Hellinsia wojtusiaki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, 2021

Ustjuzhanin, Petr, Kovtunovich, Vasyly & Streltzov, Alexander, 2021, New species of plume moths (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) from Ecuador, Ecologica Montenegrina 46, pp. 84-97 : 92-96

Hellinsia wojtusiaki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DCFE3FFE-4080-47B8-B647-9FC8546689B5

Figs 11−13

Type material: Holotype, male ( ZISP, gen.pr. Nr. 1977), Ecuador, Pichincha prov. Camping Tambo Tanda , 1970 m, 0°01'22"S, 78°38'48"W, 09−10. I.2013, V. Sinyaev leg. Paratypes: 1 female ( CUK), same data as holotype ; 2 males, 4 females ( ZISP, CUK), Ecuador, Pichincha prov. Camping Bella Vista , 2230 m, 0°00'41"S, 78°41'17"W, 19.XII.2012 − 07.I.2013, V. Sinyaev & O. Romanov leg. ; 1 female ( ZISP), Ecuador, Pichincha prov, Camping Bella Vista , 2230 m, 0°00'41"S, 78°41'17"W, 05−19.III.2012, R . Brechlin & V. Sinyaev leg. ; 1 female ( ZISP, gen.pr. Nr. 1978), Ecuador, Pichincha prov, Camping Bella Vista , 2230 m, 0º 00′S, 78º 41′W, 20.XII.2012, leg. V . Sinyaev .

Description. External characters. Head, thorax and tegulae yellowish-brown. Labial palpi light-brown, twice longer than longitudinal eye diameter. Third segment apically acute. Antennae yellow, interspersed with tiny brown scales. Wingspan 18−23 mm, in holotype 18 mm. Fore wings split almost up to middle of wing, yellowish-brown, interspersed on all wing area with tiny brown scales. Brown spot at cleft base. Distinct elongated brown spot along costal edge of fore wing on first lobe. Fringe inside cleft yellowish-grey. Fringe on outer edge of fore wing light-brown with portions of dark-brown hairs. Hind wings unicolorous, slightly darker than fore wings. Fringe on hind wings grey. Hind legs yellow, with portions of brown scales.

Male genitalia: Uncus narrow, slightly curved, apically acute. Valves asymmetric, left valve wider than right one. S accular process on left valve sharply bent at 180° to hook, distally narrow and acute. Saccular process on right valve short, finger-like, located basally. Anellus arms short, rod-like, equal in length. Saccus smooth on outer edge, without notches. Aedeagus straight, twice shorter than right valve.

Female genitalia: Papillae anales short, oval. Posterior apophyses thin, long. Anterior apophyses short, slightly bent. Antrum short, funnel-like, located horizontally. Ductus also short, sharply bent, passing into long, narrow, oval bursa copulatrix. Ductus seminalis membranous, oval, twice shorter than bursa copulatrix. No signa.

Differential diagnosis. The publication of Arenberger and Wojtusiak (2001) on plume moths of Venezuela provides the male genitalia image of the species indicated as Hellinsia? pelodactyla (Berg, 1885) (in the article it is indicated in question), which corresponds in all respects to our new species. Indeed, when comparing the external features of the specimen H. pelodactyla , indicated by Arenberger and Wojtusiak (2001) and the lectotype H. pelodactyla , illustrated in the Gielis (1991), there is a significant difference both in color and in the width of the second lobe of the fore wing. Later, Gielis (2011) contracted Hellinsia pelodactyla to a synonym of Hellinsia surinamensis (Sepp, 1855) . The structure of the adult and of the genitalia in H. surinamensis , shown in the publication of Gielis (2011), has no resemblance to our new species and, accordingly, to the species depicted as H.?pelodactyla in the article of Arenberger and Wojtusiak (2001). From which it follows that our new species is not H. surinamensis , but corresponds to the wrongly defined H? pelodactyla , published in the study of Arenberger and Wojtusiak (2001). In the male genitalia, in the sharply curved s accular process on the left valve, the new species is similar to Hellinsia puruha Gielis, 2011 , but differs in another shape of the aedeagus and anellus and in the totally different wings color.

Distribution: Ecuador (Pichincha Province); Venezuela.

Flight period: December−March.

Etymology: The species is named after the well-known Polish entomologist Janusz Wojtusiak (1942−2012), who made a great contribution to the study of Microlepidoptera. Janusz Wojtusiak was the first who collected this species in Venezuela, but in the study of Arenberger and Wojtusiak (2001) the species was erroneously identified.

Figures

Figure 11. Hellinsia wojtusiaki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov., adult (Paratype, female, ZISP).

Figure 12. Hellinsia wojtusiaki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov., male genitalia (Holotype, ZISP, gen.pr. Nr. 1977).

Figure 13. Hellinsia wojtusiaki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov., female genitalia (Paratype, ZISP, gen.pr. Nr. 1978).