Promalactis ramiformis Wang, 2021

Wang, Shuxia & Liu, Chen, 2021, Taxonomic study of the genus Promalactis Meyrick, 1908 (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) X. The commotica species-group, with descriptions of twenty-two new species, Zootaxa 4980 (2), pp. 293-330 : 315-316

Promalactis ramiformis Wang , sp. nov.

( Figs 15 , 37 , 52 )

Type material. CHINA, Yunnan: Holotype ♂, Bakaxiaozhai, Menglun Town , Mengla County, Xishuangbanna City , 620 m, 6.VIII.2011, leg. YH Sun & LX Li, slide No. DZH10120 . Paratypes (6♂, 2♀): 1♂, Menglun Town, Xishuangbanna City , 750 m, 25.X.2011, leg. BB Hu et al., slide No. DZH11019 ; 1♂, Nanla River, Bubeng Town , Mengla County, 652 m, 11.VII.2013, leg. SR Liu, slide No. LC 19478 ; 1♂, Bubeng, Xishuangbanna , 656 m, 22.VII.2014, leg. KJ Teng et al., slide No. JYY17198 ; 2♂, 1♀, Mt. Jinuo, Jinghong City , 1003 m, 26‒30.VII.2019, leg KJ Teng et al., slide Nos. LC 19329 ♂, LC19335 ♀, LC19777 ♂; 1♀, Damanlu Village , Menghai County, 1128 m, 2.VIII.2019, leg. KJ Teng et al., slide No. LC 19372 . Thailand: 1♂, Wang Neua to Phayao Road , Phayao Province km 12.5, 600 m, 21.VII.1990, leg. I.J. Kitching & A.M. Cotton, slide No. NHMUK-010316889 .

Diagnosis. The new species can be distinguished from other members of the commotica group by features of the male genitalia: an apically three-lobed valva, a knife-like juxta, and a cornutus with a slender basal process curved inward to its middle.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 15 ). Forewing length 3.5‒4.5 mm.

Head: Vertex snow white, frons slivery grey, occiput dark brown, mottled with white apically. Labial palpus with first and second palpomeres yellow, second palpomere black apically; third palpomere black except white at base and apex. Antenna with scape slivery grey, pecten dark brown; flagellum with basal three flagellomeres slivery grey on dorsal surface, remaining flagellomeres slivery grey alternated with black, dark brown on ventral surface.

Thorax: Dorsum of mesothorax and tegula dark ocherous brown, tegula white on outer surface. Forewing ocherous yellow, ocherous brown between fold and dorsum; markings white edged with black scales: costal spot irregular quadrangular, from basal 3/5 slightly narrowed outward to posterior angle of cell; basal streak oblique inward to base of fold; antemedian streak from dorsal 1/2 reaching basal 1/3 of cell, then bent inward to basal 1/4 of anterior margin of cell; dorsal streak from basal 3/4 extending outward to above tornus; tornal spot small; apical spot large, triangular, its inner margin with dense black scales; fringe yellow, mottled with a few black scales. Hindwing and fringe grey. Foreleg black, except femur greyish white ventrally, tibia with a white spot at base and middle, with a tuft of white scales at apex, tarsus white at apex of basal tarsomere and on entire second tarsomere; midleg greyish white ventrally, black dorsally, tibia with a white spot at base, with a tuft of white scales at middle and apex respectively, tarsus white at apices of basal two tarsomeres and on entire apical tarsomere; hindleg greyish white ventrally, black dorsally, tarsus white at apices of basal four tarsomeres and on entire apical tarsomere.

Abdomen: Male genitalia ( Fig. 37 ). Uncus heavily sclerotized, hooked in distal half, point apically. Gnathos narrow lingulate, rounded apically. Tegumen furcate from posterior 1/3; lateral arms narrowed anteriorly. Valva narrow, subparallel, trilobed distally: dorsal lobe clubbed, rounded apically, with dense setae; middle lobe slightly shorter and slenderer than dorsal lobe, with dense setae on distal half, pointed at apex; ventral lobe extremely slender, approximately 2/3 length of dorsal lobe, rounded apically, with dense short setae; costa slightly convex; sacculus narrow, slightly broadened basally. Saccus slightly longer than uncus, subparallel laterally except narrowly rounded at apex. Juxta knife-shaped, equally wide from base to basal 2/3, distal 1/3 convex on left side, pointed at apex, reaching posterior margin of tegumen; basal lobe strong, arrow-like, narrowed to apex. Aedeagus strong, approximately 1.3 times length of valva, slightly narrow basally; cornutus strong, approximately half length of aedeagus, located at middle of aedeagus, rod-like, with slender basal process recurved to its middle.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 52 ). Apophyses anteriores approximately half as long as apophyses posteriores. Lamella postvaginalis V-shaped, widened and extended anteriorly; lamella antevaginalis sub-quadrate, concave shallowly in broad U-shape on posterior margin, with a quadrate cataphracted plate anteriorly, laterally banded, from wide base narrowed to posterior margin of eighth sternum, setose. Antrum uniformly wide. Ductus bursae inflated, weakly sclerotized, with longitudinal winkles, with a comb-like plate at base and two claw-like plates at middle, each plate consisting of several long spines. Corpus bursae membranous, ovate, as long as ductus bursae; signum absent.

Distribution. China (Yunnan); Thailand.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin ramiformis , referring to the three distal lobes of the valva in the male genitalia.

Figures

FIGURES 9‒16.Adults of Promalactis spp. 9, P. curvicosta, holotype, ♂; 10, P. denticuligera, holotype, ♂; 11, P. lianhuashana, holotype, ♂; 12, P. motuoensis, paratype, ♀; 13, P. pedata, holotype, ♂; 14, P. quadriprocessa, paratype, ♂; 15, P. ramiformis, paratype, ♂; 16, P. senticosa, holotype, ♂. Scales = 2 mm.

FIGURES 35‒39. Male genitalia of Promalactis spp. 35, P. pedata, holotype, slide No. JYY17594; 36, P. quadriprocessa, holotype, slide No. JYY17674; 37, P. ramiformis, paratype, slide No. DZH11019; 38, P. senticosa, holotype, slide No. LC19424, 38a, enlarged aedeagus, slide No. LC19314; 39, P. similibellatula, holotype, slide No. JYY17610. Scales = 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 51‒55. Female genitalia of Promalactis spp. 51, P. quadriprocessa, paratype, slide No. JYY17889; 52, P. ramiformis, paratype, slide No. LC19335; 53, P. senticosa, paratype, slide No. LC19308, 53a, enlarged corpus bursae, slide No. LC19315; 54, P. similibellatula, paratype, slide No. JYY17918; 55, P. spinosicornuta, slide No. LC19318. Scales = 0.2 mm.