Tinissa apicimaculata, Yang, Linlin & Li, Houhun, 2012

Yang, Linlin & Li, Houhun, 2012, Review of the genus Tinissa Walker, 1864 (Lepidoptera, Tineidae, Scardiinae) from China, with description of five new species, ZooKeys 228, pp. 1-20 : 9

Tinissa apicimaculata sp. n. Figs 1, 9, 20

Type material.

Holotype ♀ − CHINA, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: Jinxiu County (24°08'N, 110°11'E), 550 m, 15.IV.2002, leg. Shulian Hao and Huaijun Xue, genitalia slide No. YLL11136.

Diagnosis.

The new species is a distinctive species: the forewing markings are diagnostic, with an ovate, large, blackish brown spot near apex. It is small-sized as Tinissa connata sp. n., but can be easily recognized by the superficial characters.

Description.

Adult (Fig. 9): Wingspan 12.0 mm in female. Vertex and frons creamy white. Antenna with scape and pecten white, pecten about 10−20 bristles; flagellum yellowish white. Labial palpus creamy white, second segment and tuft yellowish brown on outer surface. Thorax and tegula creamy white, anterior margin dark brown. Forewing index 0.27, lanceovate, apex protruded roundly, termen oblique; ground color creamy white on basal 1/3, yellowish brown on distal 2/3, gradually darker to apex, shining copperish violet; patterned with indistinct, faint transverse striae, with large, blackish brown ovate spot near apex; M absent in cell, R4 and R5 separated; fringe brown, pale yellowish brown at middle, forming a line parallel with pale yellowish brown basal line. Hindwing index 0.3; grayish brown, yellowish brown near apex, shining copperish violet; M stem conspicuous, not branched; fringe yellowish brown. Legs dominantly creamy white; fore femur with narrow, blackish brown spot on ventral surface, tibia blackish brown on outer surface, tarsus with fifth segment dark brown; mid tibia distally with oblique dark brown band on outer surface, spurs with oblique black band before apex, tarsus with middle portion of first and second segments dark brown, lighter on inner surface; hind tibial tuft creamy white on basal half, blackish brown on distal half, spurs with oblique blackish bands before apex, tarsus with basal half of first segment grayish brown, with rough, raised scales on dorsal surface, second and third segments blackish brown.

Male. Unknown.

Female genitalia (Fig. 20). Corethrogyne present in seventh segment. Eighth tergite rectangular, with sparse long setae on posterior margin; sternite hemicyclic, ventrally protuberant in short, tubular shape, with a pair of small, setose, mastoid processes at middle on posterior margin. Apophysis anterior 0.5 × length of apophysis posterior. Ostium situated at middle of eighth sternite on posterior margin. Antrum absent; ductus bursae 3.5 × length of corpus bursae, posterior 1/4 narrow, anterior 3/4 broader, 2.0 × width of posterior 1/4. Corpus bursae ovate, without signum.

Distribution.

China (Guangxi).

Etymology.

The specific name is derived from the Latin prefix apici- (= apex) and maculatus (= macula), referring to the ovate, blackish brown spot near apex of forewing.

Remarks.

In Tineidae , new species are usually described on the basis of male specimens. However, Tinissa is an exception. Among the 36 nominal species, seven are based on both male and female, 14 on male and 15 on female only. As there is no sexual dimorphism in this genus, Tinissa apicimaculata sp. n. is distinctive from other species - most likely also in the male - by the forewing having an ovate blackish spot near apex.