Electrotrichia rasnitsyni, MELNITSKY & IVANOV & PERKOVSKY, 2021

MELNITSKY, STANISLAV I., IVANOV, VLADIMIR D. & PERKOVSKY, EVGENY E., 2021, A new species of the fossil genus Electrotrichia (Insecta: Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae) from Rovno amber (Zhytomyr region, Olevsk locality), Palaeoentomology 4 (5), pp. 421-424 : 422

Electrotrichia rasnitsyni sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 2 )

Holotype. Male. SIZK, No. OL –20, Rovno Amber, Eocene . Paratype male: SIZK, No. OL –41, Rovno Amber, late Eocene .

Etymology. The species is named in honor of the late Russian entomologist Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn.

Diagnosis. The new species has 2 pairs of tufts of modified hairs and scales in the basal part and along the costal edge of the fore wing. Inferior appendages 2-branched; both branches straight, ventral branch triangular with a wide basal part, dorsal branch lobe-shaped with expanded apex.

Locality and horizon. Priabonian Rovno amber, Ukraine, Zhytomyr region, Olevsk amber locality .

Description. Abdomen and thorax light brown. Wings, head, antennae and palpi brownish yellow. Head with long yellow hairs. Wings brown, heavily covered with long dark hairs, with 2 pairs of tufts of modified hairs and scales in the basal part and along the costal edge of the wing. Antennae shorter than forewings, with 25 segments. Venation strongly reduced, only forks 2 and 3 present in forewings. Wings very narrow with an elongated and rounded apex. Mesoscutellum without transverse suture. Process of sternite VII very long and thin, with clavate extension at apex in lateral view, does not reach segment IX. Lateral processes of sternite V associated with pheromone glands absent. Spur formula: 0.3.4.

Male genitalia. The inferior appendages are formed by two straight branches. Ventral branch has triangular shape with sharp apex. The dorsal branch elongate with expanded rounded apex. The ventral branch shorter than the dorsal one. The preanal appendages rounded. Aedeagus long and slender, with a widened and obliquely cut apex in lateral view.

Measurements. Holotype: body length 2.6 mm; forewing length 2.8 mm. Paratype: body length 2.0 mm; forewing length 2.1 mm.

Remarks. The new species is similar to Electrotrichia subtilis Ulmer, 1912 from Baltic amber. Electrotrichia rasnitsyni sp. nov. differs by the shape of the inferior appendages: both branches straight, ventral branches triangular with a wide basal part, dorsal branches lobeshaped with expanded apex, not uniformly finger-like, curved inwards, and slender as in E. subtilis . The sternal process of the segment VII in the new species is shorter, does not reach the segment IX.

Figures

FIGURE 1. General view of male paratype. A, Male type, dorsal view. B, Ventral view and male type genital structures on ventrolateral view. C, Electrotrichia rasnitsyni sp. nov. Scale bars = 0.5 mm in A; 0.25 mm in B; 0.1 mm in C.

FIGURE 2. Electrotrichia rasnitsyni sp. nov. A, Male paratype, dorsal view. B, Male type genital structures on ventrolateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm in A; 0.05 mm in B.