Scythris fluvialis Meyrick, 1916

Nupponen 1, Kari & Sihvonen, Pasi, 2022, Revision of Neotropical Scythrididae moths and descriptions of 22 new species from Argentina, Chile, and Peru (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea), ZooKeys 1087, pp. 19-104 : 19

Scythris fluvialis Meyrick, 1916

Figs 20 , 50

Scythris fluvialis Meyrick, 1916. Exotic Microlepidoptera, vol. 2 (part 1): 15.

Material examined.

Lectotype. Colombia • ♂; Cali; 500 feet a.s.l.; 5-14.; Parish leg.; [genitalia slide] JFGC No. 8052; NHMUK ID 010922359; NHMUK slide ID 010316664; coll. NHMUK.

Paralectotype. Colombia • ♀; same data as for lectotype; coll. NHMUK .

Diagnosis.

Scythris fluvialis and North American S. trivinctella (Zeller, 1873) and S. ypsilon Braun, 1920, in addition to five undescribed species, form a compact group, sharing twisted apex of the distal arm of the gnathos, terminating into a small, warped plate ( Landry 1991). Posterior margin of male abdominal tergum VIII is elongated in S. fluvialis , bifurcate in S. trivinctella and distinctly concave with lateral setae in S. ypsilon . See Landry (1991) for further details.

Description.

The original description is quoted: "Wingspan 12-13 mm ♂, ♀. Head, palpi, and thorax dark bronzy-fuscous. Antennal ciliations of ♂ 0.5. Abdomen bronzy-fuscous, beneath in ♂ suffused with pale ochreous, in ♀ white except anal segment. Forewings lanceolate; dark violet-fuscous, towards costa and dorsum suffused with grey; a thick suffused ochreous-whitish streak from base of dorsum, curved upwards to above middle and returning to fold before middle of wing, where it joins an ochreous tinged patch extending along dorsum to tornus; a thick ochreous-whitish streak from 0.2 of costa to fold parallel to termen, with a, with a projection on posterior edge in middle, tending to connect with a whitish mark on termen above tornus; some ochreous tinge towards termen above this; in ♂ specimen an ochreous-whitish mark at apex: cilia rather dark violet-fuscous. Hindwings with 4 and 5 separate; dark fuscous; cilia dark grey."

Male genitalia. Uncus trapezoid plate. Gnathos base broad belt, dorsally a semi-circular extension covered by minute thorns; distal arm long, sigmoid, tip pointed with small flap. Tegumen hood-shaped. Phallus 1/2 length of valva, basal 2/3 straight and of constant width, distal 1/3 bent ventrally and tapered. Valva long and narrow, distal 1/2 weakly broadened dorsally, tip round and setose. Saccus 0.6 ×as long as valva, broad. Sternum VIII pentagonal plate basally, laterally broadened, apex elongated. Tergum VIII pentagonal plate, posterior extension long and digitate, anterior margin concave, U-shaped.

Female genitalia. Not dissected.

Distribution.

Colombia.

Remarks.

We leave Scythris fluvialis in Scythris , more precisely next to S. trivinctella and S. ypisilon , following the diagnostic characters provided by Landry (1991).

Figures

Figures 18 - 24 A. Scythrididae adults, genus Scythris 18 S. caimancitoensis Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 19 S. ejiciens Meyrick, 1928, male, holotype 20 S. fluvialis Meyrick, 1916, male, lectotype 21 S. inanima Meyrick, 1916, male, holotype 22 A S. lequetepequensis Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 22 B S. lequetepequensis Nupponen sp. nov., male, paratype 23 S. plocogastra Meyrick, 1931, female, holotype 24 A S. tibicina Meyrick, 1916, male, lectotype.

Figures 49 - 50. Male genitalia of Scythris 49 S. caimancitoensis Nupponen sp. nov., holotype, slide 3 / 9 Dec. 2019 KN 50 S. fluvialis Meyrick, 1916, lectotype, slide JFGC No. 8052 (genitalia shown in lateral view).