Urodeta longa Sruoga & Kaila, 2019

Sruoga, Virginijus, Kaila, Lauri & Rocienė, Agnė, 2019, The Elachistinae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea, Elachistidae) of Thailand, with description of eight new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 574, pp. 1-34 : 2-5

Urodeta longa Sruoga & Kaila sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D165B203-109C-4166-BA2D-68228B2FF097

Figs 1–6

Diagnosis

Urodeta longa Sruoga & Kaila sp. nov. is a small, lightly-coloured species, with indistinct wing markings. It lacks the distinctive black markings that characterize the single other known Oriental Urodeta species, U. noreikai Sruoga & De Prins , which is known from Nepalese Himalayas ( Sruoga & De Prins 2013). The female genitalia are highly distinctive with a very large antrum having large internal spines. As such, U. longa Sruoga & Kaila sp. nov. cannot be confused with any other known species of Urodeta .

Etymology

The species name is derived from the Latin ‘ longa ’ (long) in reference to the unusually long papillae anales.

Type material

Holotype

THAILAND • ♀; Lampang, Muban Phichai; 4 Mar. 2017; M.J. Pellinen leg.; MZH VS1 / 29.03.19.

Description

Female

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS ( Figs 1–2 ). Forewing length 2.3 mm; wingspan 4.9 mm (n = 1). Head: frons, vertex and neck tuft white, mottled with light brown tipped scales; labial palpus straight, very short, white; scape white, mottled with light brown, pecten white; flagellum greyish brown annulated with paler rings, serrate distally. Thorax, tegula and forewing strongly mottled with scales basally white and distally creamy brown; light brown-tipped scales forming two small blurred spots, one at 2/5 and another at ⅔ of wing; fringe scales creamy white with some blackish brown tipped scales. Hindwing brownish grey, its fringe scales somewhat paler.

FEMALE GENITALIA ( Figs 3–6 ). Papilla analis sclerotized, longer than wide, sparsely covered with long setae. Apophysis posterioris very short. Apophysis anterioris weakly sclerotized except at apices, extending from central part of segment and spreading apart laterad. Ostium bursae situated in membrane between sterna 7 and 8. Sternum 8 membranous, with sclerotized, posteriorly curved band. Antrum large, oval, strongly sclerotized, with about 24 large and several small internal spines. Colliculum shorter than antrum, membranous, with minute internal spines. Ductus bursae about 3.8 times as long as antrum, membranous, without internal spines. Corpus bursae without signum or internal spines.

Male

Unknown.

Biology

Unknown.

Flight period

The only known specimen was captured in March by artificial light.

Distribution

So far this species is known only from northern Thailand. We have decided to describe and name it in spite of the paucity of the material. We made this decision as this record considerably extends the known distribution of the genus, filling a large gap between Nepal and Australia that are the closest known occurrences for this genus.

Genus Elachista Treitschke, 1833

Figures

Figs 1–6. Urodeta longa Sruoga & Kaila sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (MZH VS1/29.03.19, in glycerol before permanent mounting in Euparal). 1. Adult. 2. Head, latero-frontal view. 3. Caudal part of female genitalia. 4. Ductus and corpus bursae. 5. Papillae anales and apophyses, dorsal view. 6. Antrum, lateral view. Scale bars: 1–2 = 1 mm; 3–6 = 0.1 mm.