Lecithocera flavipalpis Walsingham, 1891

Park, Kyu-Tek & Prins, Willy De, 2019, A review of the Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) of southern Africa, based on type specimens deposited in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (TMSA), with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 4623 (1), pp. 61-89 : 72

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4623.1.5
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F01190BC-7DF5-478A-8130-214313851BF1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5932379
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/251587B9-5356-FFCD-FF4D-0C992BF7FBB3
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Lecithocera flavipalpis Walsingham, 1891
status

Treatment

Lecithocera flavipalpis Walsingham, 1891 View in CoL

( Figs. 3H View FIGURE 3 , 6A View FIGURE 6 )

Lecithocera flavipalpis Walsingham, 1891: 105 View in CoL . TL: Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [NHMUK].

Lecithocera flavipalpalis ; Vári & Kroon 1986. Unavailable name (misspelling).

Lecithocera xanthochalca View in CoL ; Meyrick 1914: 199 (as a senior synonym), misidentification.

Leviptera flavipalpis ; Janse 1954: 344.

Adult. ( Fig. 3H View FIGURE 3 ). See Janse (1954, Pl. 150, Fig. 6 View FIGURE 6 ). Wingspan 18 mm.

Diagnosis. This species is superficially very similar to L. xanthochalca Meyrick, 1914 as illustrated in Fig. 3J View FIGURE 3 , but the female genitalia differ from those of the latter by having a long antrum and a well-developed signum as compared Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 with Clarke (1965, Pl. 86, figs. 4a, b).

Male genitalia. See Janse (1954, Pl. 142, Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 - line drawing; Pl. 151, Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 - photo). The male genitalia are similar to those of L. binotata , but they can be distinguished by the broader cucullus, and they also differ from those of L. ideologa by the cucullus being almost parallel-sided with round apex, whereas in the latter, the cucullus is tapered on ventral margin in apical half.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ). See also Janse (1954, Pl. 141, fig. 19- signum; Pl. 159, Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 - photo). Antrum long, weakly sclerotized. Ductus bursae about twice the length of antrum. Corpus bursae elongate, slightly shorter than ductus bursae; signum present, transversally elongate, serrate.

Material examined. The holotype (female), [ South Africa], KwaZulu-Natal, Estcourt, 1897, JUM Hutchinson is deposited in NHMUK. Additional specimens in TMSA: 14 males and females, including a male (Hope F’nt’n [Fountain], Rhod[esia], 17 i [19]18, A.J.T. Janse), gen. slides nos. with 5266, 5463, & 6574. Of these additional specimens, a female genitalia was dissected (gen. slide no. CIS-7208/Park) ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ).

Distribution. Mozambique (Janse 1951: 345), South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), Zimbabwe (Janse 1951: 345).

Remarks. The species was described based on a single female collected from Estcourt, South Africa. Meyrick (1925) synonymized this species with L. xanthochalca Meyrick, 1914 which was described from Nyasaland ( Malawi), but both these species can be separated by the female genitalia. The genus Leviptera Janse, 1954 was synonymized with Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853 by Gozmány (1978).