Elachista spiculifera Meyrick, 1922 : 509

Sruoga, Virginijus & Kus, Arūnas Di Š, 2006, Redescription of the type specimens of the Elachista freyerella species-group (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae: Elachistinae) from India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 1350, pp. 33-43 : 40-41

Elachista spiculifera Meyrick, 1922: 509

Material examined: ɗ, labelled: rounded white label with blue margin “Para- | lecto- | type ”; white rectangle “Ootacamund | S. India | TBF. 12.12; Elachista | spiculifera | 3/10 Meyrick | E. Meyrick det. | in Meyrick Coll.; B. M. ɗ | Genitalia slide | No. 29579”. In BMNH.

Male. Forewing length 3.5 mm; wingspan 7.9 mm. Head: Vertex and neck tuft mottled due to brown tips of greyish scales; frons whitish with some metallic lustre; labial palpus whitish above, fuscous below, apex dark brown; flagellum dark brown, weakly ringed in distal part. Thorax: Forewing pale, greyish brown, weakly mottled by dark brown tipped scales. Dark brown scales beyond the middle of wing formed two irregular spots near the costal and tornal margins. Same scales present in apical part, where they form a small irregular spot. Hindwing dark brown.

Female. Unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 10–12 ). Uncus lobes narrow, curved, basally bulbous, narrowed towards tip; ventral surface covered with setae which are in basal part long and thin, in median area short and broad. Basal arms of gnathos straight, spinose knob small and rounded. Valva about 5.5 times longer than wide; sacculus basally slightly expanded, medially strongly concave, distally with very prominent, stout and curved (almost rightangled) spine which is broadest medially and extended much beyond cucullus; costa reinforced. Digitate process long, abruptly dilated and covered with few thin setae. Median margin of juxta lobes strongly sclerotized; lobes rounded, with few short setae. Vinculum produced into long wide blunt-tipped saccus. Aedeagus long and slender, shorter than valva, weakly bent at distal 1/6; basal part broadened, with prominent dorsal lobe of caecum; vesica with one long spinelike cornutus.

Distribution. India ( Fig. 4 ).

Biology. The specimens of the type series were collected in September–December; no other information available.

Diagnosis. E. spiculifera can be distinguished most easily from other species of the E.

freyerella species-group by unique shape of the digitate process.

Remarks. In BMNH there are nine other specimens (4 of them with the abdomen missing) collected in southern India and identified by E. Meyrick as E. spiculifera , but these specimens have not been examined by us.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Map of collecting sites of Elachista antipetra (), E. deficiens (), E. quadrata (), E. spiculifera (), E. stichospora ().

FIGURES 10 – 12. Elachista spiculifera, male genitalia. 10, general view (aedeagus removed); 11, aedeagus; 12, cornutus. Genitalia slide No. 29579 (BMNH). Scale bar 0.1 mm.