Istrianis ladakhensis sp. nov.

LSID: urn: lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7B5A0AAC-9E58-4338-848C-80F9E87642F7

(Figs. 4A–K)

Type material. Holotype. 1 ♂, India, Ladakh, Kargil, 34°33'19" N, 76°08'11" E, 2676 m MSL, 16.VII.2018, coll. Shashank; genitalia slide no. L00055169, INPC ; Paratypes. 6 ♂, 4 ♀, India, Ladakh, Kargil, 34°33'19" N, 76°08'11" E, 2676 m MSL, 16.VII.2018, coll. Shashank; genitalia slide no. L00055164 (♀), INPC .

Diagnosis. Eighth abdominal sclerite of female Istrianis ladakhensis is very short and broad but it is longer and broader in I. falkovitshi; two lateral sclerites near anterior margin of sternum VIII are much broader and transverse elongate in I. ladakhensis in contrast to I. falkovitshi in which they are very narrow, pointed posteriorly.

Description.

Head. Smooth-scaled, compound eye greyish black. Vertex and frons white with irregular black scales; labial palpus with alternate black and white bands; third segment long and sharply pointed (Fig. 4C); antenna filiform with alternate black and white bands.

Thorax. Pale brown interspersed with black scales, wingspan 10–12 mm, forewing ground color light brown with mottled dark grey and white scales, interspersed with orange scales; an orange spot at 1/3 rd from the base. Hindwing grey with dark grey cilia.

Wing venation. Forewing Sc fades out at 1/3 rd from base; R 1 branched just behind half of cell; R 2 closer to R 3 than R 1, being thrice as far from R 1 as from R 3; R 5 and M 1 stalked; R 3, R 4 and R 5 +M 1 arise from upper angle of cell, M 2 and M 3 arise from lower angle of cell and run subparallel (Fig. 4D). In hindwing, costa slightly sinuate at 1/3 rd from base; Sc and R 1 veins closely approximate and fading away at 2/3 rd from base; Rs bent downwards and extended to costa before apex. M 2 arises from lower angle of cell (Fig. 4E).

Abdomen. Light brown mixed with dark grey, anal tuft greyish white.

Male genitalia (Figs. 4 G-H): Distal portion of eighth tergite tongue-like, gradually narrowed and rounded apically; uncus long, narrow, gnathos broader tongue-like with sclerotized apical hook; tegumen as long as uncus, boomerang-shaped; anteromedial emargination broadly rounded with lateral margin parallel; cucullus digitiform, symmetrical, broader at the base, inner margin concave in middle, apex rounded; phallus short with rounded base and slightly tapered apex.

Female genitalia (Figs. 4 I-K): Eighth segment as long as broad with raised, rounded anterior margin; apophyses posteriores about 2.5x the length of apophyses anteriores, apophyses anteriores thicker than former; posterior sclerite broad and long, anterolateral sclerite broader and transverse elongate, anterior sclerite short horn-like; antrum tubular, broad. Ductus bursae long, thin, coiled and broadened towards corpus bursae. Corpus bursae globose; signum star-shaped with five edges and medial ridge comparatively broad, posterior edge straight margined and broader (Fig. 4K).

Etymology. The new species Istrianis ladakhensis sp. nov. is named after the type locality, Ladakh, India.