Elachista conspecta, Sruoga, 2022

Sruoga, Virginijus, 2022, New species and records of Elachistinae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea, Elachistidae) from Nepal, Zootaxa 5100 (4), pp. 573-584 : 574-575

Elachista conspecta sp. nov.

( Figs 1–7 )

Type material. Holotype: ♂, Nepal, 70 km W Kathmandu, Baikunthapuri , 21.iv.1995, V. Sruoga leg. Gen. prep. VS503 (VU).

Diagnosis. Elachista conspecta is a small, lightly-coloured species with distinct wing markings. It is one of the eight known eastern Palaearctic or Oriental species of the E. freyerella species group whose phallus contains a cornutus. These species can be divided into two groups: species with the cornutus elongate, and species with the cornutus short and arrow-shaped. Elachista stichospora Meyrick, 1932 , known from India, E. siamensis Sruoga & Kaila, 2019 , known from Thailand and Nepal, and E. conspecta belong to the species group with short and arrowshaped cornutus. They can be separated from each other as follows: 1) the phallus is broader, approximately as long as the valva in E. conspecta , whereas it is very narrow and distinctly longer than valva, with a small tooth near apex in E. stichospora (cf. Sruoga & Diškus 2006) and in E. siamensis (cf. Sruoga et al. 2019); 2) the distal spine of valva is evenly bent towards cucullus in E. conspecta , whereas it is straight in E. siamensis ; and 3) the gnathos is small and rounded in E. conspecta , whereas it is large and oval in E. stichospora and E. siamensis .

Male ( Figs 1, 2 ). Forewing length 3.5 mm; wingspan 7.8 mm (n=1). Head: frons, vertex and neck tuft creamy white; labial palpus slightly longer than width of head, creamy white above, whitish brown below; scape creamy brown, flagellum light creamy brown, weakly annulated with paler rings; pecten present as a few short, creamy white seta-like scales at base of scape. Thorax, tegula and forewing weakly mottled with scales basally creamy white and distally shortly creamy brown. Forewing darker beyond middle; plical spot elongate, brownish black, at ½ wing length on dorsal side of fold; discal spot elongate, brownish black, at ⅔ wing length in middle; indistinctly delimited group of brownish-black scales near costa at ½ wing length; fringe scales grey brown, fringe line brownish black. Hindwing grey brown; fringe scales somewhat paler.

Female. Unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figs 3–7 ). Uncus lobes narrow and long, apically curved and tapered to pointed apex; ventral surface covered with mixture of short and thick, and long and slender setae. Basal arms of gnathos reinforced, spinose knob small, rounded, nearly as long as wide. Valva broadest in basal part; sacculus weakly concave medially, distally with stout spine; cucullus neither expanded nor produced towards costa; basal fold of costa extended to ⅔ of valva, where it meets distal fold forming broad indistinct hump. Median plate of juxta about three times as long as broad, proximal end formed as rounded sac; medial margin of juxta lobes strongly sclerotized; lobes small, elongate, broadest medially, tapered distally; ventral surface with few short setae. Digitate process ⅓ length of valva, narrow, distally somewhat dilated and setose. Vinculum produced into long and narrow saccus. Phallus about 0.9 length of valva, narrow, broadest basally, almost straight; caecum dorsally with cusp-like lobe whose anterior margin is concave; vesica with group of tiny spines ( Figs 5, 6 ) and one short cornutus that consists of weakly sclerotized elongate plate with one acute tooth.

Biology. Unknown.

Flight period. Based on the specimen available, adults fly in April.

Distribution. So far this species is known only from central Nepal.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin conspectus (attracting attention, conspicuous) in reference to its conspicuous brownish-black spots contrasting with the light background of the forewing.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Elachista conspecta sp. nov., holotype. 1, adult male. Scale bar 1 mm; 2, head, frontal view; 3, general view of male genitalia (phallus removed); 4, phallus. Gen. prep. VS503. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 5–7. Elachista conspecta sp. nov., holotype. 5, distal part of phallus; 6, same, in glycerol before permanent mounting in Euparal; 7, distal part of abdomen, dorsal view. Gen. prep. VS503.