Alucita murphy Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich

Ustjuzhanin, Petr & Kovtunovich, Vasily, 2016, The Alucitidae (Lepidoptera) of Malawi with descriptions of five new species, Zootaxa 4126 (4), pp. 533-547 : 545

Alucita murphy Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov.

Figs. 30–31

Type material: Holotype, male, ( BMNH 22777), Zomba Plateau, 28.ii.–02.iii.2014, R. Murphy .

Description. External characters. Head, thorax and tegula pale yellow. Labial palpus wide, yellow brown, 2 times as long as longitudinal eye diameter, directed forward. Third segment short, thin, separated from first two. Antenna pale yellow. Wingspan 20 mm. Wings elongate, pale yellow. Wing base noticeably pale. First lobe with six elongate brown spots. Wings with four distinct narrow zig-zag-shaped, transverse bands. Fringe between lobes with alternating areas of black, white and yellow hairs creating contrasting colour of wings. Small spot of dark scales at tip of each lobe of both wings.

Male genitalia. Uncus long, wide, slightly narrowed in middle part, apex flat with small notch. Gnathos long, narrow, tapered at apex, slightly shorter than uncus in length. Gnathos arms bent at apex. Valves narrow, long, widened in distal part. Anellus arms straight, rather narrow, equal to valvae in length. Phallus straight, rather wide, length 2/3 of entire genital structure, middle part with cornutus in form of serrated elongated plate, distal part with short spinous cornutus.

Female unknown.

Diagnosis. The wing pattern of A. murphy is unique among African Alucitidae . In male genitalia, the new species is similar to A. crococyma by the form of the uncus. The long and wide valvae are similar to those of A. spicifera . A. murphy differs from both of them by the phallus with a peculiar cornutus in form of serrated elongated plate, by the tapered narrow gnathos and a specific color of the wings.

Flight period: February–March.

Etymology. The new species is named in honour of Raymond Murphy , explorer of the insect fauna of Malawi.

Figures

FIGURES 30 – 31. Alucita murphy Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov. Fig. 30. Adult, male (holotype); Fig. 31. Male genitalia (holotype, 22777 BMNH).