Capulopsyche keralensis, Unnikrishnan & Sobczyk & Jose & Jose, 2023

Unnikrishnan, Usha Ayyath, Sobczyk, Thomas, Jose, Roby Thekkudan & Jose, Joyce, 2023, Capulopsyche keralensis gen. et sp. nov., a new genus and species of the subfamily Taleporiinae (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) from Kerala, India, Zootaxa 5258 (3), pp. 270-284 : 272-282

Capulopsyche keralensis sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–10 )

Type material. Holotype, ♂ India, Kerala, Idukki, Nariyampara , 9.7424° N, 77.0939° E, 28.xi.2022, with larval case, leg. Usha A U ( Fig. 1 ) . Holotype will be deposited at the Zoological Survey of India Museum, Calicut, Kerala after submission of thesis of the first author and is at present at St. Thomas College , Thrissur .

Paratypes: 2 ♀, (both with larval case) same data as holotype, 16.xii.2021, leg. Usha, A. U. ( Fig. 2 a–b ); 2♂ (both with larval case) same data as holotype, 30.xi.2022, leg. Usha, A. U.; additional 24 larval cases with pupal exuviae, same data as paratypes, leg. Usha, A. U.; 4 larval cases with pupal exuviae, Nelliyampathy, Palakkad , Kerala, 10.5013° N, 76.6768° E, 15.ii.2022, leg. Usha, A. U. ( Figs. 2 a–b ).

Diagnosis. See the diagnosis for the genus.

Etymology. The specific epithet keralensis is derived from the state of Kerala in India. The binomial Capulopsyche keralensis means ‘coffee psychid of Kerala’.

Description. Male. Small-sized brownish black moth, wingspan 8–8.4 mm, body length 2.9 mm, forewing length 3.7mm including fringes, width 1.4 mm.

Head. Vestiture yellowish brown, the base of the antennae thickly covered with dark yellowish-brown scales with bidentate apices. Antennae total length 1.7 mm, flagellomeres with 24 segments ( Fig. 3 ). EI 1.13 mm.

Thorax. Reddish brown, barely covered with scales on the dorsal side. Forewings covered with dark brown scales mixed with yellowish scales ( Fig. 4 ). Scales broad (class 5–6), with 5-8 tips. The darker scales are mainly in the area of the front and outer margin and are partly arranged in irregular transverse bands. Fringes dark, wide, multi-pointed Hindwings dark greyish brown ( Fig. 4 ), slightly lighter at the base. Width 1.4 mm, WI 2.6 mm. Wing venation as described for genus ( Figs 5 a–b ).

Abdomen. Small, covered with blackish scales, length 1.6 mm.

Leg. As described for the genus ( Figs 6 a–c ).

Genitalia. Length 0.46 mm. Valva broad, curved inwardly, surmounting the posterior border of the tegumen, rounded distally, with numerous setae. Sacculus attached basally, ending in a strong curved spine. Phallus short, tubular, length 0.23 mm. ( Fig. 7 ).

Female. Length 2.5–3 mm. Body pale yellowish, around the abdomen loosely covered with very narrow, distally rounded brownish black scales. Eyes are very small, EI 2.3 mm. Legs short, reduced. Femur and tibia present, tarsi reduced to 2-3 segments, with two prominent claws, pale yellowish brown. Antenna short, filiform, 0.5 mm long, with 6-9 different scaled segments. The two basal segments are wider than the others. The distal end of the abdomen with long ovipositor, surrounded by an anal hair-tuft consisting of long golden-brown hairlike scales.

Larva. ( Fig. 8a and b ) Body whitish cream, head distinctly sclerotized, first and second thoracic segment dark brown, strongly sclerotized dorsally, third thoracic segment more strongly sclerotized at the posterior margin. The abdominal segments were without sclerotized fields, the anal shield only slightly more sclerotized. Fully grown larva 4 mm in length.

Male and female pupal exuvia. ( Figs. 9 a–b ) Dark golden-brown, male exuvia 3.0– 3.5mm in length and 1 mm in width, female exuvia 3.8–4.0 mm in length and 1.5 mm in width.

A single row of spines dorsally on abdominal segments IV-VIII. The spines are directed backwards. Each row is comb-like and with numerous tiny hair-like spines. These spines probably serve to fix the pupa, and later to move it towards the exit and to hold it in place during emergence. In female pupae, the spines are shorter and reduced.

