Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kozlov, Mikhail V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Adelidae
Nemophora
Nemophora brevipeniculella

description: Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: CDB9D2FC-5604-4372-95E0-9D0245FCD4F3
(Figs. 8, 14)
Holotype ♀: Indonesia, Timor Island (approx. 9º S, 124º E); labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Holo- │ type’; 9 × 12 mm, print + black ink ‘S. W. TIMUR [=Timor Island] │ 1500‒3000 ft. │ XI.‒XII. │ Doherty, 1891 │ No. 41721’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910‒427.’; 9 × 22 mm, black ink ‘didesma │ ♀ type’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘HOLOTYPE ♀ │ Nemophora brevi- │ peniculella Kozlov’ (NHM) [examined]. Paratypes. 2 ♀, labelled: 8 mm circle with yellow border, print ‘Para- │ type’; 9 × 12 mm, print + black ink ‘S. W. TIMUR │ 1500‒3000 ft. │ XI.‒XII. │ Doherty, 1891 │ No. 41717 or 41720]’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910‒427.’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘PARATYPE ♀ │ Nemophora brevi- │ peniculella Kozlov’ (both in NHM) [examined].
Diagnosis. Nemophora brevipeniculella is most similar to N. longipeniculella, from which it differs by the shorter (0.8 × forewing length) part of the female antenna thickened with dark brown scales, the dark brown scales densely suffusing the bronze band adjacent to the forewing base, the brown scales at the forewing apex, and the typical size of the epiphysis, which is articulated at 0.5 of the total length of tibia and does not reach its apex. It differs from females of N. umbronitidella (Fig. 4) by the yellow forewing base (females of N. timorella are unknown).
Description. Male unknown.
Female (Fig. 8). FWL 4.7‒5.0 mm, WLR 0.33‒0.38. Vertex brown; frons with iridescent silver to light golden scales, and with row of brown piliform scales below antennal sockets. PLB 0.9‒1.0 × vertical eye diameter (1.0 × length of scape), brown. Proboscis brown, base covered with dark coppery brown semi-erect elongated scales, forming small tuft. Antenna 2.0 × FWL. Scape and basal part of flagellum dark brown, dorsolaterally thickened by semi-erect dark brown scales; brush formed by these scales reaches 0.8 × FWL. Flagellum bronze beyond this brush; 10‒15 flagellomeres next to brush with white rings. Tegulae and thorax yellow. Forewing (Fig. 14) bronze, with pale yellow basal field expanding to 0.3 × FWL at both costa and dorsum, pale yellow medial band, and oblique yellow band linking costa with outer wing margin. Basal spot dark brown, connected with dark brown band separating yellow forewing base from bronze background of distal part of forewing. Pale yellow medial band almost straight, on both sides bordered by dark brown bands. Bronze field between basal field and fascia medially densely suffused with dark brown scales. Oblique yellow band linking costa with outer wing margin bordered by dark brown scales; irregular spot along outer wing margin dark brown, sparsely suffused with ochreous brown scales. Costal part of forewing bronze near apex. Fringe brown. Hindwing dark brown with coppery iridescence; costal area light yellow; fringe brown to light brown. Legs coppery brown to bronze; bases of all tarsomeres light yellow. Epiphysis at 0.5, not reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen dorsally brown with coppery iridescence, ventrally bronze except terminal sternite which is coppery brown; lateral parts of tergites with yellow scales.
Distribution. Indonesia, Timor Island.
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from brevis (Latin: short) and peniculus (Latin: brush) and refers to the diagnostic trait of this species.
Comments. Although Walsingham clearly labelled the holotype of a proposed new species, he never published its description.
The females of N. brevipeniculella were collected from the same locality as the males of N. timorella. Although the males of N. brevipeniculella and the females of N. timorella remain unknown, I have opted to describe N. brevipeniculella as a separate species rather than consider these specimens as females of N. timorella. This decision is primarily based on the lack of sexual dimorphism in wing coloration, as well as in the position and length of the epiphysis in both N. umbronitidella and N. wegneri, species closely related to both N. timorella and N. brevipeniculella.
description: Published as part of Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2024, Description of six new species forming the sumbana species group of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg (Lepidoptera, Adelidae) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, pp. 111-122 in Zootaxa 5543 (1) on pages 120-121, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5543.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/14385298