Elachista bimaculata Parenti, 1981

Kaila, Lauri & Nupponen, Kari, 2018, A review of the Elachista subula Parenti species complex (Lepidoptera, Elachistidae), with descriptions of nine new Palearctic species, Zootaxa 4433 (3), pp. 401-433 : 414

Elachista bimaculata Parenti, 1981

Figs. 13, 14 , 37, 38

Elachista bimaculata Parenti, 1981: 51 .

Material examined. Type material: holotype ♂: N. Iran, Berge östl. Semnan [ Mountains east of Semnan], 18.vi.1963, Kasy & Vartian leg. (gen. prep. U. Parenti 937, DNA sample 16676 Lepid. Phyl. (barcoding unsuccessful) ; NHMW). Other material: Kyrgyzstan, 39°35’29.0’’N 72°15’32.1’’E, 2820 m, Alai Mts., Tengiz-Bai pass gate, 24.vii.2010, 12 ♂, K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg. (L. Kaila prep. 6110, 6111, 6112, 6113, DNA samples 22528, 22562, 22629, 22630, 22631 Lepid. Phyl.; MZH, Coll. Nupponen) .

Diagnosis. E. bimaculata is a white or creamy white species, forewing variably with beige – brown plical and discal spots. They may be very indistinct or entirely absent. The identification is easiest by the shape of the juxta lobe, which is medially distinctly prolonged. Its median margin is somewhat s-shaped. The only other species with similar shaped juxta lobe are E. platamodes and E. semnani . In E. platamodes the phallus is 3/4 as long as valva, shorter in the two other species. The flagellum of antenna is dark grey in E. platamodes , pale brown in the other species. In E. semnani the valva is broader than that of E. bimaculata , and the median margin of juxta lobes is evenly convex.

Molecular characterization. There was no intraspecific variation among the six included specimens. Of the species included the closest taxon in terms of similarity of barcodes is E. acutella (distance 4.27 %).

Redescription. Forewing length 4–5 mm. Labial palpus straight or upcurved, white, length equal to diameter of head. Head, neck tuft, thorax, scape and pedicel of antenna creamy white; scape with distinctive pecten formed of elongate, creamy white scales; flagellum pale brown. Fore- and midleg inwardly brownish grey, outwardly white, tarsal articles distally pale; hindleg pale grey, spurs nearly black, tibia and tarsus above grey with distally pale tibia and tarsal articles. Forewing unicolorous, white or cream white, often with indistinct brown discal and/or plical spots. Fringe concolorous with forewing. Hindwing white or very pale grey, with concolorous fringe. Underside of forewing brown, fringe scales white. Underside of hindwing pale grey, translucent, except on costal side where it is darker grey; fringe pale grey.

Male genitalia. Uncus lobe rounded, somewhat broader than long, sparsely covered by setae along distal and distolateral margins, lobes separated by narrow u-shaped incision, depth of incision between them 1/3 the length of uncus. Spinose knob of gnathos rounded, as wide as uncus lobe. Valva 5.5– 6x as long as wide in the widest point a little basal to middle; slightly bent in the holotype, straight in specimens from Kyrgyzstan. Cucullus indistinctly delineated, elongate, distally rounded, or shortly nearly straight. Digitate process 0.15–0.25x as long as valva [its base hard to define in the slides available], tongue-shaped, distal 2/3 with setae. Juxta lobe somewhat shorter than or as long as digitate process, distally markedly produced, with a few setae distally. Median margin basally convex, distally concave, joining distal margin at an acute angle; indistinct oblique fold from middle of distal margin. Median plate of juxta nearly rounded, posteriorly with dorsally projected lobe. Vinculum elongate, tapered, distally variably forming short saccus. Phallus 3/4 as long as valva, slightly bent, 9x as long as broad at its broadest place near base, tapered into sclerotized, acute-tipped apex. Vesica with cornutus that consists of oval, indistinctly delineated, weakly sclerotized elongate plate with one or several small, blunt teeth.

Female. Unknown.

Biology. The habitat in Kyrgyzstan is a xerothermic slope at high altitude.

Distribution. Iran, Kyrgyzstan.

Remarks. The specimens from Kyrgyzstan: Alai Mts. are considered conspecific with the holotype of E. bimaculata , even though the shape of the uncus and the shape of juxta lobes seem to show minor differences between them. There is, however, some variation in the shape of the juxta among specimens from Kyrgyzstan. The apparent difference in the shape of uncus lobes in the holotype from Iran versus samples from Kyrgyzstan may be an artifact due to difference in pressure applied during slide preparation by different researches. It is, for the present, deemed likely that only one species is involved based on the material available.

Figures

FIGURES 13–16. Adults of Elachista spp. Scale 2 mm. 13. E. bimaculata Parenti, ♂ holotype. 14. E. bimaculata Parenti, ♂ (Kyrgyzstan, Alai mts., Tengiz-Bai pass). 15. E. perona Kaila, sp. nov., ♂ holotype. 16. E. perona Kaila, sp. nov., ♀ paratype (Kazakhstan, Dzhambulskaya oblast).

FIGURES 37–38. Male genitalia of E. bimaculata Parenti. Left: general image of genitalia, phallus in same scale. Right top: juxta and digitate process. Middle: cornutus as enlarged. Right bottom: phallus as enlarged. 37. Holotype (U. Parenti prep. 937). 38. Kyrgyzstan: Alai mts, Tengiz-Bai pass gate; L. Kaila prep. 5538.