Gnorimoschema brachyptera, Bidzilya, Oleksiy, Huemer, Peter, Nupponen, Kari & Sumpich, Jan, 2019

Bidzilya, Oleksiy, Huemer, Peter, Nupponen, Kari & Sumpich, Jan, 2019, A review of some new or little-known species of the genus Gnorimoschema (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) from the Palaearctic region, ZooKeys 857, pp. 105-138 : 105

Gnorimoschema brachyptera sp. nov. Figs 4-7, 21-22, 35-36

Material examined.

Holotype. RUSSIA ♀; S-Buryatia, Hamar Daban Mts., Murtoy River, Gusinoe ozero village 6 km NW; 51°11-13'N, 106°10-12'E; 700 m; forest steppe; 27 May 2006; K. Nupponen leg.; gen. slide 160/16, O. Bidzilya; TLMF Lep 21632; NUPP.

Paratypes. 1 ♀, same data as for holotype; gen. slide 122/18, O. Bidzilya; TLMF Lep 21634; NUPP; 1 ♀, same data as for holotype; TLMF Lep 21633; NUPP; 1 ♂; same data as for holotype; gen. slide 159/16, O. Bidzilya; TLMF Lep 21636; NUPP; 1 ♂; same data as for holotype; gen. slide 240/16, O. Bidzilya; TLMF Lep 21635; NUPP; 1 ♂; Chita reg., 23 km N Kyra; 9 Aug. 1994; E. Ivanov leg.; gen. slide 90/15, O. Bidzilya; ZMKU; 1 ♂; same collecting data as for preceding; 10 Aug. 1994; P. Ustjuzhanin leg.; gen. slide 143/14, O. Bidzilya; ZMKU.

Other material.

RUSSIA 1 ♂; S-Buryatia, Hamar Daban Mnts., Murtoy River, Gusinoe ozero village 6 km NW; 51°11-13'N, 106°10-12'E, 700 m; forest steppe; 21 Jun. 2002; K. Nupponen leg.; gen. slide 194/16, O. Bidzilya; TLMF Lep 21645; NUPP.

Description.

Adult. Male (Figs 6, 7). Wingspan 12.8-13.5 mm. Head light grey, frons white; segment 2 of labial palpus white mixed with brown in distal half, inner surface white, with brush of modified scales on lower surface, segment III brown with white medial and apical rings, acute; scape brown with white apex, flagellum blackish-brown grey-ringed; thorax and tegulae covered with white brown-tipped scales; forewing brown, white oblique fascia from about 1/8 of costal margin to half length of the fold, diffuse white pattern in middle of cell, white broad subapical fascia on 3/4-4/5 length, paired black spots edged with brown in fold, small black prolonged spot mixed with brown in middle of cell, few black scales surrounded with brown in the corner of cell, fringe white, black-tipped; hindwing and fringe white.

Variation. The paratype (gen. slide 240/16, O. Bidzilya) appears uniformly brown, white markings and black spots are indistinct (Fig. 7).

Female (Figs 4, 5). Wingspan 11.1-11.3 mm. As male, but hindwing shortened to 2/3-3/4 length of the forewing and stronger narrowed in apical 1/3, apical excavation less distinct, abdomen longer compared to male.

Male genitalia (Figs 21, 22). Uncus sub-rectangular, apex triangular, pointed; gnathos weakly curved, of even width, apex rounded; tegumen moderately broad, anteromedial emargination triangular, extending to about half length of tegumen; valva broad at basal 1/3, then gradually curved, apex weakly widened, rounded; sacculus short, strongly broadened on base, distal portion narrow, curved inwards at right angle, gap to vincular process narrow, triangular; vinculum broad, posterior margin with broad, shallow sub-triangular emargination, lateral process short, hump-shaped; saccus sub-triangular, gradually narrowed towards rounded or weakly pointed apex, usually not extended beyond top of pedunculus; phallus narrow, straight, with needle-shaped, down-curved apical hook, group of short teeth before apex, caecum inflated, about 1/3 length of phallus.

Variation. Valva varies in width; saccus extended beyond tip of pedunculus in some specimens.

Female genitalia (Figs 35, 36). Papilla analis elongate, sub-triangular, densely covered with short setae; apophysis posterioris 2.5-3 times longer than segment VIII; segment VIII sub-quadrangular; subgenital plates medially strongly edged, separated with broadened posteriorly, membranous area covered with fine microtrichia, posterolateral sclerites sub-triangular, narrowly projecting anteromedially to the base of the apophysis anterioris, placed in middle of sternum VIII; anterior margin of sternum VIII deeply concave, strongly sclerotized, medial opening distinct; apophysis anterioris about as long or slightly longer than segment VIII, straight; colliculum as long as broad; ductus bursae narrow, of even width, but inflated before colliculum; corpus bursae egg-shaped, about as long as ductus bursae, signum near entrance of corpus bursae, base elongated, distal hook weakly curved, apically narrowed.

Diagnosis.

The new species can be recognized externally by the contrasting, light grey forewing with black oblique fascia at 1/3, the distinct black markings edged with light brown in cell and in the fold and the white subapical fascia at ¾. It resembles North European specimens of G. herbichii (Nowicki, 1864) (see Huemer and Karsholt 2010, pl. 1, fig. 2 a–d) but the black markings are larger in G. brachyptera . The female is well-defined by the brachypterous hindwings. The female of G. elbursicum Povolný, 1984 differs in the less contrasting, lighter, grey rather than brown forewing, the smaller size (8.2 mm) and the considerably narrower hindwing. The male genitalia are characterized by the sacculus, which is inflated on base with distal portion inwardly curved at right angle. Gnorimoschema fuscescens Li & Bidzilya, 2017 differs in the larger gap between the posterior margin of the vinculum and the distal portion of the sacculus, and the valva with stronger inflated apex. Gnorimoschema steueri Povolný, 1975 differs by the longer sacculus, the shorter and broader saccus and the shorter phallus. The medially placed sub-triangular posterolateral sclerites in combination with the long apophysis anterioris (1.5 times longer than length of sternum VIII) and the short signum are characteristic for the female genitalia.

Molecular data.

BINBOLD:ADF2846 (n=2), shared with G. yakovlevi . The mean intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is 0.15%. The distance to the nearest neighbour G. yakovlevi is 1.44% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Russia (Buryatia, Zabaikalskiy krai).

Biology.

Host plant unknown. Adults were collected in late May and August in dry steppe slopes with sparse vegetation (Fig. 44) at an elevation of 700-900 m.

Etymology.

The species name, an adjective is derived from the Greek brachýs, meaning short and the Greek ptéryx, meaning wing, referring to the shortened hindwing, the most characteristic feature of this species.

Remarks.

An additional male from South Buryatia (gen. slide 194/16, O. Bidzilya) collected in June is larger (14.2 mm) and looks lighter and brighter, having more extensive white pattern and well-developed orange-brown irroration around black spots. We have not found sufficient differences in the male genitalia between this specimen and additional males from the type-series. However, we decided to not include this specimen among the type-series due to the lack of females.