Repetekiodes serratalis, Tsvetkov & Trofimova, 2024

Tsvetkov, Eugene & Trofimova, Tatyana, 2024, Description of two new species of the genus Repetekiodes Amsel, 1961 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Phycitinae) from Central Asia with faunal notes on the genus, Zootaxa 5424 (2), pp. 176-188 : 181-184

Repetekiodes serratalis sp. nov.

( Figs 2–4 , 8–10 , 14 ).

Type material. Holotype ♂. Uzbekistan, 60 km SE Uchkuduk, Kyzylkum , 6.v.1966, leg. Pastukhov. Deposited in Zoological Institute St. Petersburg ( ZIN).

Paratypes. Kazakhstan, Mangistau Province : 4 ♂, 1 ♀, 42 km SW Sai-Utyes , 100m, 43°57′ N, 53°45′ E, 14–15.v.2007, Trofimova & Shovkoon (A02-2010, PBLEA192-11; A03-2010, PBLEA193-11), (prep. № 3988, Trofimova T.A.) ( CTT) ; 6 ♂, 54 km SE Sai-Utyes , N 43°44′, E 53°37′, 16–17.v.2007, Trofimova & Shovkoon ; 4 ♂, 3 ♀, Bostankum sands, N 43°40′, E 53°13′, 11–12.v.2016, leg. Shovkoon (all SSU) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, 11 km N Beineu , hills on the left bank of the river, 15.v.2016, leg. Tsvetkov ( ET) ; 1♂, 43 km SE Shetpe , sands, N 43°50′44′′, E 52°32′40′′, 4.v.2019, leg. Tsvetkov ( ET) ; 1 ♀, 8 km NW Taushchik , southern calcic slope, 11.v.2016, leg. Tsvetkov ( ZIN) ; Aktobe Province : 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Bozoy , sands, N 46°17′, E 58°56′, 1.v.2006, leg. Trofimova & Shovkoon (A01-2010, PBLEA191-11) (prep. № 2020, Trofimova T.A.); Jambyl Province : 9 ♂, 3 ♀, Muyunkum sands, N 44°17′, E 70°10′, 9–13.v.2015, leg. Shovkoon (prep. № 3992, 3993, Trofimova T.A.) (all CTT) ; Kyzylorda Province : 1 ♂, Aral Lake , Karatup peninsular, N 46°19′, E 59°43′, 28.v.2006, leg. Trofimova & Shovkoon, (prep. № 4096, Trofimova T.A.) ; 1 ♂, SE Tasbaget , sands, N 44°40′, E 65°37′, 27.iv.2013, leg. Shovkoon (prep. № 3994, Trofimova T.A.); Turkestan Province : 3 ♂, 1 ♀, Kyzylkum , desert, sand dunes, 178 m, N 42°54′, E 67°00′, 1.v.2018, leg. Shovkoon (all SSU) . Uzbekistan: 1 ♀, Tamdy-Bulak , Kyzylkum, 6.v.1965, leg. Pastukhov ; 1 ♀, 60 km SE Uchkuduk, Kyzylkum , 6.v.1966, leg. Pastukhov ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 7 km N Tamdy-Bulak, Kyzylkum , 5.v.1965, leg. Falkovitsh ; 1 ♂, Ayakguzhumdy , 40 km E Dzhingildy, 4.v.1967, leg. Falkovitsh (all ZIN) ; 2 ♂, Kyzyl –kum, 80 km N Buchara, 30.vi.–2.v.1980 leg. Krušek ( ZFMK) ; Turkmenistan: 3 ♂, 9 ♀, Uzboi , sands near Lake Topyatan, 23–24.iv.1951, leg. Steinberg (prep. № 180, 181, Trofimova T.A.); Kara-Bogaz , 40 km N Kyzil-Arvat [ Serdar ], 2.v.1953, leg. Kuznetsov (prep. № 4045, Trofimova T.A.) (all ZIN) .

