Rhamphura depressa (Meyrick, 1931),, 2022

Nupponen 1, Kari & Sihvonen, Pasi, 2022, Revision of Neotropical Scythrididae moths and descriptions of 22 new species from Argentina, Chile, and Peru (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea), ZooKeys 1087, pp. 19-104 : 19

Rhamphura depressa (Meyrick, 1931), comb. nov.

Figs 1 , 35

Scythris depressa Meyrick, 1931. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 37: 282.

Material examined.

Holotype. Paraguay • ♂; Chaco region , Makthlawaiya; GSC [G. S. Carter]; 11.26.; [genitalia slide] JFGC No. 8061; NHMUK ID 010922355; NHMUK slide ID 010316669; coll. NHMUK.

Other material.

Argentina • 2 ♂; prov. Santiago del Estero, Pozo Honda village S, by salt lake; 27°17.2'S, 64°28.0'W, 260 m a.s.l.; 19 Sep. 2017; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; [BOLD sample ID] KN01044; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 2/ 9 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP (MZH) .

Diagnosis.

Externally hardly separable from R. dimota and R. subdimota . Reliable determination can be achieved by genitalia examination (DNA barcode not available for R. dimota yet). Gnathos is labiate, short and sclerotised in R. depressa ; gnathos base is triangular hood, distal arm is short and bent in R. dimota ; absent in R. subdimota . Lateral processes of tegumen absent in R. depressa ; triangular, granulate and heavily sclerotised in R. dimota ; sub-oval, granulate, with longitudinal cleavage and heavily sclerotised in R. subdimota . Male tergum VIII trapezoid in R. depressa ; rectangular with long diverging anterior apodemes in R. dimota ((note: structures shown are not in comparable position, potentially deformed during dissection); pentagonal and medioposteriorly extended in R. dimota ).

Description.

The original description is quoted: "Wingspan 11 mm ♂. Head and thorax dark purplish-grey, sternum white. Palpi dark grey, basal joint and basal half of second white. Abdomen blackish, anal tuft grey segmental margins on ventral surface pale ochreous-grey. Forewings dark purplish-grey; a few whitish scales on fold towards middle: cilia grey. Hind wings 0.6, 4 and 5 separate; dark grey; cilia grey."

Male genitalia. Uncus large, bifurcate; united by transverse sclerotisation. Gnathos labiate, short and sclerotised. Anteriorly to tegumen attached a large formation, consisting of two parallel, curved, medially fused pouches. Phallus short and thick, vase-shaped. Valvae symmetrical, long and slender, of constant width, tip rounded and setose. Sternum VIII rectangular basally, posterior reinforcement extended laterally; lateral apodemes sclerotised and extended anteriorly forming prongs with spoon-shaped apices. Tergum VIII trapezoid plate, posterior margin with numerous minute setae.

Distribution.

Argentina, Paraguay.

Habitat.

In Argentina the species was collected in a dry bushy area near a salt lake shore (Fig. 78 ).

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADY6755 (n = 2 from Argentina). Maximum intraspecific variation 0%. Nearest neighbour: North American Rhamphura sp. ( Scythrididae , BIN: BOLD:AAA9059, 2.89%).

Remarks.

New to Argentina. Female unknown. Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, the South American taxa Rhamphura subdimota , Rhamphura depressa , Rhamphura pozohondaensis , Rhamphura spiniuncus , Rhamphura angulisociella , Rhamphura tetrafasciella and Rhamphura curvisociella group together, associating next to the North American taxa classified in Rhamphura on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). Structurally these taxa are heterogeneous and the external characters, male and/or female genitalia show varying degrees of similarities to North American Rhamphura , as diagnosed and illustrated in Landry (1991). With regard to Rhamphura depressa , it has male sternum VIII with long, anteriorly directed, free apodemes, which is diagnostic in Rhamphura . For these reasons, we reclassified Scythris depressa Meyrick, 1931 as Rhamphura depressa (Meyrick, 1931), new combination.

Figures

Figure 78. Collecting site of Scythris bicoloristrigella sp. nov. and Rhamphura spiniuncus sp. nov.: Argentina, Andes Mts. (1620 m), salt lake by Cordillera del Tigre, 26 Jan. 2017.

Figures 1 - 6. Scythrididae adults, genus Rhamphura 1 A R. depressa (Meyrick, 1931), male, holotype 1 B R. depressa (Meyrick, 1931), male, holotype 2 R. dimota (Meyrick, 1931), male, lectotype 3 R. subdimota Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 4 R. immunis (Meyrick, 1916), male, lectotype 5 R. pozohondaensis Nupponen, sp. nov., female, holotype 6 R. spiniuncus Nupponen, sp. nov., male holotype.

Figures 35 - 36. Male genitalia of Rhamphura 35 R. depressa (Meyrick, 1931), holotype, slide JFGC No. 8061 36 R. dimota (Meyrick, 1931), lectotype, slide JFGC No. 8062.