Scythris furciphallella Nupponen, 2022

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 furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov.

Figs 13 , 45 , 66

Type material.

Holotype. Argentina • ♂; prov. Cordoba, Salinas Grandes SE shore; 29°50.5'S, 64°40.2'W; 185 m a.s.l.; 24 Sep. 2017; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; [BOLD sample ID] KN01053; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 2/16 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP (MZH).

Paratypes. Argentina • 6 ♂, 2 ♀; same data as for holotype; [genitalia slides] K. Nupponen prep. no. 3/16-XII-2019 ♀, 3/13-I-2019 ♂; coll. NUPP; • 1 ♂; prov. La Rioja, Andes Mts., Sierra de Famatina , Famatina village 15 km NNW; 28°46.4'S, 67°35.0'W; 2085 m a.s.l.; 27 Jan. 2017; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; [BOLD sample ID] KN01050; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 1/17 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP.

Diagnosis.

A grey species, externally indistinguishable from S. directiphallella . In the male genitalia, a posteriorly bifurcate phallus and large backwards directed ventral lobes of the valvae are diagnostic.

Description.

Wingspan 9.5-10.5 mm. Head, collar, neck tuft, haustellum, tegula and thorax grey. Scape grey, ventrally mixed with cream; pecten grey and longer than diameter of scape. Flagellum fuscous, 0.7 × length of forewing, ciliate, sensillae ~ 0.8 × as long as diameter of flagellum. Labial palp: palpomere I dirty white, palpomeres II and III fuscous mixed with dirty white. Legs fuscous, more or less suffused with dirty white. Abdomen fuscous, ventrally paler, anal tuft ventrally cream. Forewing grey, wing irrorated with black scales; in some specimens’ very indistinct whitish streak in fold at basal 1/3. Hindwing pale fuscous.

Male genitalia. Gnathos basally semi-circular; distally long, slender and bent downwards. Uncus rectangular plate, medioposteriorly with small indentation. Tegumen hood-shaped. Phallus 0.65 × length of valva, bent, apex bifurcate, slender branch twice longer than the other. Valva long and narrow, distally spatular; ventral margins subapically with huge, anteriorly-directed, slightly asymmetrical lobes. Saccus short, labiate. Juxta narrow, 0.5 × length of phallus. Sternum VIII pentagonal, paired posterior projections diverging, straight, tips pointed; anterior margin slightly concave. Tergum VIII trapezoid, elongated, posteriorly round and setose, anteriorly incurved.

Female genitalia. Sterigma long and straight, rather stout, at 0.65 a little broadened, terminal 1/3 sclerotised, tip blunt. Ostium round, margins sclerotised, situated at 0.65 of sterigma. Sternum VII rectangular, 1.35 × wider than high, posterior margin medially incurved, anterior margin concave and sclerotised. Apophyses anteriores 0.55 × length of apophyses posteriores.

Etymology.

Diminutive noun in apposition. The species name refers to a bifurcate phallus of the male.

Distribution.

NW Argentina.

Habitat.

The collecting site is a shore of a large salt lake, in the edge between dry bushy area and low saline vegetation (Fig. 75 ).

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADY9699 (n = 2 from Argentina). The two barcode sequences are 0.96% distant. Nearest neighbour: Scythris salinasgrandensis Nupponen, sp. nov. (BIN: BOLD:ADY7738, 4.49%).

Remarks.

Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, South American taxa Scythris salinasgrandensis , Scythris furciphallella , Scythris manchaoensis , Scythris angustivalvella and Scythris directiphallella group together, associating within a clade, whose taxa are classified in apparently non-monophyletic Scythris on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). We classify these taxa in Scythris .

Figures

Figure 66. Female genitalia of Scythris furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., paratype, slide 3 / 16 Dec. 2019 KN.

Figure 75. Collecting site of Scythris andensis sp. nov. and S. furciphallella sp. nov.: Argentina, Andes Mts. (2085 m), Sierra de Famatina, 27 Jan. 2017.

Figures 12 - 17. Scythrididae adults, genus Scythris. 12 S. directiphallella Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 13 A S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 13 B S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, paratype 14 S. manchaoensis Nupponen, sp. nov., male holotype 15 A S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, holotype 15 B S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, paratype 16 S. angustivalvella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 17 S. zeugmatica Meyrick, 1916, male, holotype.

Figures 45 - 46. Male genitalia of Scythris 45 S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 2 / 16 Dec. 2019 KN 46 S. manchaoensis Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 1 / 11 Dec. 2019 KN.