Chlamydastis gracewoodae Phillips and Brown, 2021

Phillips-Rodríguez, Eugenie, Brown, John W., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2021, Chlamydastis Meyrick of Costa Rica: barcodes, biology, and descriptions of 36 new species (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae), Insecta Mundi 2021 (868), pp. 1-96 : 29-30

Chlamydastis gracewoodae Phillips and Brown , new species

Figures 25, 26 , 71

Holotype. Male, Costa Rica, Alajuela, ACG, Sector San Cristóbal, Estación San Gerardo , 575 m, R. Franco and H. Cambronero, 06-SRNP-109407, GenBank accession code JQ573454 ( USNM).

Paratypes (16♂, 5♀). See Appendix 1.

Diagnosis. The male genitalia of C. gracewoodae can be distinguished from those of other species in the group by a slightly narrower sclerotized dorsal edge of the sacculus and subtle features of the juxta ( Fig. 70, 71, 72 ). In C. gracewoodae the phallobase is slightly broader than that of C. powelli ; the venter of the phallobase opposite the ductus ejaculatoris is slightly less curved than in C. powelli ; and the cornutus is a longer, irregularly shaped band rather than the crescent-shaped sclerite of C. powelli and C. juanmatai . The female genitalia are nearly indistinguishable from those of C. powelli , but the signum is slightly larger.

Description. MALE ( Fig. 25 ). Head. Frons and vertex white, collar white with scattered brownish scales; labial palpus with first segment white with scattered brown scales, second segment brown in basal half, third segment with two narrow, light brown rings, one at base and one near tip; antenna with length of sensory setae ca. equal to width of flagellomere, a patch of long, fine, whitish scales along surface opposite of sensory setae, extending from pedicel to ca. 0.5 length of antenna. Thorax. Prothorax with a narrow brown band adjacent to collar; meso- and metathorax whitish. FW length 8.0– 9.2 mm; FW whitish with faint yellowish scales in basal 0.33, bordered by a thin white line adjacent to a broad, brown median fascia extending from mid-costa to middle of hind margin, with inner margin gently curved; FW pale brown ocherous distad of median fascia, darker near middle of termen; small darker patches of raised scales near center of outer margin of median fascia, another patch closer to intersection of median fascia with hind margin. HW light brown. Abdomen. Externally pale brown. Genitalia ( Fig. 71 ) with uncus long, slender; gnathos arms slender, ca. 0.75 length of uncus, flattened distally at junction of arms; valva with large subtriangular expansion near middle of lower (ventral) margin, rounded in distal 0.3, with dense patch of specialized setae near mid-costa; sacculus broadest at base, attenuate distally ended in a pointed tip; basal portion (sacculus) and subtriangular mesial expansion bearing long hairpencils; lateral processes of juxta short, digitate from rounded lobes; phallus stout, with distal pointed process relatively straight, phallobase with curved venter opposite of ductus ejaculatoris; cornutus moderate in size, U-shaped, dentate distally.

FEMALE ( Fig. 26 ). Head and Thorax. Essentially as described for male, except sensory setae of antenna short, sparse; FW length 9.3–10.9 mm, shallow concavity near mid-costal weakly defined; FW ground color mostly pale beige to cream, with a small, diffuse, irregular brown blotch slightly distal to middle of hind margin; narrow brown line in subterminal area parallel to termen, with small, diffuse blotch near middle; narrow, faint, brown region at costa ca. 0.4–0.6 from base to apex; apex pale brown. Abdomen. Genitalia (not illustrated) typical of species group, but signum slightly larger.

DNA barcodes. The 30 barcode sequences of C. gracewoodae form a uniform BIN (BOLD:AAA0962) with an average distance of 0.13% among them, and a distance of 4.41% to its nearest neighbor, C. isidrochaconi .

Distribution. Chlamydastis gracewoodae has been found in the ACG rainforest from 150 m to 700 m, on both sides of the mountain range.

Biology. Nothing is known of the early stages of this species.

Etymology. Chlamydastis gracewoodae is named in honor of Grace Wood in recognition of her multifaceted support of the national biodiversity inventory of Costa Rica.

Figures

Figures 23–31. Adults of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon and Molinella Species Groups. 23) C. powelli, male, holotype, 10-SRNP-114461. 24) C. powelli, female, paratype, 04-SRNP-33602. 25) C. gracewoodae, male, holotype, 06-SRNP-109407. 26). C. gracewoodae, female, paratype, 09-SRNP-105095. 27) C. juanmatai, male, holotype, INB0004269414. 28) C. isidrochaconi, male, paratype, INB0003041706. 29) C. isidrochaconi, female, paratype, INBIOCRI000263379. 30) C. jimlewisi, male, holotype, 11-SRNP-104260. 31) C. jimmilleri, male, paratype, INBIOCRI001755621.

Figures 70–73. Male genitalia (phallus detached) of Chlamydastis from Costa Rica – Tryphon Species Group. 70) C. powelli, 06-SRNP-107213, paratype. 71) C. gracewoodae, paratype, 10-SRNP-101168. 72) C. juanmatai, paratype, INB0004269413. 73) C. isidrochaconi, paratype, 11-SRNP-100689.