Amblyptilia kara Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, 2021

Ustjuzhanin, Petr, Kovtunovich, Vasyly & Streltzov, Alexander, 2021, New species of plume moths (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) from Ecuador, Ecologica Montenegrina 46, pp. 84-97 : 85-86

Amblyptilia kara Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3A5D2229-C983-42BF-8F9D-452B3AC685F4

Figs 1−2

Type material: Holotype, male ( ZISP, gen.pr. Nr. 1971), Ecuador, Pichincha prov., Camping Tambo Tanda , 1970m, 0°01'22"S 78°38'48"W, 9-10. I.-2013, V. Sinyaev & O. Romanov leg.

Description. External characters. Head with bright-yellow scales. Thorax and tegulae brown. Labial palpi light-grey, directed up, equal to longitudinal eye diameter in length. Antennae light-grey. Wingspan 20 mm. Fore wings light-brown. First lobe apically acute. Distinctive oblique narrow dark-brown stroke on first lobe, on background of white scales. Two small brown spots at cleft base. Second lobe darkened with brown scales. Fringe inside cleft grey-brown with alternating dark-brown portions. Fringe on dorsal edge of fore wing grey with portions of dark-brown bundles of scales. Hind wings unicolorous, yellowish-grey, fringe of the same colour. Hind legs pale-yellow with portions of brown scales at bases of spurs.

Male genitalia: Valves symmetric, cucullus isolated, slightly narrowing and bluntly rounded on top, with expressed short narrow acute spike. Tegumen bilobed. Sacculus ribbon-like, of equal width in all its length. Uncus lanceolate, basally oval, smoothly narrowing to bluntly tapered apex. Saccus with notch on outer edge. Anellus arms narrow, ribbon-like. Aedeagus slightly curved. One end of cornutus narrow, acute, the other end extended. Basal process of aedeagus short, rounded, directed perpendicularly to aedeagus.

Differential diagnosis. In the male genitalia, in the wide, rectangular saccus, the valve apex with the expressed short narrow spike and in the shape of the uncus, the new species is similar to Amblyptilia punoica Gielis, 1996 , but in the new species, the saccus has a notch on the outer edge while in A. punoica this notch is absent. The uncus of the new species is lanceolate, with a bluntly acute apex, while in A. punoica the apical part of the uncus is isolated and very narrow. Unlike that of A. punoica , the aedeagus in the new species has cornuti. Additionally, the new species clearly differs from A. punoica in the wings colour.

Distribution: Ecuador, Pichincha Province.

Flight period: January.

Etymology: The species is named after the Indian tribe Kara , which has inhabited Ecuador since ancient times.

Figures

Figure 1. Amblyptilia kara Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov., adult (Holotype, male, ZISP)

Figure 2. Amblyptilia kara Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp.-nov., male genitalia (Holotype, gen.pr. Nr. 1971).