Oospila cristae, Lindt & Hausmann & Viidalepp, 2018

Lindt, Aare, Hausmann, Axel & Viidalepp, Jaan, 2018, Review of some species groups of the genus Oospila Warren, with descriptions of nine new species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae), Zootaxa 4497 (2), pp. 151-194 : 154-155

Oospila cristae sp. n.

(Figs 1, 37, 69)

Material. Holotype: ♂, Ecuador: Napo prov., Huabuno riv., 370 m, 0°50' S, 77°15'W, 3– 6.10.1999 (slide 297) (Type ID TAMZ 0094299 ) (A. Lindt).

Paratypes: 1♀, Ecuador, Pastaza, Rio Shiripuno , 27 – 30.10.2002 (slide 301) (A. Selin & T. Armolik); 1♂, Ecuador, Pastaza, Rio Shiripuno , 26.10.2002 (slide 353) (A. Selin, T. Armolik). 1♀, Bolivia, Chapare region, upper Chipiriri river, 400m, 0 3.11.1953 (W. Forster, ZSM). The holotype will be deposited in the collection of EMNH ( Tallinn ), the paratypes in the private collection of A. Selin and ZSM.

Diagnosis. Oospila cristae sp. n. is distinguished from the similarly small-sized O. flavilime s and O. decorata by male genitalia structures (such as the presence of a thorn-like medial process on the sacculus) and by the thinly bipectinate female antennae. Warren (1909: 78) noticed the variability of the yellow marginal line on wings of O. flavilimes described by him earlier, and named the specimen with the most undulating marginal band as an intraspecific form f. decorata , which was raised to a species by Prout (1932: 52). This new species looks like an "intermediate between O. flavilimes and O. decorata " in its wing markings.

Description. Wingspan, 19 mm in the male, 21 mm in a female (Fig. 1). The frons is unicolorous red-brown, the interantennal fillet shining white, the vertex is yellow, a red-brown stripe between. The palpi are red-brown, the length of the 3rd segment reaching 0.13 mm in the male, not projecting ahead the frons, being 0.38 mm long and slightly projecting in a female specimen. The male antennae have short pectination, the length of the external and inner rami at the tenth segment are 0.52 and 0.37 mm, respectively. The female antennae are thinly pectinate, the length of external and inner rami are 0.3 and 0.1 mm, respectively. The haustellum is functional. The dorsum of the thorax is dark green with a yellow spot at the metathorax. The abdomen is green with a yellowish blotch at the tergite A1, followed by four yellow crests on a whitish dorsal stripe. The distal margin of the fore wing is slightly rounded, the anal margin of the hind wing appearing markedly longer than the distal margin. The ground colour of wings is dark greyish green with fine brown striation, tending darker towards the distal margin.. The costal edge of the fore wing and the marginal line of both wings are yellow, the yellow protruding inward along veins; the fringe is yellow as well, with a red-brown spot to the apex of the fore wing. The marginal line does not reach the apex of the fore wing. The discal spots are tiny, dark grey in the fore wings, thin, linear, yellow in hind wings.

Male genitalia (Fig. 37): The distal process of the uncus is short, pointed. The gnathi are rectangularly elbowed, dilated to their tips and projecting longer than the socii. The tegumen and the slender vinculum are equal in length. The juxta is slender, V-shaped. The valva is deeply split, the costa reaching the middle of the dorsal edge of the valvula as a black, pointed thorn. The valvula is slender to its spinose apex. The sacculus possesses a thornlike medial process. The aedeagus is as long as the valva, with a cornutus almost one-half length of the aedeagus. The distal margin of sternite A8 is shortly bilobed.

Female genitalia (Fig. 69): The papillae anales are subacute, the apophyses posteriores about twice the length of the apophyses anteriores. The sterigma is large, with a large patch of fine setae which are longitudinally oriented. There is some sclerotization in the distal part of the ductus bursae, and a sclerite in the corpus bursae.

Genetic data. Holotype NGS-sequenced (TAMZ0094299_NGS; 559bp), BIN not yet assigned. Nearest neighbour on BOLD " Oospila permagna " from Costa Rica (KP2 minimum pairwise distance 8.0%).

Distribution. Ecuador, Bolivia.

Biology. The material was collected in lowland tropical rainforests in October and November.

Etymology. The new species is named after the mother-in law of Lindt, the collector.