Coleophora giustii Baldizzone & van der Wolf, 2020

Baldizzone, Giorgio & Van Der Wolf, Hugo W., 2020, On the taxonomy of Afrotropical Coleophoridae (III). New or little known species from Central and Oriental Africa (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae), Zootaxa 4763 (2), pp. 151-174 : 160

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4763.2.1
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A2541EDB-A6B4-4974-BFED-9C70312320B2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3806848
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C987F8-FFB8-FFBB-BCED-ABF4FE3DFA28
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Coleophora giustii Baldizzone & van der Wolf
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Coleophora giustii Baldizzone & van der Wolf , sp. nov.

( Figs. 5, 6 View FIGURES 1–8 )

Holotype ♂ ( GP Bldz 16646 ) “ KENYA: Eastern Lewa 2050m | 0°8’24.5”N 37°27’23.8”E | 31.x.2013 | Agassiz, Beavan, Heckford & Larsen”, coll. NHMUK. GoogleMaps

Paratypes: 1 ♂ ( GP Wf 12432), 1 ♀ ( GP Bldz 16643), ibidem, 30.x.2013; 3 ♀♀ (PG Bldz 16644, 16649). Paratypes in coll. NHMUK and Bldz.

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by the vestigial proboscis and sexual dimorphism: the male is almost completely brown, and the female has the forewing divided into two parts, brown and white. The genitalia of both the male and the female are completely different from those of the other Afrotropical species. Because of their structure, the genitalia are somewhat reminiscent of those of the European species C. paucinotella Toll, 1961 ( Baldizzone, 2019) , but with notable differences.

Description. Wingspan 15–17 mm. Head white.Antenna ringed dirty white and brown, more evident in female; scape with short tuft of white scales on inner side and greyish brown on outer. Labial palpus suffused with brown on external side; second segment about as long as third. Proboscis vestigial. Thorax dirty white. Tegula white. Forewing in male nearly uniform grey-brown with a faint white line along costa, wider in distal half and ending before apex, streaked with light colour in dorsal half in an almost imperceptible manner; forewing in female with white costal line lighter and wider, dark brown colour present in a band between costa and anal fold, part reaching the dorsum almost completely white, suffused with light brown; costal fringe white, dorsal fringe brown. Hindwing and fringe brown. Abdomen light brown.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 21–23 View FIGURES 21–23 ): Gnathos knob globular. Tegumen stout, slightly constricted in middle; pedunculus short. Transtilla short, slightly curved. Valvula broad, oval, with outer edge overlapping base of cucullus. Cucullus long and narrow. Sacculus long and narrow, pointed at apex. Phallotheca conical, more sclerotized dorsally. Cornuti in shape of small spines grouped in a formation about half the length of the phallotheca.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 24, 25 View FIGURES 24–26 ): Papillae anales narrow and long. Apophysis posterioris twice as long as anterioris. Sterigma wide, trapezoidal, rounded on distal edge; two large folds on sides of bursae ostium. Ostium bursae ample, ogival. Colliculum with short proximal part, sclerotized on two parallel bands, and distal portion enlarged and cup-shaped. Ductus bursae completely transparent, progressively constricted until insertion of ductus seminalis. Corpus bursae in shape of an oval sack. Signum large, leaf-shaped.

Abdominal structures ( Fig. 26 View FIGURES 24–26 ): Anterior lateral struts about 1.5 as times as long as posteriors. Transverse strut thin, thicker on distal edge. Tergal disk length about twice their width, covered with about 40 small spines.

Bionomy. The early stages and the foodplant are unknown.

Distribution. The species is known only from Kenya.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Alessandro Giusti, curator of the Lepidoptera section of the Natural History Museum, London, in gratitude for his commendable help in finding and providing the material for loan, in particular during the stay at the Museum of the first author and for the continuous and kind cooperation with information, photographs, etc.