Description. Imago ( Figs 2–4 ). Head. Antennae nearly two-thirds of forewing in length; cilia very short in males and females; flagellum in males without sinus and without chitinous projections, thicker than in females; scape egg-shaped, 1.3–1.4 times as long as wide. Labial palpi 1.5 diameters of eye in length, pointed up, third segment not drooping ( Fig. 4 ); second segment flattened, 2.8–2.9 times as long as wide and 1.3–1.4 times as long as first segment; third segment small, nearly half as wide as first segment; first segment 1.5–1.6 times as long as third. Maxillary palpi extremely small. Frons convex. Head and body covered with mixture of white and dark brown scales.

Thorax. Length of forewing 11–12 mm. Forewing triangular; costal margin almost straight, usually with distal third slightly bent; outer margin convex, hind margin bent basally. Forewing ground colour grey with brownish tinge (mixture of white and dark brown scales); two discal spots small, equal in size, usually stretched along veins; antemedial line reduced to a short and bolded oblique streak adjacent to costa; the streak shows zigzag line (often indiscernible) sharply angled at Cu and R stalks; postmedial line reaches Cu 2 vein from costa, fragmentarily and hardly noticeable in some cases (merged with dark medial area), contrasted by more light coloured submarginal area, deeply angled inwards between M 1 and M 2, serrate in sector M 1 –Cu 2. O-shaped thin dark line stretched along hind margin, located distally at A vein and occupies more than 1/2 of its length; dark marginal line fading; fringes white with two brown stripes (first stripe fragmentarily). Forewing underside dark brown with white costal streak, submarginal area and an area between hind margin and A vein light brown. Hindwing upperside and underside whitish with slight brownish tinge, marginal and subcostal areas usually light brown; fringes white.

Abdomen. Abdomen white from ventral side; from dorsal side, segments covered with dark brown and white scales and decorated with white transversal stripes posteriorly. Eighth sternum short and broad ( Fig. 10 ), weakly sclerotised except for well sclerotised band along anterior margin; sclerotisation (not heavy) also present along sides of sternum; culcita absent.

Male genitalia ( Figs 8–9 ). Uncus parabolic; gnathos elongate with slightly upcurved distal 1/4, tapering to pointed apex. Branches of gnathos relatively broad and short; narrow with parallel edges for a short distance from distal sclerite, then abruptly broadening towards their ends. Transtilla components as a pair of elongate plates of nearly triangular shape. Juxta U-shaped, rather thin with well sclerotised truncated parabolic plates at the ends of side lobes. Valva relatively short (2.3–2.5 times as long as wide). Its costal sclerite occupies 1/5 of valva width and nearly 3/4 of costal margin; tapering to apex or with parallel edges, slightly broadened basally and pointed apically. Clasper weakly sclerotised, short digitate with large base in proximal part of cucullus; located approximately in the middle of valva. Sacculus well sclerotised, occupies 1/2 of ventral edge of valva, considerably broadened distally. Ventrocaudal margin of cucullus widely rounded, inner surface of cucullus densely covered with bristles. Vinculum rounded V-shaped. Aedeagus cylindrical, some longer than valva, nearly thrice as long as wide. Large horn-like cornutus in vesica slightly curved, occupies entire length of aedeagus; base of cornutus rather wide (more than 1/2 of width of aedeagus) and elongate (nearly 1/3 of its length).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 14 ). Papillae anales elongate, fused caudally, densely covered with short bristles. Posterior apophyses nearly 1.5–1.6 mm, anterior apophyses nearly 1.3 mm; anterior and posterior apophyses tapering cranially. Eighth tergum trapezoidal with concave anterior margin and straight posterior margin. Antrum weakly sclerotised, conical. Ductus bursae very short, membranous. Corpus bursae elongate, membranous with small anteriorly located sclerotised plate. Seminal duct arising posteriorly from cone on right side of corpus bursae.

