Scythris tibicina Meyrick, 1916

Nupponen 1, Kari & Sihvonen, Pasi, 2022, Revision of Neotropical Scythrididae moths and descriptions of 22 new species from Argentina, Chile, and Peru (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea), ZooKeys 1087, pp. 19-104 : 19

Scythris tibicina Meyrick, 1916

Figs 24 , 53 , 69

Scythris tibicina Meyrick, 1916. Exotic Microlepidoptera, vol. 2 (part 1): 12.

Material examined.

Lectotype. Peru • ♂; Chosica; 2800 feet a.s.l.; 7.14.; Parish leg.; [genitalia slide] JFGC No. 8053; NHMUK ID 010922365; NHMUK slide ID 010316665; coll. NHMUK.

Paralectotype. Peru • 11 exx.; same data as for lectotype; coll. NHMUK .

Other material.

Peru • 1 ♂; prov. Ancash, near Huanchay village ; 10°30.4'S, 77°25.5'W; 1520 m a.s.l.; 5 Feb. 2019; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg. ; [BOLD sample ID] KN01075; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 5/ 11 Dec. 2019 ; coll. NUPP. • 2 ♂, 2 ♀; prov. Ancash, Fortaleza River, Raquia village 13 km SW; 10°13.1'S, 77°33.6'W; 1180 m a.s.l.; 31 Jan. 2019; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg. [BOLD sample IDs] KN01076, KN01077; [genitalia slides] K. Nupponen prep. no. 1/ 18-XII-2019 ♀, 4/ 17-XII-2019 ♂; coll. NUPP.

Diagnosis.

Forewings with whitish streak on brownish background. Genitalia dissection is required for confident determination. The male genitalia are unmistakable, particularly the narrow, ventrally curved, hook-shaped gnathos; and phallus that bends at 90° angle; and densely bristled valvae. In the female genitalia, a crater-shaped margin of sterigma, adjoined by needle-like sclerotisation, are diagnostic.

Description.

The original description is quoted: "Wingspan 12-13 mm ♂, ♀. Head ochreous-grey more or less mixed with white. Palpi grey, suffused with white internally and at apex of second joint. Antennal ciliations of ♂ 1. Thorax ochreous-grey partially mixed with whitish. Abdomen light grey, anal tuft pale ochreous, ventral surface whitish. Forewings lanceolate; light grey: a double finely separated or united median whitish streak, from base, upper portion extending to about middle, lower to 0.33, both more or less enlarged into suffused spots posteriorly; an irregular elongate undefined spot of whitish suffusion in disc at 0.66; each of these whitish markings followed by a few indistinct dark fuscous scales, representing the stigmata: cilia grey, base mixed with whitish. Hindwings with 4 and 5 separate; grey; cilia grey."

Male genitalia. Uncus posterolaterally extended trapezoid plate, margin concave medially. Gnathos asymmetrical, basally channel-like, apex spoon-shaped. Distal arm of gnathos thin, curved ventrally, hook-shaped. Tegumen hood-shaped. Phallus 0.6 × length of valva; basal 2/3 straight, then bent at 90° angle, distal 1/3 slender and straight, tip pointed. Valva long and narrow, bent at 0.4 length, distal portion straight and setose; ventrally at middle sub-oval bristled extension. Vinculum arched, short. Sternum VIII large trapezoid plate, medioposteriorly with small V-shaped indentation, laterally at 0.3 with anteriorly directed lobes. Tergum VIII small trapezoid plate.

Female genitalia. Sterigma crater-shaped, twice as wide as high, adjoined by needle-like sclerotisation. Ostium situated at bottom of crater. Sternum VII semi-circular, medioposteriorly with small concave notch. Apophyses anteriores 0.25 × length of apophyses posteriores.

Distribution.

Peru.

Habitat.

Adults were collected in moist riverside meadows.

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADZ4797 (n = 3 from Peru). Genetically homogenous, variation 0%. Nearest neighbour: Unidentified Scythrididae from Argentina (BIN: BOLD:ACY3332, 6.54%), see Suppl. material 2.

Remarks.

Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, taxa Scythris tibicina and Scythris sanfranciscoensis group together, associating with other Central and South American taxa, classified in apparently non-monophyletic Scythris on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). With regard to Scythris tibicina , the male genitalia are similar to S. mixaula Meyrick, 1916 from California, Texas and Montana, sharing for instance narrow and setose valva, spear-shaped uncus (termed distal arm of gnathos in Landry (1991)) and mediodorsally convex vinculum. We have interpreted the mediodorsal structure as uncus (gnathos in Landry (1991) and the sclerotised structure on its ventral side as gnathos. We justify this interpretation by the origin of the narrow and ventrally curved process, which originates from the cup-shaped apex of gnathos. See Fig. 53 , which shows the origin of the structure in lateral view. We classify Scythris tibicina and Scythris sanfranciscoensis in Scythris .

Figures

Figure 69. Female genitalia of Scythris tibicina Meyrick, 1916, slide 1 / 18 Dec. 2019 KN.

Figures 18 - 24 A. Scythrididae adults, genus Scythris 18 S. caimancitoensis Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 19 S. ejiciens Meyrick, 1928, male, holotype 20 S. fluvialis Meyrick, 1916, male, lectotype 21 S. inanima Meyrick, 1916, male, holotype 22 A S. lequetepequensis Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 22 B S. lequetepequensis Nupponen sp. nov., male, paratype 23 S. plocogastra Meyrick, 1931, female, holotype 24 A S. tibicina Meyrick, 1916, male, lectotype.

Figures 53 - 54. Male genitalia of Scythris 53 S. tibicina Meyrick, 1916, lectotype, slide JFGC No. 8053 (top right corner: tergum VIII and gnathos uncompressed, slide 5 / 11 Dec. 2019 KN 54 S. sanfranciscoensis Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 2 / 10 Dec. 2019 KN.