Coleophora nyangae Baldizzone 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Baldizzone, Giorgio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Coleophoridae
Coleophora
Coleophora nyangae

description: Coleophora nyangae, sp. nov.
(Figs. 1, 7–10)
Holotype ♂ (GP Bldz 13529) “ Zimbabwe | Nyanga Nat.[ional] Park | 5.– 9.12.1993 | leg. Mey & Ebert”, [18°17'S 32°43'E, 5315 ft.], in coll. MfN.
Diagnosis. Medium sized species of light brown overall appearance, characterized by the antenna reaching the apex of the forewing. For the structure of the male genitalia, the species is similar to C. swaziella Baldizzone & van der Wolf, 2020, a species from Swaziland with a dark brown habitus with reddish ochre shades. In the male genitalia of C. nyangae sp. nov. the cucullus is shorter and more obtuse, the lateral edge of the sacculus is hollower, the protuberance in the ventral angle of the sacculus is much longer, the phallotheca is shorter and the cornuti are less numerous, both in the proximal and in the distal group.
Description. Wingspan 12 mm. Head dirty white. Antenna light ochre, very long, almost as long as the wing, scape without erect scales. Labial palpus long, pale ochreous, third segment, about as long as second, ending in sharp apex. Proboscis of normal shape. Thorax and tegula dirty white. Forewing light ochre with a lighter shade along the costa, from the middle to the apex; fringes light ochre. Hindwing ochreous grey; fringes light ochre. Abdomen dirty white.
Abdominal structures (Fig. 10): No anterior lateral struts, transverse strut with thin, straight proximal edge and arched, thicker distal edge. Tergal disks (3rd tergite) about 5 times longer than wide, covered with about 20-25 conical spines.
Male genitalia (Figs. 7–9): Gnathos knob globular. Tegumen stout, slightly medially constricted; pedunculus expanded externally. Transtilla of elongated rhomboid shape, sharp in the more sclerotized basal part. Valvula very sclerotized, without evident demarcation from the cucullus, has a triangular shape with an elongated ventral edge. Cucullus very sclerotized, shaped like a horn curved in ventral direction, broad at the base, narrow at the apex. Sacculus small, very sclerotized, ventral angle with elongated and rounded protuberance with a small subapical tooth. Phallotheca short, conical, very sclerotized in the ventral part, sharp at tip. Cornuti divided into two formations: distal one the largest, wedge-shaped, with seven spines of different length in apical part; the proximal one consists of three almost equal spines joined at base, diverging at apex.
Female genitalia: Unknown.
Bionomy. The early stages and the foodplant are unknown.
Distribution. Zimbabwe.
Etymology. The name derives from that of Nyanga National Park (fig. 30) where the species was collected.
description: Published as part of Baldizzone, Giorgio, 2022, On the taxonomy of Afrotropical Coleophoridae (VII). New species of genus Coleophora Hübner, 1822 from Central, Southern Africa and Oman (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae), pp. 431-442 in Zootaxa 5133 (3) on pages 432-434, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5133.3.7, http://zenodo.org/record/6524209