Ethmia terpnota Walsingham

Phillips-Rodriguez, Eugenie, Powell, Jerry A., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2014, A synopsis of the genus Ethmia Huebner in Costa Rica: biology, distribution, and description of 22 new species (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Depressariidae, Ethmiinae), with emphasis on the 42 species known from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, ZooKeys 461, pp. 1-86 : 10-11

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Depressariidae

Ethmia terpnota Walsingham Figures 7, 52, 97, 150

Ethmia terpnota Walsingham, 1912: 147, pl. 5, fig. 11; Powell 1973: 130.

Diagnosis.

Ethmia terpnota is most similar to Ethmia millerorum and can be discriminated on the basis of the male and female genitalia. In the male the sacculus has a finger-like projection and the valva has a smaller distal notch.

Description.

Male: FW length 10.9-11.7 mm (n = 3). Genitalia (Fig. 52) with uncus deeply notched, gnathos dentated anteriorly in two groups, sacculus with finger-like projection, valva with small distal notch.

Female: FW length 11.7-12.4 mm (n = 3). Genitalia (Fig. 97) with lobes of sterigma small, bowl-like with fine spines inside; ductus bursae sclerotized at base; corpus bursae with a subtle constriction in middle; signum a single row, dentated.

Holotype.

Male: Costa Rica, Volcan de Irazú, 6000-7000 ft. [no date] [BMNH, examined].

Distribution and biology.

Ethmia terpnota has been collected in Costa Rica (Fig. 150) in middle elevations (650 to 1800 m) on both slopes of Cordillera Volcánica de Guanacaste, Tilarán, Cordillera Volcánica Central and Talamanca. It occurs in ACG rain forest. Food plant and immature stages are unknown.