Aulidiotis trimaculata

Liu, Linjie & Li, Houhun, 2016, Review of the genus Aulidiotis Meyrick, 1925 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), Zootaxa 4061 (1), pp. 41-50 : 48

Aulidiotis trimaculata Li, sp. nov.

( Figs 7 , 13 )

Type material. Holotype. ♂, China: Baisha (19.08°N, 109.52°E), Hainan, 430 m, 17.IV.2014, leg. Tengteng Liu, Wei Guan and Xuemei Hu, genitalia slide No. LLJ15020.

Paratype: 1♂, Mt. Bawang, Changjiang (19.10°N, 109.11°E), Hainan, 245 m, 1.VII.2013, leg. Yinghui Sun, Wei Guan and Tengteng Liu, genitalia slide No. LLJ15106.

Adult ( Fig. 7 ). Wingspan 13.5–17.0 mm. Head pale yellowish white. Labial palpus yellowish white, mottled brown scales; second segment slightly longer than diameter of eye, slightly thicker than third; third segment gradually narrowed distally. Antenna with scape pale yellow, flagellum alternately brown and yellowish brown on dorsal surface, deep yellow on ventral surface. Thorax and tegula yellowish white. Forewing yellowish brown tinged with grey, becoming yellowish brown from base toward inner margin of distal patch; dark brown spots beyond middle and at end of cell as well as at middle of fold; distal patch oval, yellow mixed with pale brown scales, deep brown along its outside of inner margin, inner margin distinctly arched inward; cilia yellowish brown. Hindwing yellowish white, mixed with brown scales; cilia grayish yellow with brown. Legs pale yellow, suffused with brown scales; tarsi deep yellow distally, black at apex.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 13 ). Uncus broad at base, gradually narrowed to before middle where it is constricted inward, with lateral margins more or less parallel from basal 1/5 to 2/5, then abruptly widened; distal half subtriangular, blunt at apex. Gnathos narrowed basally, widened toward apex, approximately fan-shaped; anterior margin straight, with dense pecten stretching backward. Valva shorter than tegumen-uncus complex; broad basally, distal 2/5 narrowed gradually, rounded apically; ventral margin slightly protruded beyond end of sacculus, with dense setae. Costa narrowly banded, reaching distal 1/5 of valva. Transtilla dilated distally, weakly linked medially. Sacculus broad basally, narrowed gradually from base to apex; apex acute, with sparse long setae, curved inward; dorsal margin protruding roundly. Vinculum subtriangular. Phallus roughly finger-shaped, broad at base, narrowed gradually to rounded apex.

Female unknown.

Diagnosis. This species is close to A. biloba sp. nov. by having a dark brown spot beyond the middle of the cell. It can be separated from the latter by the forewing yellowish brown, and the uncus with distal part subtriangular in the male genitalia. In A. biloba sp. nov., the forewing is grayish yellow, and the distal part of the uncus is nearly trapezoid in the male genitalia.

Distribution. China (Hainan).

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin trimaculatus (three maculations), referring to the dark brown spots beyond middle and at end of the cell as well as at middle of the fold on the forewing.

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 10. Adults of Aulidiotis spp. 5, A. phoxopterella (Snellen), ♂; 6, A. bicolor Moriuti, ♂; 7, A. trimaculata sp. nov., holotype, ♂; 8, A. recta sp. nov., holotype, ♂; 9, A. biloba sp. nov., holotype, ♂; 10, A. sp. (Hainan), ♀. (Scales = 2.0 mm).

FIGURES 11 – 15. Male genitalia of Aulidiotis spp. 11, A. phoxopterella (Snellen), slide No. LLJ 15038; 12, A. bicolor Moriuti, slide No. LLJ 15039; 13, A. trimaculata sp. nov., holotype, slide No. LLJ 15020; 14, A. recta sp. nov., holotype, slide No. LLJ 15103; 15, A. biloba sp. nov., holotype, 15 a, phallus, slide No. LLJ 15105. (Scales = 0.2 mm).