Tricholita knudsoni Crabo & Lafontaine, 2009

Crabo, Lars & Lafontaine, Donald, 2009, A Revision of Lasionycta Aurivillius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) for North America and notes on Eurasian species, with descriptions of 17 new species, 6 new subspecies, a new genus, and two new species of Tricholita Grote, ZooKeys 30 (30), pp. 1-156 : 100-102

Tricholita knudsoni Crabo & Lafontaine , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1E40D7AE-7121-45EB-AA74-80633422A180

Figs 133, 134, 192, 246. Map 24

Type Material. Holotype ♁. USA, Texas, Uvalde Co, Concan , 1–2 Oct. 1994, E. Knudson. CNC . Paratypes 4 ♁, 6 ♀. USA. Texas. Same data as holotype (2 ♁, 5 ♀) ; same locality as holotype, 20 Oct. 1994, C. Bordelon (1 ♁, 1 ♀) ; Val Verde Co, Dolan Falls / Devil’s River , 3–10 Oct. 1994, J. Gillaspy (1 ♁). CNC, TAMU, TLSC, USNM .

Other material examined. USA. Texas. Brewster Co, Big Bend Nat. Park, Chisos Basin , 14 Sept. 1982, E. Knudson (1 ♁, 3 ♀) ; Big Bend Nat. Park, Green Gulch , 6–10 Sept. 2008 Bordelon & Knudson (1 ♀) ; Jeff Davis Co, Davis Mts State Park , 25 Aug. 1979, E. Knudson (1 ♁) ; Culberson Co , Guadalupe Mts Nat. Park, Dog Canyon, 15 Sept. 1990, E. Knudson (1 ♁, 2 ♀), 25 Aug. 1995, Bordelon & Knudson (2 ♁, 1 ♀) .

Etymology. We are pleased to name this species after Edward Knudson who has done so much to advance the study of Lepidoptera in Texas and adjacent areas of the United States and Mexico.

Diagnosis. Tricholita knudsoni is readily recognized in its western Texan range by the mottled yellow-brown and dark-brown pattern of the forewing, the white shading around and often in the reniform spot, and the bipectinate male antenna. The male genitalia are characterized by the apically pointed valves without a corona, and the long, straight digitus that projects posteriorly from the ventral apex of the valve. In the female genitalia the ovipositor lobes are tapered posteriorly, the sclerotization of the ductus bursae does not extend as far anteriorly as the corpus bursae, and the appendix bursae is a C-shaped lobe on the right side of the corpus bursae posteriorly. It is most closely related to Tricholita ferrisi from southeastern Arizona; it can be distinguished by the comparative characters given in the diagnosis of T. ferrisi .

Description. Head – Antenna of male bipectinate and fasciculate, 3.5 x as wide as the central shaft. Dorsal antenna dark brown with a few pale-brown scales. Scape white ventrolaterally, brown dorsally. Eye hairy, normal size. Palpus covered with broad, light- and dark-brown scales. Frons and top of head covered with strap-like light- and dark-brown scales. Thorax – Vestiture on tegula, slender with expanded apices on center of thorax and on slightly differentiated prothoracic and metathoracic tufts; scales brown on tegula with dark-brown scales on margin, and pale gray-brown scales on center of thorax and tufts. Th orax generally appearing brown with tegula margined in blackish brown. Legs covered with dark- medium- and pale-brown scales with pale scales mainly at distal end of tarsal segments. Wings – Forewing length 15–16 mm (expanse 33–35 mm). Forewing ground color a mixture of dark-brown, yellowbrown or reddish-brown, and pale brownish-gray scales, appearing a mottled dark and light brown with yellow brown (or reddish brown) mainly in subterminal area and orbicular and claviform spots. Basal, antemedial, and postmedial lines double, slightly darker than ground color, filled with yellow brown, variable in prominence. Medial line a faint darker shade from reniform spot to lower margin of wing. Postmedial line scalloped between veins, weakly excurved opposite cell. Subterminal line defined mostly by contrast between yellow-brown shading in subterminal area with darker gray-brown shading in terminal area; terminal area with darker shading. Terminal line black, between veins. Veins in subterminal and terminal areas black. Orbicular spot oval, outlined in black, usually filled with paler yellow-brown shading than ground color. Reniform spot rectangular or slightly kidney shaped, partially outlined in black, but mainly defined by white scales that surround most of spot with a few brown scales in middle. Claviform spot outlined in black, small, extending ½ distance to postmedial line with black dash in fold between spot and pm line. Subterminal area with black or dark brownish-gray streaks opposite reniform spot and opposite claviform spot. Fringe dark brown basally, paler brown distally with contrasting yellow or white dot at base of fringe at end of each wing vein. Ventral forewing dark grayish brown with dark gray-brown shading on postmedial line and veins. Ground color paler distal to postmedial line than elsewhere. Discal spot a diffuse pale shade. Terminal line and fringe similar to that on upper surface but shades of brown less contrasting. Dorsal hindwing brown with dark blackish-brown shading in veins, terminal line, and faint discal spot. Postmedial line not evident. Terminal line continuous, black. Fringe mainly yellow brown basally, gray brown medially, and buffy white distally. Ventral hindwing pale gray brown, heavily suffused with dark gray brown on veins, anterior part of wing and on prominent postmedial line and rounded to chevron-shaped discal spot. Terminal line and fringe as in forewing underside. Abdomen – Mixed light to medium graybrown scales, a dorsal tuft on first segment comprised of white-tipped dark-gray scales; numerous long yellow-brown scales over male genitalia. Male genitalia – (Fig. 192). Uncus dorsoventrally flattened, evenly tapered toward base and apex. Valve 5.4× as long as wide, nearly even in width to base of digitus, then tapered to a bluntly pointed apex; without a corona or a differentiated cucullus. Sacculus large, about 0.45× length of valve and extending over costal margin of valve; postsaccular flap absent. Clasper C-shaped, similar to those of Lasionycta . Digitus long, about 3× valve width, nearly straight with sharply pointed tip, extending 15° ventrally to valve axis to tip of valve. Aedeagus cylindrical, 7× as long as wide. Vesica 1.3× as long as aedeagus, with 90° subbasal bend to left, then curving through 90° toward apex to project anteriorly; vesica with short, rounded, subbasal, medial, and subapical diverticula and 3 long spike-like subbasal cornuti. Female genitalia – (Fig. 246). Ovipositor lobe long and tapered to point, covered with short and long setae. Ductus bursae 0.9× as long as corpus bursae, evenly and heavily sclerotized almost to corpus bursae, slightly narrower mesially than anteriorly and posteriorly. Corpus bursae oval, tapered posteriorly, without signa. Appendix bursae C-shaped, on right posterior margin of corpus bursae with apex curling toward ductus bursae with ductus seminalis at apex.

Distribution and biology. Tricholita knudsoni is known from western Texas from Concan westward to the Chisos, Davis, and Guadalupe Mountains. All known specimens were collected at light between late August and late October.