Scythris angustivalvella Nupponen, 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

Scythris angustivalvella Nupponen sp. nov.

Figs 16 , 47

Type material.

Holotype. Argentina • ♂; 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] KN01051; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 4/16 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP (MZH).

Diagnosis.

Both fore- and hindwings are fuscous. The male genitalia of S. angustivalvella resemble those of S. manchaoensis , but differ by the distally narrower valva and arched phallus (sigmoid in S. manchaoensis ), as well as in details of sternum VIII (posteromedial prongs long and diverging in Scythris angustivalvella , short with apices converging in Scythris manchaoensis ) and details of tergum VIII (posterior margin indented in Scythris angustivalvella , with medial extension rounded in Scythris manchaoensis ).

Description.

Wingspan 11 mm. Head, collar, neck tuft, haustellum, tegula and thorax fuscous, with scattered dirty white scales. Scape dorsally fuscous, ventrally dirty white, pecten dirty white and longer than diameter of scape. Flagellum brown, 0.7 × length of forewing, ciliate, sensillae as long as diameter of flagellum. Labial palp: palpomere I white; palpomeres II and III: lower surface dark brown, otherwise dirty white. Legs dirty white, tibiae and tarsi mixed with brown. Abdomen dorsally fuscous, ventrally dirty white. Forewing fuscous; narrow indistinct whitish streak in fold from base to midwing; small dark brown spot at cell end. Hindwing fuscous.

Male genitalia. Uncus a bifurcate plate, tips of posterior lobes blunt. Gnathos base a broad belt; distal arm long, slightly upcurved, basal 1/2 tapered, posterior 1/2 slender, tip pointed. Tegumen broader than high, margins reinforced. Phallus 0.65 × length of valva, slim and arched, tip pointed. Valva long and narrow; basal 1/2 tapered, distal 1/2 slender and incurved, apex spatular; a robust, downcurved horn-like projection ventrally at 0.5. Saccus short, triangular. Juxta narrow, 0.55 × length of phallus. Sternum VIII pentagonal, posteromedial prongs divergent, straight, tips pointed; anterior margin slightly concave. Tergum VIII trapezoid, anterior margin widely incurved, posterior margin slightly indented.

Etymology.

Diminutive noun in apposition. The species name refers to the narrow valvae in the male genitalia.

Distribution.

NW Argentina.

Habitat.

The collecting site is a dry shrubby area near a salt lake shore (Fig. 77 ).

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADY8789 (n = 1 from Argentina). Nearest neighbour: Scythris manchaoensis Nupponen, sp. nov. (BIN: BOLD:ADY8793, 2.57%).

Remarks.

Female unknown. Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, South American taxa Scythris salinasgrandensis , Scythris furciphallella , Scythris manchaoensis , Scythris angustivalvella , and Scythris directiphallella group together, associating within a clade, whose taxa are classified in apparently non-monophyletic Scythris on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). We classify these taxa in Scythris . The male genitalia of Scythris angustivalvella and Scythris manchaoensis are similar to S. zhakovi Bidzilya & Budashkin, 2017 from Ukraine ( Bidzilya et al. 2017).

Figures

Figure 77. Collecting site of Rhamphura depressa Meyrick, R. pozohondaensis sp. nov., R. subdimota sp. nov., R. curvisociella sp. nov., Scythris directiphallella sp. nov., S. angustivalvella sp. nov., Landryia ankylosauroides sp. nov. Argentina, Pozo Honda vill. S (259 m), 19 Sep. 2017.

Figures 12 - 17. Scythrididae adults, genus Scythris. 12 S. directiphallella Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 13 A S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 13 B S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, paratype 14 S. manchaoensis Nupponen, sp. nov., male holotype 15 A S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, holotype 15 B S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, paratype 16 S. angustivalvella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 17 S. zeugmatica Meyrick, 1916, male, holotype.

Figures 47 - 48. Male genitalia of Scythris 47 S. angustivalvella Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 4 / 16 Dec. 2019 KN 48 S. zeugmatica Meyrick, 1931, holotype, slide JFGC No. 8050.