Lecithocera sceptrarcha Meyrick, 1920

Park, Kyu-Tek, Yu, Tae-Uk & Jeong, Su-Yeon, 2024, The genus Lecithocera (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae: Lecithocerinae) in Kenya and Tanzania, with descriptions of six new species, Zootaxa 5538 (6), pp. 575-588 : 587

Lecithocera sceptrarcha Meyrick, 1920

Lecithocera sceptrarcha Meyrick, 1920: 77 ; Park et al., 2021: 360. TL: Kenya. Type specimen deposited in MNHN.

( Fig. 17 )

Material examined. Lectotype male, designated by Viette (1951), Kenya, TYPE M719, Afrique op anglaise , M’KENYA vers’ouest zone des Forets, British East Africa, Mt. Kenya, Amboni River , 1,800 m, i–ii 1912, leg. Ch. Alluaud & R. Jeannel; gen. prep. no. 1661/Minet, in MNHN . Additional specimens: 2♂, Kenya, Aberda C. Club 6,500 ft, 19 vi 1999, leg. D.J.L. Agassiz, gen. slide no. CIS-7488 & 7527 ; 1♂, Eastern Embu, 5,000 ft, 28 v 2000, leg. D.J.L. Agassiz, gen. slide no. CIS-7435, in NHMUK .

Diagnosis. Male ( Fig. 17 ). Wingspan 14.0−16.0 mm. The characters of male genitalia ( Figs 17b, c ) are very similar to those of L. grisella Park , sp. nov., but the new species can be distinguished by the extremely broadened basal plate of the gnathos with concave caudal margin, the basal lobes on uncus that are narrowed apically, and the aedeagus with a complex of heavily sclerotised cornuti. The pregenital segments of the abdomen are illustrated in Fig. 17d .

Remark. Lecithocera sceptrarcha Meyrick, 1920 was described from Kenya, and the description is based on males only. The male genitalia are illustrated for the first time in this article, based on the original description, genitalia illustration presented in this article we designate here the lectotype which is deposited in MNHN.

Distribution. Kenya (Mt. Kenya, Amboni River, Eastern Embu).

Figures

FIGURES 16–17. 16, adult of L. isomitra Meyrick, 1914; 16a, male genitalia (gen. slide no. CIS-7307); 16b, aedeagus; 17, adult of L. scaptrarcha Meyrick, 1920 (male, lectotype, in NHMN): 17a, labels; 17b, male genitalia (prep. no. 1661/Minet); 17c, aedeagus;17d, pregenital segments. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.