Aquilargilla, Cui & Xue & Jiang, 2018

Cui, Le, Xue, Dayong & Jiang, Nan, 2018, Aquilargilla gen. nov., a new genus of Sterrhinae from China with description of two new species (Lepidoptera, Geometridae), Zootaxa 4514 (3), pp. 431-437 : 432

Aquilargilla gen. nov.

Type species. Aquilargilla ceratophora sp. nov.

Gender feminine.

Description. Head. Antennae sub-quadripectinate (longly bipectinate with short additional branches from base, ventral side of each segment) in male; filiform in female. Forewing length: ♂ ♀ 14–16 mm. Frons slightly protruding. Vertex usually pure white. Labial palpi slightly extending beyond frons. Thorax. Male hind tibia without spurs, not dilated and without hair-pencil in male, two pairs of spurs present in female. Frenulum well developed in both sexes. Forewing with apex pointed, hind wing with apex rounded. Postmedial line wavy. Discal spots on fore- and hind wings usually black and faint. Venation. Forewing with one or two areoles within species; veins R 2–4 always from apical angle of areole, veins R 1 and R 5 distally or directly from apex; veins R 5 and R 2–4 sometimes shortly stalked. Vein M 2 closer to M 1; Veins M 3 and CuA 1 unstalked. Hind wing with veins Rs and M 1 usually short-stalked, sometimes separate and from apical of discal cell; M 3 and CuA 1 separated.

Abdomen. Male 8 th tergite with posterior margin concave and forming a pair of narrow spine-like lateral processes. Male 8 th sternite with anterior margin strongly concave, cerata horn-like, arising from ventral side of mappa, mappa rounded.

Male genitalia. Uncus and gnathos absent. Socii composed of a pair of small processes. Tegumen with one or two pairs of processes on inner margin. Valvula and sacculus separate. Juxta quadrate with a pair of lateral lobes. Coremata present (easily lost during preparation). Saccus concave medially. Aedeagus strongly curved; vesica with a small patch of tiny spines.

Female genitalia. Papillae anales rounded. Lamella antevaginalis well developed; lamella postvaginalis not developed. Ostium sclerotized. Ductus bursae narrow. Corpus bursae large and elongate; signum with a patch of small and scobinate sclerites, pointing away from longitudinal axis.

Diagnosis. The male antennae in Aquilargilla is sub-quadripectinate and uncommon in the tribe Scopulini , which is similar to Ideae serpentata ( Hüfnagel, 1767) of the tribe Sterrhini , but the rami in Aquilargilla are much longer. The posterior margin of the male 8 th tergite in Aquilargilla is concave and forms a pair of lateral spines; this character is also present in the type species of the genus Dithalama ( D. cosmospila Meyrick, 1888 ). The shape of the male 8 th sternite in Aquilargilla is unique in the Scopulini , as the anterior margin is strongly concave, and the cerata are present, arising from the ventral side of the mappa. In the male genitalia, the processes on the inner side of the tegumen in Aquilargilla are atypical but not unique among the Scopulini , as a similar structure is found in Somatina mendicaria ( Leech, 1897) and Dithalama . The juxta in Aquilargilla is unique in the Scopulini , as it is quadrate with a pair of lateral lobes.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Latin dark (aquilus-) and clay (argilla), corresponding to the dark colour of the wings of the type species. The name is to be regarded as feminine.

Remarks. The DNA work was attempted but failed in our study.