 250 m, 17.x.1984, leg P. Stadel Nielsen, genitalia slide 5304 O. Karsholt (ZMUC).

Description.

Adult. Male (Figure 147). Wingspan 13 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with long scale brush, dark brown on outer surface, white mottled with brown on inner surface, white on lower and upper surface; segment 3 cream-white, blackish brown at base and apical half. Antennal scape without pecten; flagellum ringed black and brown. Head and thorax whitish brown; tegula as forewing. Forewing cream coloured, darker on costa, lighter on dorsum, more or less mottled with yellow and brown- and black-tipped scales; basal part of costa black; a black dot at end of fold; black dots at 3/5 in middle of wing and at end of cell; termen with black scales; fringes grey, yellowish at apex. Hindwing grey with grey fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. The specimen from Spain has a black streak in the fold.

Male genitalia (Figure 263). Uncus broadly sub-rectangular, slightly longer than broad, apical margin evenly rounded; gnathos hook moderately slender, apically pointed, approximately 1.4 times length of uncus, bent at right angles at about one-third; tegumen with broad and moderately deep anterior emargination, additional weak emargination medially; pedunculi suboval; valva with short digitate part, extending to about middle of uncus, at most half width of uncus, basally widened, ventral edge straight, dorsal edge weakly curved, distal part weakly tapered, with rounded apex; saccular area covered with some setae, without separated sacculus; posterior margin of vinculum with shallow emargination, weakly curved lateral hump, vincular sclerites oblong, with posteriomedial ridge; saccus large, stout, broadly U-shaped, distal abruptly tapered to weakly pointed apex, ratio maximum width to length approximately 0.9, posterior margin weakly produced, with medial emargination, medial part smooth, without sclerotised ridge, lateral sclerites approximately 0.6 times maximum width of saccus, with dilated distal end; phallus long, coecum weakly inflated, distal four-fifths, slender, straight, digitate, with ventral sclerotised ridge, dorsal part with long and slender thorn-like sclerite from about middle nearly to apex, parallel to phallus axis, apex weakly excavated.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus peslieri sp. n. is characterised by the cream-brown forewings with a black streak through the fold and a black dot at end of cell. It is similar to M. binotella (Figs 62-63), but that species has more distinctly ringed antennae and no black streak in the fold. The species shows some similarities to other species with a sub-rectangular uncus in the male genitalia but is unmistakable due to the unique phallus, the short valva, and the large saccus.

Molecular data.

Not available, barcoding failed.

Distribution.

Southern France ( Pyrénées Orientales), northern Spain.

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The small type-series was collected from the middle of September to mid-October at altitudes of between 250 and 880 m.

Etymology.

The species name (a noun in the genitive case) is dedicated to Serge Peslier, France, who collected most specimens.