Rhamphura subdimota 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

Rhamphura subdimota Nupponen sp. nov.

Figs 3 , 37

Type material.

Holotype. Argentina • ♂; prov. Santiago del Estero, Pozo Honda village S, by salt lake; 27°17.2'S, 64°28.0'W; 260 m a.s.l.; 19 Sep. 2017; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; [BOLD sample ID] KN01046; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 5/12 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP (MZH).

Diagnosis.

Externally hardly separable from R. depressa and R. dimota . Reliable determination can be achieved by genitalia examination (DNA barcode not available for R. dimota yet). Gnathos is labiate, short and sclerotised in R. depressa ; gnathos base is triangular hood, distal arm is short and bent in R. dimota ; absent in R. subdimota . Lateral processes of tegumen is absent in R. depressa ; triangular, granulate and heavily sclerotised in R. dimota ; sub-oval, granulate, with longitudinal cleavage and heavily sclerotised in R. subdimota . Tergum VIII is trapezoid in R. depressa ; rectangular with long diverging anterior apodemes in R. dimota ((note: structures shown are not in comparable position, potentially deformed during dissection); pentagonal and medioposteriorly extended in R. dimota ).

Description.

Wingspan 10 mm. Head dark brown, laterally mixed with white. Neck tuft and haustellum white. Collar and tegula dark brown with scattered cream scales. Thorax dark brown. Scape dorsally dark brown, ventrally dirty white; pecten dirty white and a little longer than diameter of scape. Flagellum dark brown, 0.65 × length of forewing, ciliate, sensillae ~ 1/2 as long as diameter of flagellum. Labial palp white, except lower surface of palpomeres II and III dark brown. Legs: lower surfaces white, otherwise fuscous with scattered dirty white, except upper surface of forelegs dark brown. Abdomen dorsally fuscous, ventrally dirty white. Forewing dark brown; fold indistinctly cream from base to cell end; small blackish spot under fold at 0.25, 0.45, 0.6, and above tornus. Hindwing dark fuscous.

Male genitalia. Uncus triangular, projected. Gnathos absent (not detected). Tegumen hood-shaped, anterior margin medially deeply concave with heavily sclerotised minute spine at left margin of incurvation; laterally two parallel sub-oval and heavily sclerotised processes with longitudinal cleavage, surface spinuliform. Anteriorly to tegumen attached a large formation, consists of two parallel round, basally fused sclerotised pouches; at base two small and heavily sclerotised triangular extensions. Phallus short, apex somewhat extended, tip pointed. Valvae symmetrical; 1.4 × longer than tegumen and uncus together; basal 0.65 of constant width, distal 1/3 dorsally slightly broadened, apex slightly lobate. Saccus arched, short. Sternum VIII rectangular basally, posterior reinforcement extended laterally; anterior apodemes with spoon-shaped apices. Tergum VIII pentagonal basally, anterior margin widely concave; medioposteriorly long and tapered extension.

Etymology.

A participle in nominative singular. The species name alludes to a close relationship with S. dimota , based on morphology of the male genitalia.

Distribution.

NW Argentina.

Habitat.

The collecting site is a dry shrubby area near a salt lake shore (Fig. 77 ).

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADZ0695 (n = 1 from Argentina). Nearest neighbour: An unidentified Rhamphura sp. ( Scythrididae ) from North America (BIN: BOLD:AAA9059, 2.57%).

Remarks.

Female unknown. Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, the South American taxa Rhamphura subdimota , Rhamphura depressa , Rhamphura pozohondaensis , Rhamphura spiniuncus , Rhamphura angulisociella , Rhamphura tetrafasciella , and Rhamphura curvisociella group together, associating next to the North American taxa classified in Rhamphura on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). Structurally these taxa are heterogeneous and the external characters, male and/or female genitalia show varying degrhees of similarities to the North American Rhamphura , as diagnosed and illustrated in Landry (1991). With regard to Rhamphura subdimota , it has male sternum VIII with long, anteriorly directed, free apodemes and tergum VIII Y-shaped, both diagnostic in Rhamphura . We therefore classified this taxon as Rhamphura subdimota .

Figures

Figure 77. Collecting site of Rhamphura depressa Meyrick, R. pozohondaensis sp. nov., R. subdimota sp. nov., R. curvisociella sp. nov., Scythris directiphallella sp. nov., S. angustivalvella sp. nov., Landryia ankylosauroides sp. nov. Argentina, Pozo Honda vill. S (259 m), 19 Sep. 2017.

Figures 1 - 6. Scythrididae adults, genus Rhamphura 1 A R. depressa (Meyrick, 1931), male, holotype 1 B R. depressa (Meyrick, 1931), male, holotype 2 R. dimota (Meyrick, 1931), male, lectotype 3 R. subdimota Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 4 R. immunis (Meyrick, 1916), male, lectotype 5 R. pozohondaensis Nupponen, sp. nov., female, holotype 6 R. spiniuncus Nupponen, sp. nov., male holotype.

Figures 37 - 38. Male genitalia of Rhamphura 37 R. subdimota Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 5 / 12 Dec. 2019 KN 38 R. immunis (Meyrick, 1916), lectotype, slide JFGC No. 8056, genitalia shown in lateral view.