Scythris manchaoensis Nupponen, 2022

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 manchaoensis Nupponen sp. nov.

Figs 14 , 46

Type material.

Holotype. Argentina • ♂; prov. Catamarca, Sierra de Manchao; 28°43.6'S, 66°21.1'W; 1190 m a.s.l.; 23 Sep. 2017; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; [BOLD sample ID] KN01032; [genitalia slide] K. Nupponen prep. no. 1/11 Dec. 2019; coll. NUPP (MZH).

Diagnosis.

A fuscous species, externally similar to S. salinasgrandensis , but distinguished by the fringes being the same colour as the forewing surface (distinctly darker in S. salinasgrandensis ) and a small spot at cell end (lacking in S. salinasgrandensis ). The male genitalia of S. manchaoensis resemble those of S. angustivalvella , but differ in the distally broader valva and the sigmoid phallus, short and converging appendices on posterior margin of sternum VIII (narrower valva, arched phallus, long and diverging appendices in S. angustivalvella ).

Description.

Wingspan 15.5 mm. Head, collar, neck tuft, haustellum, tegula and thorax fuscous, same colour as forewing. Scape fuscous; pecten paler and longer than diameter of scape. Flagellum fuscous, 0.65 × length of forewing, in male ciliate, sensillae as long as diameter of flagellum. Labial palp: palpomere I pale fuscous white; palpomere II: inner surface dirty white fuscous, otherwise fuscous with faintly scattered dirty white; palpomere III pale fuscous with distal 1/2 suffused faintly darker. Legs fuscous, mixed with dirty white, more so in hind legs. Abdomen dorsally pale fuscous, ventrally dirty whitish fuscous. Forewing fuscous with sparsely scattered blackish scales, indistinct dark spot at cell end. Hindwing fuscous, slightly paler than forewing.

Male genitalia. Uncus bilobed plate, tips of posterior lobes bent ventrad and pointed. Gnathos base hood-like, rather weakly sclerotised; distal arm long and slender, bent 90° at basal 1/2, tip bent downwards and pointed. Phallus slender, shallowly sigmoid, 0.8 × length of gnathos arm, tip pointed. Valva straight and broad at basal 0.6; distal 0.4 narrow and bent, tip widened, spatular and setose; ventrally at middle long, robust, incurved, horn-like process. Saccus short, triangular. Juxta narrow, elongate, 1.15 × length of phallus. Sternum VIII pentagonal, posteriorly bifurcate, shanks short and converging; anterior corners widened, anterior margin incurved and somewhat sclerotised. Tergum VIII triangular, posteriorly elongate with blunt tip, anterior margin wide, concave.

Etymology.

Latinised adjective in the nominative singular. The species is named after the type locality, in the Manchao range of the Andes.

Distribution.

NW Argentina.

Habitat.

The collecting site is a dry and xerothermic rocky slope with low vegetation and sparse shrubs (Fig. 76 ).

Genetic data.

BIN: BOLD:ADY8793 (n = 1 from Argentina). Nearest neighbour: Scythris angustivalvella Nupponen, sp. nov. (BIN: BOLD:ADY8789, 2.75%). Scythris salinasgrandensis , whose male is unknown, is externally similar, and its barcode differs by 5.62%.

Remarks.

Female unknown. Based on COI maximum likelihood phylogeny, South American taxa Scythris salinasgrandensis , Scythris furciphallella , Scythris manchaoensis , Scythris angustivalvella , and Scythris directiphallella group together, associating within a clade, whose taxa are classified in apparently non-monophyletic Scythris on BOLD (Suppl. material 2). We classify these taxa in Scythris . The male genitalia of Scythris angustivalvella and Scythris manchaoensis are similar to S. zhakovi Bidzilya & Budashkin, 2017 from Ukraine ( Bidzilya et al. 2017).

Figures

Figure 66. Female genitalia of Scythris furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., paratype, slide 3 / 16 Dec. 2019 KN.

Figure 76. Collecting site of Scythris manchaoensis sp. nov.: Argentina, Andes Mts. (1185 m), Sierra de Manchao, 23 Sep. 2017.

Figures 12 - 17. Scythrididae adults, genus Scythris. 12 S. directiphallella Nupponen, sp. nov., male, holotype 13 A S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 13 B S. furciphallella Nupponen sp. nov., male, paratype 14 S. manchaoensis Nupponen, sp. nov., male holotype 15 A S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, holotype 15 B S. salinasgrandensis Nupponen sp. nov., female, paratype 16 S. angustivalvella Nupponen sp. nov., male, holotype 17 S. zeugmatica Meyrick, 1916, male, holotype.