Larval case. ( Figs. 10 a–b ) The larval case of this species is an elongated tube-like, wrapped with a sheath made up of bark tissues from the trees. An adult male case has a length of 12–13 mm, and the width of the outer sheath is 5–6 mm. Female case has a 15–16 mm length and 6–7 mm width, and the attached thread of each case is 7–9 mm long. Double-walled larval cases reported from Psychidae are the triangular larval cases of Diplodoma Zeller, 1852 which also hung up on threads. But in Diplodoma , the inner case has a distinctive triangular shape and is not visible from the outside. The outer case also has a triangular basic shape in cross-section.

Distribution. Larval and pupal cases were collected from the coffee plantations of two localities from Kerala state, Nariyampara and Nelliyampathy of Idukki and Palakkad districts ( Fig. 11 ) respectively. Pupal cases were seen hung on the twigs and und er side of leaves of the Coffea arabica plant ( Fig. 12 ).Altitude at the sites of the collection was 960 m and 887 mASL. Both collection sites were situated inside private coffee plantations. The soil type of the region is described as ‘Clayey mixed ustic pale humults and rock land(very deep,well-drained,clayey soil on moderately steeply sloping high hills with thin vegetation, with moderate erosion, associated with rock outcrops and deep well-drained gravelly loam soils on gentle slopes) in Soil Maps of India (1996). In Nelliyampathy the summer temperature ranges from 20°C to 33°C and in winter15°C to28°C. In Nariyampara the average temperature is20°C.Summer temperatures range from 19°C to 29°C and winter temperatures are in the range of 15°C to 24°C. Average rainfall according to Centre for Earth Studies Resource Atlas of Kerala (1984) for South West Monsoon is 150 cm at Nariyampara and 250 cm at Nelliyampathy. For both sites, Northeast Monsoon was 40 cm and ‘Other rains’ was reported as 30–50 cm.

Biology. The larvae of this species were found scraping on the bark of trees, they seem to feed on the bark tissues and depositions (algae) on the bark. The pupal cases are attached by a thread to the branches and underside of the leaves of plants ( Fig. 12 ).

The life span of an emerged male adult was up to 4 to 5 days. There are many eggs wrapped with silken cases were seen inside the female cases, and female adults lay eggs using their ovipositor inside the case after mating. Each yellow-coloured egg was found wrapped inside loosely spun silken cocoons. Eggs clustered together to form a group egg mass ( Fig. 13 ) inside the sheath of the case. The larval case is made of silk and covered with bark tissues, and other substances present in the bark.

DNA barcode and phylogenetic analysis. COI sequencing of the species collected from the two locations Nariyampara and Nelliyampathy was done and the sequences have 641 and 654 base pairs respectively. The sequences were uploaded in the NCBI GenBank with the accession numbers OP960232 and OP957497.

The evolutionary relationship is depicted in the tree with the highest log likelihood (-3908,46) ( Fig. 14 ). Based on the tree constructed using these two COI genes and other available species from GenBank and BOLD SYSTEMS, a hypothetical taxonomic unit representing a Taleporiinae ancestor splits into two branches with three genera Bankesia , Pseudobankesia , and Taleporia forming one group and Sciopetris melitensis forming the second group with Capulopsyche keralensis gen. et sp. nov.. The distance between S. melitensis and Capulopsyche keralensis gen. et sp. nov. indicates that they are two distinct species. In addition S. melitensis is a Mediterranean palaearctic species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. ♂ Holotype of Capulopsyche keralensis gen et sp. nov. currently at STC Thrissur India.

FIGURE 2. ♀ Paratype of Capulopsyche keralensis gen et sp. nov. at STC Thrissur. a. lateral view b. ventral view.

FIGURE 3. ♂ Antenna.

FIGURE 4. ♂ a. forewing, b. hindwing.

FIGURE 5. ♂ Wing venation a. ♂ Forewing venation descaled coloured in Fuchsine, mounted in alcohol. b. ♂ Hindwing venation descaled coloured in Fuchsine, mounted in alcohol.

FIGURE 6. ♂ a Foreleg b. Hindleg c. Midleg; coloured in Fuchsine, mounted in alcohol.

FIGURE 7. ♂ Male genitalia.

FIGURE 8. Larva a. ventral b. dorsal.

FIGURE 9. Pupal exuvia a. male b. female.

FIGURE 10. Larval case a. male, b. female.

FIGURE 11. Map showing location of type locality

FIGURE 12. Larval habitat; a. Larval case attached to underside of a coffee leaf. b. Larval case seen on the bark of a coffee plant as larva feeds on moss.

FIGURE 13. a. Egg masses in case with outer wall dissected and spread b: eggs wrapped in silk.

FIGURE 14. Phylogenetic tree of Taleporiinae with Capulopsyche keralensis gen. et sp. nov..