Diagnosis. New species is well distinguished from the congeners by the forewing pattern. In the male genitalia, the structure of the juxta and valva is characteristic. Males of R. serratalis sp. nov. are with much shorter sclerotised plates at the ends of side lobes of the juxta than males of R. kuschkella . The latter species as well as R. acervella and R. kraussi is with the costal sclerite occupying the entire or almost entire length (more than 3/4) of the valva. The shape of the costal sclerite is also different in the three compared species: in R. kuschkella , the costal sclerite is gradually tapering in its distal half, where it is very narrow; in R. kraussi , the sclerite is slightly broadened at apex; in R. acervella , the sclerite is strongly broadened distally; in R. turanella sp. nov., so as in R. serratalis sp. nov., the costal sclerite does not reach the end of costal margin of the valva (occupying nearly 2/3 of the margin), but compared to R. serratalis sp. nov., it is extended apically. In males of R. kraussi and R. turanella sp. nov., the clasper is close to the costal sclerite in contrary to the described species with the clasper located in the middle of the valva. In the female genitalia, R. serratalis sp. nov. is specific in the relative length of the apophyses. Females of R. acervella and R. kuschkella are with much shorter apophyses (the posterior apophyses less than twice as long as the papillae anales and less than 1.5 times as long as the eighth tergum). In females of the described species, the posterior apophyses are twice (or more than twice) as long as the papillae anales and not less than 1.5 of the eighth sternum in length. In females of R. kraussi , the posterior apophyses are much longer than the anterior apophyses (nearly 1.5 times longer), while in R. serratalis sp. nov. the posterior apophyses are only slightly longer than the anterior (nearly 1.2 times longer). The presence of sclerotised plate on the corpus bursae and the longer posterior and anterior apophyses allow to separate R. serratalis sp. nov. from R. turanella sp. nov.

Etymology. The name of the species is a Latin adjective. It is connected with serrate postmedial line on the forewing.

Biology. Flight period is in late April and in May. The species inhabits different types of semi-deserts. In West Kazakhstan it occurs in various habitats: sands, saline semideserts and chalk steppes. Preimaginal stages and host plant are unknown .

Distribution. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan.

Molecular data ( Table 1–2. Fig. 1 ). The species has a unique BIN BOLD: AAU5721 (n=3; sequence length 658 bp in all specimens). Mean intraspecific variation 0.31%. Maximum intraspecific distance 0.46%. The nearest neighbour is BIN: AAV2737, representing R. kuschkella with a COI p-distance of 4.81%.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neighbour Joining tree (K2P; constructed with MEGA11; COI 5’> 600 bp) including 12 sequences of Repetekiodes species, rooted with T. repetekella as outgroup. The scale bar represents 0.01 genetic difference.

FIGURES 2–7. Repetekiodes spp. Adults. 2–4. R. serratalis sp. nov. 2. Holotype, ♂, Kazakhstan. 3. Paratype, ♀, Kazakhstan. 4. Head laterally, paratype, ♂, Kazakhstan. 5–7. R. turanella sp. nov. 5. Paratype, ♂, Kazakhstan. 6. Paratype, ♀, Kazakhstan. 7. Head laterally, paratype, ♂, Kazakhstan.

FIGURES 8–13. Repetekiodes spp. Male genitalia and eighth segment. 8–10. R. serratalis sp. nov., paratype, Kazakhstan (prep. № 3395). 8. Genitalia (aedeagus removed). 9. Aedeagus. 10. Eighth segment. 11–13. R. turanella sp. nov., holotype (prep. № 3995). 11. Genitalia (aedeagus removed). 12. Aedeagus. 13. Eighth segment.

FIGURES 14–15. Repetekiodes spp. Female genitalia (paratypes, Kazakhstan). 14. R. serratalis sp. nov. (prep. № 3992). 15. R. turanella sp. nov. (prep. № 3999).