Argyresthia (Argyresthia) atomata Liu, Wang & Li, 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Tengteng
name: Wang, Shuxia
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Yponomeutidae
Argyresthia
Argyresthia atomata

description: 24. Argyresthia (Argyresthia) atomata, sp. nov. (Figs. 34, 103, 159, 215)
Description. Adult (Fig. 34) wingspan 12.0 mm. Head with vertex grayish white, frons brownish yellow, face silvery white, fuscous laterally. Labial palpus gray. Antenna with scape grayish white, pecten blackish fuscous; flagellum grayish white, ringed with black. Foreleg with femur gray on inner surface, tibia and tarsus blackish fuscous on inner surface, remainder grayish white; midleg mostly grayish white, tibia dotted with gray near base, at middle, and on distal part dorsally, tarsus blackish gray on distal part of each tarsomere; hindleg mostly grayish white, tarsus blackish gray distally on each tarsomere. Thorax white; tegula blackish fuscous. Forewing ratio 4.5; gray on costal half, white on dorsal half, densely dotted with dark gray scales; costa interspersed with blackish-gray and white dots on basal 7/10, blackish-gray dot before middle and white dot at distal 1/5 larger, smaller white spot before apex; blackish-gray spot at middle of cell; blackish-gray streak below basal 1/3 of fold; black streak from lower angle of cell abutting white spot at distal 1/5 of costa; dorsal band yellowish white, covered with dense dark gray dots; dorsal fascia black, from 2/5 of wing extending towards distal 3/10 below costa, narrowed; cilia blackish gray, mixed with white, grayish white near tornus. Hindwing and cilia uniformly gray.
Male genitalia (Figs. 103, 159, 215): Tuba analis shorter than width of valva. Socius covered with 24̄26 scale-like setae, bearing two long setae posteriorly (Fig. 215). Gnathos inflated distally, without long thick setae apically. Valva subtriangular, dorsal margin straight, ventral margin straight in basal 1/6, slightly convex at basal 2/ 5, weakly rounded in distal 3/5, narrowly rounded apically; a row of long thick setae in disc near ventral margin, some brush-like distally, with several similar setae on distal area. Saccus shorter than width of valva, distal half narrowed. Phallus nearly straight, slender, 5.3 times as long as width of valva (Fig. 159). Second sternite with about 17 micro-setae in each row; eighth sternite Y-shaped. Coremata absent.
Female unknown.
Type material. CHINA: Holotype, Ƌ, Wolong Village (29.14°N, 93.71°E), Milin County, Xizang Autonomous Region, 3040 m, 3.viii.2010, leg. Houhun Li et al., slide no. LTT12804. Paratypes: Xizang Autonomous Region: 1Ƌ, Pai Town (29.51°N, 94.86°E), Milin County, 2900 m, 2.viii.2010, leg. Houhun Li et al., slide nos. LTT12862, LTT12862W.
Distribution. China (Xizang).
Diagnosis. This new species is similar to A. (A.) acuminata, sp. nov., in the male genitalia. It can be distinguished by the subtriangular valva straight on the dorsal margin, the gnathos lacking long thick apical setae, and the absence of the coremata. In A. (A.) acuminate the more or less heart-shaped valva is rounded on the dorsal margin, the gnathos has six to eight long thick apical setae, and the coremata is present. In addition, the two species differ in forewing maculation: the dorsal band of A. (A.) atomata is covered with dense dark gray dots, whereas A. (A.) acuminate lacks such dots on the corresponding area.
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin atomatus, meaning with dots, referring to the forewing dotted with dark gray scales.
description: Published as part of Liu, Tengteng, Wang, Shuxia & Li, Houhun, 2017, Review of the genus Argyresthia Hübner, [1825] (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea: Argyresthiidae) from China, with descriptions of forty-three new species, pp. 1-135 in Zootaxa 4292 (1) on page 38, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.827746