Megacraspedus korabicus, 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 : 161-162

Megacraspedus korabicus sp. n.

Examined material.

Holotype ♂, "Macedonia NP [National Park] nMavrovo Korab [mountain], Korabska jezero, Kobilino pole, 2080-2180 m 20°34'55"E, 41°46'42"N 28.7.-1.8.2011 leg. Huemer & Tarmann" " Megacraspedus binotella det. P. Huemer, 2011" "P. Huemer GEL 1183 ♂" "BC TLMF Lep 05179" (TLMF). Paratypes. Macedonia. 1 ♀, same data as holotype (TLMF), but genitalia slide GEL 1273 ♀ P. Huemer; 2 ♂, Galičia, 3.viii.2015, leg. I. Richter (NMPC).

Description.

Adult. Male (Figure 136). Wingspan 13-15 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with scale brush about as long as segment 3, black on outer surface, white mottled with black on inner surface, white on lower and upper surface; segment 3 whitish. Antennal scape with pecten of one fine hair; flagellum grey-brown, indistinctly ringed lighter. Head, thorax and tegula cream-white. Forewing cream coloured mottled with yellow and some dark brown, darkest at costal third; two elongate black dots in fold and two black dots in middle of wing and at end of cell; some black scales along termen; fringes grey. Hindwing dark grey with light grey fringes.

Female (Figure 137). Wingspan 8 mm. Overall lighter than male. Forewing with apical half tapered, cream-white: a small black dot in fold, one in middle of wing, and one more distinct black dot at end of cell; fringe concolorous with forewing. Hindwing slightly reduced, about three-quarters length of the forewing, but more slender, emarginated before apex and tapered towards tip, whitish.

Variation. The yellowish dorsal part of the forewing can be more or less mottled with greyish scales. The hairs on the antennal scape are easily broken. Worn specimens become lighter.

Male genitalia (Figure 254). Uncus moderately small, basally constricted, suboval, slightly shorter than broad, sub-basally widened, distinctly tapered to weakly rounded apex; gnathos hook moderately slender, slightly exceeding length of uncus, weakly curved, apically pointed; tegumen smooth, with weakly developed merged ridges anteromedially, anterior margin with broad and moderately shallow emargination, additional small and shallow excavation medially; pedunculi moderately small; valva long, extending to about tip of uncus, broader at base, distal part slender, with rounded apex; sacculus developed, short, slender digitate; posterior margin of vinculum with shallow medial emargination, weakly developed lateral humps, vincular sclerites irregularly oblong with broad base; saccus broad, with weakly convex outer edge, distally tapered to pointed apex, moderately short, ratio maximum width to length about 1, posterior margin broadly arched, nearly sinusoid, with broad and shallow medial emargination, medial part smooth, without sclerotised ridge, lateral sclerites short, approximately 0.6 times length of maximum width of saccus; phallus gradually tapered, with weakly defined bulbous coecum, distal two-thirds stout, straight, with broadly sclerotised zone dorsally and slender sclerotised ventral ridge, subapically with indistinct tooth.

Female genitalia (Figure 299). Papilla analis large, approximately 0.7 mm long, apex broadly rounded; apophysis posterior rod-like, about 1 mm long, posteriorly bordered by large, longitudinal sclerotised field, posteriorly weakly widened and bent at about one-fifth, apex weakly inflated and rounded; segment VIII approximately 0.4 mm long, posteriolaterally sclerotised, medially membranous; subgenital plate with sub-triangular, anteriorly band-like, curved subostial sclerotisation, with broad and shallow projection anteriorly, posteriorly extended into short, pointed sub-medial sclerites, delimiting oblong ostium bursae; apophysis anterior rod-like, slightly longer than segment VIII; colliculum short, weakly sclerotised; ductus bursae slender, approximately 1.4 mm long; corpus bursae approximately 1.1 mm long, broadly suboval, clearly delimited from ductus bursae; signum small, irregularly shaped, weakly spinous plate in posterior part of corpus bursae.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus korabicus sp. n. is characterised by cream coloured forewing with four black dots. It is very similar to M. quadristictus (Figs 138-139) and M. teriolensis sp. n. (Figs 134-135), from which it can be separated by the lighter forewings, also in the costal part. The single known female is very small, having cream-white forewings with indistinct black dots and hindwings similar in shape to those of M. quadristictus . The male genitalia are very similar to several other species of the M. pentheres species group, particularly M. teriolensis sp. n. (Figs 252-253) and M. quadristictus (Figs 255-256), having only subtle differences such as the shape of the uncus and the moderately slender gnathos hook. The female genitalia are particularly similar to M. quadristictus (Figure 300) but differ e.g., by the more slender sub-medial sclerites of segment VIII and the much smaller and less spiny signum.

Molecular data.

BIN BOLD:ABA2917 (n = 3). The intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is low with mean 0.2% and maximum divergence of 0.3%. The distance to the nearest neighbour M. quadristictus is 10.1% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Macedonia.

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The few adults known to date were collected from the end of July to early August in alpine grassland at an altitude from 1500 to 2100 m.

Etymology.

This species is named after its place of occurrence: the Korab mountain range on the border between Albania and Macedonia. The name is a masculine adjective.