Antiquatortia histuroides, Heikkilä & Brown & Baixeras & Mey & Kozlov, 2018

Heikkilä, Maria, Brown, John W., Baixeras, Joaquin, Mey, Wolfram & Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2018, Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 4394 (1), pp. 41-60 : 49-50

Antiquatortia histuroides sp. nov.

Description. Female. Forewing length 7 mm. Head as described above for the genus.

Thorax: Dorsum with appressed scaling, presumably brown. Ventral side lighter in color. No trace of forewing pattern; traces of two patches of raised scales in identical positions on both forewings: one below the discal cell between the bases of M 3 and CuA 1, the other inside discal cell at base; some ill-defined intervenular patches of scales at costal level suggest the presence of a developed strigulae system.

Abdomen: Tergites covered by wings. Sternites with appressed scales concolorous with thorax.

Diagnosis. Antiquatortia histuroides is superficially similar to Polyvena horatis but is clearly discriminated by the generic-level characters discussed above in the generic diagnosis.

Etymology. The specific name is a feminine singular adjective based on the genus name Histura Razowski , a diverse genus of Polyorthini in Central America, with the suffix “–oides”, meaning “similar to”.

Type material: Holotype AMNH DR8-43 deposited at the AMNH, New York. U.S.A.

Comments: The presence of ocelli and a frenulum with three acanthi are all typical female characters in Tortricinae and Polyorthini (Chlidanotinae) ; in females of Chlidanotini and Hilarographini , the two other tribes of Chlidanotinae , the frenulum usually has only two acanthi ( Yang & Brown 2009). The chaetosemata, which are highly characteristic of Tortricidae and lacking in similar microlepidoptera, are not visible. Two rows of scales and extremely short sensory setae of the antenna are key features of Tortricinae ( Horak & Brown 1991) . The forewing venation is characteristic of many Archipini and Polyorthini , and the hindwing venation does not contradict this assignment. The slightly sinuate costa of the hindwing with a concave region preapically ( Figs 2 a–b) is a feature that is found in many Archipini , a few Sparganothini (e.g., Amorbia Clemens, 1860 ), and many Eucosmini. The patches of raised scales are typical of Tortricini and Polyorthini , although present in a few genera scattered throughout the family ( Fig. 2 c ). The papillae anales are weak, but they appear to be flat as in most tortricids ( Fig. 2 d ). There is nothing that contradicts the assignment of this specimen to Tortricidae . This combination of characters, especially the raised forewing scales and somewhat elongate labial palpi, suggest that the specimen represents Polyorthini , and we provisionally assign it to that tribe. This assignment must be considered tentative because the most convincing synapomorphies of the tribe are in the genitalia and not visible in this fossil specimen.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Antiquatortia histuroides Brown & Baixeras, gen. nov., sp. nov. AMNH DR8-43. Dominican amber. a. Ventral view. Length of forewing 7 mm. b. Wing venation c. Dorsal view of forewing with tufts of erect scales. d. Papillae anales. Photos: Mark Metz. Illustration: Joaquin Baixeras.