Hyposmocoma (Hyposmocoma) desilvai, Doorenweerd & Austin & Rubinoff & n & n & n & n & n, 2023

Doorenweerd, Camiel, Austin, Kyhl A., Rubinoff, Daniel, n, sp., n, sp., n, sp., n, sp. & n, sp., 2023, Five New Species of Hawaiian Endemic Fancy Case Caterpillars from a Recently Established Forest Reserve on Maui (Cosmopterigidae: Hyposmocoma), Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 55, pp. 29-44 : 38-39

Hyposmocoma (Hyposmocoma) desilvai sp. n.

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Figs. 4A, B , 6C .

Type material

Holotype. 1 Female. USA: HI: Maui 26.iv.2021 DR21D16E.E1, Kamehamenui F [orest] R [eserve] Hand coll.[ected] Cigar case. E[x]l[arva] 4.vi.2021. N 20.7285 E –156.2786 2135 m. Leg. [it] F. and K. Starr. DNA extract: DNA00252. Genitalia slide: KAA0902. Deposited in UHIM.

Diagnosis. Hyposmocoma desilvai is endemic to East Maui and has an overall calico color pattern, which is similar to several other species in the carnivorous species group, but most likely to be confused with H. pupumoehewa Schmitz and Rubinoff , also endemic to East Maui. Hyposmocoma desilvai can be differentiated by having a white fascia at 0.2x of the wing and a white-edged black spot centrally at 0.5x of the wing, whereas H. pupumoehewa has no clear patterning and mottling with black scales all over the forewings and thorax that obscures the calico color pattern. COI sequence data separates H. desilvai from all other described and sequenced species in this group, minimum pairwise distance to nearest neighbor 4.92%.

Description. Female. Head. Frons and vertex with orange-brown appressed scales. Anterior basal part of haustellum with cream colored scales. Labial palpus with mixed brown, white, and orange scales. Terminal two palpomeres of labial palpus of about equal length. Antenna about 0.8x length of forewing, scape dark brown with cream anteriorly, antennomeres dark brown. Live specimen with red eyes (gray in pinned specimen). Thorax. Dark brown, tegulae orange with dark brown tipped scales anteriorly. Wings. Forewing length 4.9 mm. Patch of raised scales along dorsum. Forewing coloration calico: base color orange with a white fascia at 0.2x, a white-edged black mark centrally, a white costal mark at 0.8x and 4–6 small white spots apically. Black mottling outside the white marked areas with some densely mottled areas forming spots. One spot just below the central white-outlined spot and one spot beyond it, the latter connecting to the costa. Distal edge of the wing mostly black. Forewing fringe white with dark gray tips. Underside of forewings brown. Hindwings beigegray, tending darker apically, fringe gray. Hindwing vannal brush absent. Underside of hindwings slightly lighter brown than forewing underside. Legs. Light gray on inside, dark gray on outside, with cream rings on apices of each segment and some mottling with orange scales throughout. Abdomen. Dark gray. Female genitalia. Posterior apophyses about 2x length of the anterior apophyses. Ostium bursae sclerotized, externally protruding,and curled to the right. Ductus bursa about 0.5x length of oval bursa copulatrix. Signum absent.

Male. Unknown.

Biology. The larval case is a ~ 7.5 mm long dual-opening elongated tube (“cigar” case type), sparsely decorated with sand, and silken threads to other parts ( Fig. 6C ). Cigar type cases are elongated but do not widen centrally as with burrito cases, and have a case opening at each side, whereas burrito cases only have one. Prior to pupation, one end was attached to substrate with silk to suspend the case, as is typical for carnivorous Hyposmocoma .

Distribution. Onlyknownfromitstype locality on East Maui in Kamehamenui FR.

Etymology. The species epithet, desilvai , is a noun in genitive case, named in honor of Lance DeSilva, who generously supported the authors and other collectors with permits and helicopter access to different forest reserves and found funds for DNA sequencing for this project, all of which led to the discovery of this remarkable species.

Remarks. Six larval cases were collected, but only a single female emerged. The wing pattern, red eyes, larval case type, and COI sequence data clearly place this species in the carnivorous species group of subgenus Hyposmocoma . The larvae of this group are strict carnivores with some species specialized to hunt native Hawaiian snails ( Rubinoff and Haines 2005) and it is likely that H. desilvai has a similar diet, but this will need to be confirmed with future field observations.

Figures

Figure 4. A. Holotype adult Hyposmocoma desilvai sp. n., DR21D16E.1, DNA00252, reared from a “cigar” type case from Kamehamenui FR. B. Female genitalia of same specimen, slide KAA0902. C. Holotype adult H. makaohuna, DR21D16A.E3, DNA00255, reared from a “candywrapper” type case from Kamehamenui FR. D. Fe- male genitalia of same specimen, slide KAA0901. Abbreviations: pa = papilla anales, IX = segment IX.

Figure 6. Larval cases of the new species, all to same scale. A. Hyposmocoma makaohuna, rearing lot DR21D16A, B. H. kamehamenui, rearing lot DR21D16B, C. H. desilvai, larval case of holotype (note case openings on both ends), D. H. starrorum, rearing lot DR21E1A (single case opening), E. H. kukilakila, rearing lot DR21D16B.