Elachista perona Kaila, 2018

Kaila, Lauri & Nupponen, Kari, 2018, A review of the Elachista subula Parenti species complex (Lepidoptera, Elachistidae), with descriptions of nine new Palearctic species, Zootaxa 4433 (3), pp. 401-433 : 415-416

Elachista perona Kaila , sp. nov.

Figs. 15, 16 , 39, 40 , 55, 56

Material examined. Type material: holotype ♂: Kazakhstan, 43°24’N 75°2’E, 950 m, Dzhambulskaya obl. , 70 km NNE Frunze [now Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek], rocky slope, 18.vii.1990, ad luc., L. Kaila leg. (L. Kaila prep. 492; MZH). Paratypes: 6 ♂ 1 ♀ with the same collecting data as in holotype (L. Kaila prep. 355, 391, 392, 491, 493, 497, 515, 4327; MZH).

Diagnosis. E. perona is a small, chalky white species with brown plical and discal spots on the forewing. It is close to E. bimaculata . Their distinctive difference is in the shape of the juxta lobes which are basally convex and distally more or less concave in E. bimaculata , evenly convex in E. perona . Furthermore, the juxta lobes are markedly prolonged in E. bimaculata , not so in E. perona . This trait also distinguishes E. perona from E. semnani .

Molecular characterization. No material was available for genetic study.

Description. Forewing length 4.5 mm. Labial palpus straight or upcurved, white, length equal to diameter of head. Head, neck tuft, thorax, scape and pedicel of antenna white; scape with distinctive pecten formed of elongate, white scales; flagellum pale brown. Fore- and midleg inwardly brownish grey, outwardly white, tarsal articles distally pale; hindleg pale grey, spurs nearly black, tibia and tarsus above grey with distally pale tibia and tarsal articles. Ground colour of forewing chalky white with variably developed and shaped brown plical and discal spots. Fringe concolorous with forewing ground colour. Underside of forewing dark grey, in basal third two pale longitudinal lines, fringe white. Hindwing white or very pale grey, with concolorous fringe. Underside of hindwing pale grey, translucent, except on costal side where it is darker grey; fringe pale grey.

Male genitalia. Uncus lobe rounded, somewhat broader than long, sparsely covered by setae along distal and distolateral margins, lobes separated by narrow v-shaped incision, depth of incision between them 1/3 the length of uncus. Spinose knob of gnathos rounded, as wide as or slightly wider than uncus lobe. Valva 5x as long as wide, slightly bent. Cucullus indistinctly delineated, elongate, distally rounded. Digitate process 0.24x as long as valva, straight, distally blunt, distal 2/3 with a few setae. Juxta lobe as long as digitate process, distomedially somewhat produced; median margin convex joining distal margin without an angle, oblique fold from middle of distal margin; median part somewhat truncate to the fold. Median plate of juxta posteriorly with broad, dorsally projected lobe. Vinculum broad, U-shaped. Phallus 3/4 times as long as valva, slightly bent, 8x as long as broad at its broadest place at base, tapered into sclerotized, acute-tipped apex. Vesica with cornutus that consists of oval, indistinctly delineated, weakly sclerotized elongate plate with one small, blunt tooth.

Female genitalia. Papillae anales sclerotized, with acute apex, dorsoventrally with Y-shaped connecting sclerotization. Apophysis posterioris stout, 1.5x as long as papilla analis. Apophysis anterioris 0.5x length of apophysis posterioris. Ostium bursae laterally indistinctly delineated; antrum as broad as ostium bursae, sclerotized and tubular, anteriorly wrinkled; ductus bursae posteriorly with wrinkled narrow dilation, 2x length of antrum; ductus bursae otherwise membranous, tubular, weakly widened towards corpus bursae, total length about 3x length of apophysis posterioris. Corpus bursae oval-shaped, devoid of granules; with elongate-oval signum that is bordered with short teeth; length of signum about 1/3 of corpus bursae.

Biology. The specimens were attracted to UV light in submontane, xerothermic steppe habitat along a creek.

Distribution. SE. Kazakhstan.

Etymology. The name is derived from the Greek word perone, a pointed item aimed at piercing. This refers to the acute apex of the phallus.

Remarks. E. perona was reported as E. bimaculata by Kaila (1992).

Figures

FIGURES 13–16. Adults of Elachista spp. Scale 2 mm. 13. E. bimaculata Parenti, ♂ holotype. 14. E. bimaculata Parenti, ♂ (Kyrgyzstan, Alai mts., Tengiz-Bai pass). 15. E. perona Kaila, sp. nov., ♂ holotype. 16. E. perona Kaila, sp. nov., ♀ paratype (Kazakhstan, Dzhambulskaya oblast).

FIGURES 39–40. Male genitalia of E. perona Kaila, sp. nov. Left: general image of genitalia, phallus in same scale. Right top: juxta and digitate process. Middle: cornutus as enlarged. Right bottom: phallus as enlarged. 39. Holotype (L. Kaila prep. 492). 40. Paratype (Kazakhstan: Dzhambulskaya oblast; L. Kaila prep. 391).

FIGURES 55–56. Female genitalia of E. perona Kaila, sp. nov. 55. Overview (Kazakhstan: Dzhambulskaya oblast; L. Kaila prep. 515). 56. Ostium bursae and colliculum enlarged.