Merulempista Roesler, 1967

Liu, Hongxia, Zhang, Xiuying & Li, Houhun, 2022, Two new species of the genus Merulempista Roesler, 1967 from China (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Phycitinae), Zootaxa 5150 (2), pp. 293-300 : 294

Merulempista Roesler, 1967

Merulempista Roesler, 1967: 274 . Type species: Pempelia (Salebria) cingillella Zeller, 1846 , by original designation.

Diagnostic characters. Antennae in male deeply concave at base of flagella, with two rows of long scale clusters. Labial palpus upturned over vertex, appressed to face in the male, but apart from the face in the female. Forewing with 11 veins ( Fig. 2 ): R 3+4 and R 5 stalked for long distance, R 2 close at the base of R 3+4 +R 5, M 2 and M 3 close at base. Hindwing with 10 veins: Sc+R 1 stalked for short distance beyond cell with Rs, originated from upper angle of cell, M 2 and M 3 stalked a long distance, with CuA 1 originated from lower angle of cell.

Male genitalia. Uncus triangular or semicircular. Gnathos distally tapered and hooked. Valva long and narrow, with setiferous lobes; costa well-sclerotized, often produced to a distal process. Phallus cylindrical, with 1‒3 cornuti.

Female genitalia. Papillae anales triangular. Antrum sclerotized, mostly deeply concave medially and greatly extending backward posterolaterally. Ductus bursae partly sclerotized. Corpus bursae elongate, ovate, usually with a membranous lobe at the posterior part. Ductus seminalis usually from corpus bursae.

Diagnosis. Merulempista is characterized in the male genitalia by the tapered and hooked distal part of the gnathos, and the costa of the valva often produced to a distal process, and in the female genitalia the antrum is sclerotized, mostly deeply concave medially and greatly extending backward posterolaterally ( Ren and Li, 2011).

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Merulempista similirubriptera sp. nov. 1, Adult, paratype, male; 2, Wings, paratype, slide no. LHX13259; 3, Male genitalia, phallus, and 8th abdominal segment, holotype, slide no. LHX13253. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.