Paralecta rosiflora (Meyrick, 1930) comb. nov.

Athrypsiastis rosiflora Meyrick, 1930: 11.

Note.

This attractive species is known only from the type specimen, a male, collected by Albert Meek on the Upper Setakwa River in the Snow Mountains, New Guinea on 16 September 1910 (Fig. 29). We have only examined this specimen externally, but it is clear from this that it does not belong in the genus Athrypsiastis . In this species the antennae are bipectinate and orange, tinged pink. All the legs are red. The second segment of the labial palps is red and the third segment is white. In the forewing, R 3 is separate from R 4 and R 5, R 4 and R 5 are stalked, M 1 and M 2 approximate at the disc and M 3, CuA 1 and CuA 2 are separate. In the hindwing only M 3 and CuA 1 are stalked. Externally, it resembles a number of species of Paralecta Turner, 1898, to which it is here transferred. Paralecta consists of more than 15 species and occurs almost entirely in New Guinea (Robinson et al. 1994). Although Turner’s original concept of Paralecta has both 3 and 4 (M 3 and CuA 1) and 6 and 7 (M 1 and Rs) stalked in the hindwing and the antennae are described as shortly ciliate, it has been previously noted (Diakonoff 1954: 89) that several genera of the Xyloryctidae, viz. Cryptophasa, Paralecta, and others, seem to be rather arbitrary; they show considerable variation as to the neuration, the structure of the male antennae and the length of the terminal segment of the labial palpi, which makes the discrimination of the genera very difficult at times. Notwithstanding the differences in this species from Turner’s original description of Paralecta, that genus appears to be the closest to this species and the concept of Paralecta is expanded accordingly.