Pectinivalva (Pectinivalva) mystaconota Hoare

Hoare, Robert J. B. & Nieukerken, Erik J. van, 2013, Phylogeny and host-plant relationships of the Australian Myrtaceae leafmining moth genus Pectinivalva (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with new subgenera and species, ZooKeys 278, pp. 1-64 : 19-21

Pectinivalva (Pectinivalva) mystaconota Hoare sp. n.

Material examined.

Holotype.♂, 35.16S, 149.06E, Black Mt., A.C.T., light trap, 26.iv.1963, I.F.B. Common. Genitalia slide 10164 (anic).Paratypes.Same locality and collector as holotype: 2♂, 28.xi.1957, 4♀, 9.xii.1957, 28.xi.1963, 14.ii.1964 and 19.ii.1964; same locality, blended light, R.J.B. Hoare: 2♂, 27.xi.1996 and 6.i.1997, slides 10161 and 12064 (anic); 6♂, Wellington, N.S.W., 28.x.1957, I.F.B. Common; 1♂, 1♀, 4 miles [6.5 km] SW of Gosford, N.S.W., 30, 31.iii.1965, I.F.B. Common, M.S. Upton; 1♂, 9 miles [14.5 km] NE of Windsor, N.S.W., 31.iii.1965, I.F.B. Common, M.S. Upton; 2♂, 220m, Mt Nelson, Hobart, Tasmania, m.v. light, 7.i.1980, 14.i.1981, P.B. McQuillan; 1♂, 42.56S 147.20E, Mt. Nelson, Tasmania, 330 m, 7.ii.2009, L. Kaila & J. Kullberg (fmnh), slides 11501-11503, 10165 (anic), EJvN 4106.

Description.

Male (Fig. 4). Wingspan 5.8-7.6 mm. Head capsule: labial palpi distinctly longer than galeae; maxillary palpi with ratio of segments from base approximately 0.3: 0.4: 0.6: 1.5: 1.0; interocular index 0.74. Frontal tuft orange; collar inconspicuous, white; eyecaps black, thinly scaled and almost transparent towards base; antennae blackish, 37-42 segments. Thorax and forewing blackish fuscous, weakly shining; cilia concolorous. Hindwing broadened at base, clothed in dark brown scales with iridescent reflections; an elongate androconial pocket in anterior ½ of wing, surrounded by shining granular blackish scales; cilia dark grey. Underside: forewing and hindwing dark fuscous; costa of hindwing with a series of blunt rectangular lamellate scales. Wing venation as in Fig. 31: base of R1 in forewing well separated from base of R2+3; trunk of Rs+M in hindwing not strongly deflected towards costa. Legs: fore-tibia somewhat thickened with blackish scales. Abdomen dark fuscous, with a moustache-like patch of hair-scales on T5 (Fig. 41).

Female (Fig. 5). Wingspan 7.5-8.0 mm. Similar to male, but head broader; antennae shorter, 30 segments; forewing somewhat broader; hindwing unmodified. Wing venation as in Fig. 32: base of R1 in forewing close to base of R2+3; trunk of Rs+M in hindwing strongly deflected towards costa. T5 of abdomen without hair-scales.

Male genitalia (Figs 39, 40, 42, 58, 59). Capsule ca. 480 μm long. Vinculum with anterior margin W-shaped; lateral arms and tegumen forming a triangle. Tegumen very narrow, caudally rounded. Uncus hood-like with well-sclerotized tip. Gnathos with enlarged basal plate, lateral arms slightly curved, central element short, triangular. Valva (Fig. 40) ca. 280-335 μm long, triangular and pointed; a spine-like process at base of medial edge; inner (dorsal) surface with numerous strong flattened setae in apical ½; exterior surface with a tuft of very robust, long setae extending beyond tip of valva (visible without dissection); sublateral processes well developed; pectinifer absent. Aedeagus (Figs 42, 59) ca. 550-575 μm including processes; 3 large blunt interconnected processes at apex, the left hand one curved; vesica with a large field of small cornuti, cathrema with 3 loosely interconnected elongate sclerites.

Female genitalia (Figs 73, 80-82). Total length ca. 935 μm. T9 not forming distinct anal papillae, 8-9 setae on each side. T8 with ca. 9-10 setae on each side. Apophyses anteriores slightly longer than posteriores (Fig. 81). Lateral sclerites of vestibulum absent. Corpus bursae with elongate posterior portion and oval anterior portion; anterior portion with strong transverse folds and numerous strong close-set pectinations. Signum (Fig. 82) an elongate weakly toothed band along anterior edge of corpus.

Diagnosis.

Both sexes can be distinguished from similar members of the subgenus by the black eyecaps with their weakly scaled transparent bases. In addition, the combination of the pointed valvae with their long, strong setae (visible in undissected males) and the moustache-like patch of hair-scales on T5 of the abdomen is characteristic of the male. In the female genitalia, the absence of lateral sclerites in the vestibulum and the transversely rugose corpus bursaeare diagnostic.

Distribution.

Collected in scattered localities in eastern Australia from Wellington, N.S.W. south to Mt Nelson, Hobart, Tasmania; presumably widespread, but not yet known from Victoria.

DNA barcode.

RMNH.INS.24106, Genbank KC292479

Derivation.

The specific name is derived from the Greek mystax (a moustache) and notos (a back) and refers to the tuft of hair-scales on T5 in the male. It is an adjective.

Remarks.

Several species related to Pectinivalva (Pectinivalva) mystaconota are known: all lack a pectinifer and have more or less dense tufts of setae on the dorsal surface of the valva. The group seems to be best represented in Western Australia. As the larvae are unknown, and the only definite apomorphies for the subgenus Pectinivalva are characters of the larva, the assignment of this group to the subgenus remains to be confirmed. The un divided uncus and the form of the sclerites associated with the cathrema in the male genitalia, and the form of the signum in the female genitalia, are characteristic of the subgenus Pectinivalva , but these features may be plesiomorphic within the genus as a whole. However, in the most parsimonious trees resulting from the cladistic analysis presented above, Pectinivalva mystaconota was placed as sister species to Pectinivalva (Pectinivalva) 138 + Pectinivalva (Pectinivalva) 163. For these reasons, it is here placed in the subgenus Pectinivalva .