Athrypsiastis cheesmanae Sterling & Price & Lees 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sterling, Mark J.
name: Price, Ben W.
name: Lees, David C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Xyloryctidae
Athrypsiastis
Athrypsiastis cheesmanae

description: Athrypsiastis cheesmanae Sterling & Lees sp. nov.
Figs 24, 50 A, B, 63
DNA barcode.
BIN: N / A. The sequence fragment obtained (Process ID DEPAL 048-20, Accession PP 131476) is too short to have been allocated a BIN.
Type material.
West Papua, Indonesia: Holotype • ♂, Dutch New Guinea, Cyclops Mts., Sabron, 2000 ft., vii.1936, L. E. Cheesman leg., fwl 10.5 mm, specimen no. NHMUK 010923206, slide no. NHMUK 010316428, Process ID DEPAL 048-20 (325 bp). Paratypes: • 7 ♂, all with collection data same as holotype, specimen no. NHMUK 013700129, slide no. NHMUK 010316840; specimen no. NHMUK 013700128, slide no. NHMUK 010316841; specimen no. NHMUK 010923085, slide no. NHMUK 010316508; specimen no. NHMUK 013700095, slide no. NHMUK 010316413; specimen nos. NHMUK 013700096; NHMUK 013700097; NHMUK 013699624.
Diagnosis.
The adult is indistinguishable from other white species of Athrypsiastis. In the male genitalia, the broad, apically pointed, valva is somewhat similar to A. delicata Diakonoff but the costal ventral membrane in A. cheesmanae is strongly sinuate, the hairs on the costal ventral membrane are longer and denser and the saccular process is more acutely curved towards the saccular margin than in A. delicata.
Description.
Male (Fig. 24). Forewing length 10–11 mm, wingspan 22–23.5 mm. Head: ocelli absent, frons with cream appressed scales; vertex with appressed iridescent white scales, tufts of longer cream scales laterally on vertex, two tufts of long cream scales on posterior part of occiput pointing inwards and posteriorly, overlaying thick collar of broad flat cream scales on anterior margin of prothorax, pointing posteriorly; pilifers with dense brush of short bristles; maxillary palps cream. Labial palps long (> 2.5 × diameter of eye), strongly recurved; basal segment small, white; second segment strongly curved, significantly longer than third segment, white with ochreous scaling towards base; third segment long, white appressed scales. Haustellum with silver white scaling on basal portion. Antenna bipectinate, scape white, dorsal surface of flagellum thickly scaled white over entire pectinated portion, remainder of flagellum and pectinations long, brown, covered in short white sensillae. Thorax: cream, tegulae short, cream; foreleg white, large thick tibial epiphysis, mid legs missing on all specimens, hind leg white with thin tuft of long white scales. Forewing broad, costa gently arched at base, thereafter almost straight, apex obtusely rounded, termen slightly angled inwards, tornus obtusely rounded; apex of hindwing rounded, cream white, unmarked except thin line of dark brown scales from costa to 1 / 5, sometimes a thin patch of dark brown scaling on dorsum and a faint brown terminal line from apex to tornus. Hindwing as broad as forewing, rounded, shining white, unmarked. Ventrally, forewings and veins pale ochreous; hindwings white, unmarked.
Female. Unknown.
Pre-genital abdomen. Cream coloured, anal tuft cream coloured. Patches of tergal spines on posterior parts of T 2 – T 7; T 8 and sternites weakly sclerotised. Apodemes straight; venulae slightly curved.
Male genitalia (Fig. 50 A, B). Uncus anteriorly broad, anterior margin of dorsal surface very weakly emarginate, lateral edges tapering towards posterior apex. Gnathos fused medially, lateral arms broad, medial plate strongly sclerotised and slightly scobinate, strongly projecting posteriorly from lateral arms. Tegumen band strongly arched, elongate, lateral extensions of tegumen slightly longer than width of tegumen band. Vinculum robust, moderately long, very broad at base, U shaped, base substantially projecting anteriorly beyond base of valvae. Saccus moderately large. Juxta with broad U-shaped basal plate, anellus lobes broad and moderately short. Valva long and broad, costal margin sinuate, setose ventral membrane from costa triangular, extending post-medially, covered in dense dark setae, saccular margin of valva slightly convex, narrow ventral sclerite postmedially, distal and saccular margins broadly angled at almost 90 °, apex broadly pointed. Sacculus longer than broad. Saccular process developing from distal part of sacculus, commencing medially in valva, long, broad, strongly sclerotised, base broad, strong, short curve basally towards saccular margin, distally curved through> 90 °, short bristles on greater part of saccular process, forming a dense thin brush apically, bristles projecting beyond apex of process. Aedeagus short, uniform width throughout, slightly curved, a small ridge-like cornutus posteriorly in the vesica. Bulbus ejaculatorius long, uncoiled, head broad and elongate.
Biology and early stages.
Early stages unknown. Adults found in June and July.
Distribution.
Dutch New Guinea.
Etymology.
cheesmanae — named in honour of Lucy Evelyn (Evelyn) Cheesman OBE (1882–1969), a pioneering woman entomologist who made several solo trips to Papua New Guinea in the 1920 s and 1930 s. This species was collected during her collecting trip to the Cyclops Mountains in Dutch New Guinea in 1936. The epithet is a noun in the genitive case.
Remarks.
This is one of three species of Athrypsiastis (two in his own collection and this species, deposited in the NHMUK collection by Evelyn Cheesman), determined by Edward Meyrick as Athrypsiastis symmetra, but without examination of the genitalia.
description: Published as part of Sterling, Mark J., Price, Ben W. & Lees, David C., 2025, A revision of the hitherto neglected genus Topiris Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Xyloryctidae) with taxonomic notes on the genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910, pp. 297-368 in ZooKeys 1229 on pages 297-368, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1229.119155