Elachista stichospora Meyrick

Sruoga, Virginijus & Kus, Arūnas Di Š, 2006, Redescription of the type specimens of the Elachista freyerella species-group (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae: Elachistinae) from India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 1350, pp. 33-43 : 41-43

Elachista stichospora Meyrick

( Figs. 4 , 13–16 )

Elachista stichospora Meyrick, 1932: 217

Material examined: ɗ, labelled: rounded white label with red margin “Holo- | type ”; white rectangle “Khasi Hills, | Assam. |.5.1907; Elachista | stichospora | 1/1 Meyrick | E. Meyrick det. | in Meyrick Coll.; stichospora Meyr. ; B. M. ɗ | Genitalia slide | No. 29580”. In BMNH.

Male. Forewing length 3.5 mm; wingspan 7.6 mm. Head: Vertex and neck tuft weakly mottled due to brown tips of greyish scales; frons whitish; labial palpus whitish above, fuscous below; flagellum dark brown, weakly ringed in distal part. Thorax: Forewing greyish brown, mottled by dark brown tipped scales; basal part of wing slightly lighter. Dark brown scales formed two elongate spots: in the middle of the wing at fold and another similar spot at 2/3 of the wing. Fringe scales brown; fringe line blackish brown. Hindwing dark brown, nearly concolourous with forewing.

Female. Unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 13–16 ). Uncus lobes narrow, curved, basally bulbous, narrowed towards tip; ventral surface covered with setae which are in basal part long and thin, in median area short and broad. Basal arms of gnathos reinforced, spinose knob large and oval. Valva rather wide; sacculus basally expanded, medially convex, distally with rather short spine. Digitate process long and narrow, distally dilated and covered with few thin setae. Median margin of juxta lobes strongly sclerotized, weakly S-shaped; lobes rounded, with short setae. Vinculum large, produced into long parallel-sided and blunt-tipped saccus. Aedeagus long and slender, conspicuously longer than valva, gently bent at basal and apical 1/6; a small triangular tooth at apex; basal part broadened, with prominent dorsal lobe of caecum; vesica with an arrow-shaped cornutus.

Distribution. India ( Fig. 4 ).

Biology. Holotype was captured in May; no other information available.

Diagnosis. E. stichospora differs from all other known species in the E. freyerella species-group by a combination of several characters: gnathos large, sacculus with a small distal spine, a single cornutus, and apex of the aedeagus with a lateral tooth.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Map of collecting sites of Elachista antipetra (), E. deficiens (), E. quadrata (), E. spiculifera (), E. stichospora ().

FIGURES 13 – 16. Elachista stichospora, male genitalia. 13, general view (aedeagus removed); 14, aedeagus; 15, apex of aedeagus and cornutus; 16, valva, lateral view. Genitalia slide No. 29580 (BMNH). Scale bar 0.1 mm.