Thiotricha duristria Lee & Li 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lee, Ga-Eun
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Thiotricha
Thiotricha duristria

description: Thiotricha duristria sp. nov.   
(Figs 12D, 25J, 37B, 53F)  
 Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA, Hainan Province, Ledong County, Jianfengling (18.75°N, 108.87°E), 810 m, 14.vi.2018, leg. Ping Liu, Xia Bai and Shuai Yu, genitalia slide no. LGE18634. Paratypes. CHINA: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: 4 ♀♀, Yangmeiao (25.29°N, 109.31°E), 1180 m, Huanjiang County, Hechi, 25.vii.2015, leg. Meiqing Yang and Ga-Eun Lee, genitalia slide nos. LGE18296, LGE18297.   
 Diagnosis. In superficial appearance T. duristria is somewhat similar to T. robustiseta, but it is a larger moth with the forewing darker at the base. The male sternum VIII of T. duristria is unique as the lateral margins bear a round projection and the posterior apex is sharply narrowed. The male genitalia are characterized by the valva with a notch near the apex of ventral margin, the round anellus lobe and the aedeagus with the basal half strongly dilated. The female genitalia cannot be confused with any of its congeners by the ductus bursae with a long linear sclerite in posterior 1/3. The colliculum and the ductus seminalis of T. duristria are situated much remotely from the base of ductus bursae compared to other species.   
 Description. Adult (Fig. 12D). Wingspan 10.0− 12.5 mm. Head creamy white. Labial palpus creamy white; in male, segment I as long as II, dark fuscous on outer surface, segment III twice as long as II, dark fuscous on ventral surface, hair pencil nearly reaching apex of III; in female, segment I very short, fuscous on outer surface, segment II strongly suffused with fuscous on basal half of outer surface, segment III more slender than II, black on ventral surface. Antenna with scape creamy white, flagellum dark fuscous except basal half or 2/3 of dorsal surface creamy white; male cilia 2–3 times as long as diameter. Thorax cream, strongly mixed with beige posteriorly, with two slender, brown median streaks. Tegula mixed cream and beige, dark brown along anterior and inner margins. Forewing ground color dark brown to fuscous, basal 1/3 mixed cream and light brown below costa, this light area with somewhat indistinct dark brown longitudinal streaks; apical area brown, with two inwardly oblique, dark brown costal strigulae alternating with cream scales before apical spot, apical spot round, apex falcate; other markings mixed cream and light brown: a slender streak running from near base toward apex along costa, curved obliquely outward at distal 1/3; beyond this, a shorter, outwardly oblique streak running from distal 1/4 of costa to tornus, bordered outwardly by a dark fuscous streak, interrupted by silvery scales at half way across wing; a broad, outwardly oblique streak running from middle of dorsum toward apex, shortly interrupted by a brown longitudinal line above fold, reaching middle of second costal streak; a short, outwardly oblique streak running from near lower angle of discal cell, reaching middle of second costal streak; fringe on apical area dark fuscous with a median creamy band, on termen dark fuscous except base cream, on dorsum fuscous basally mixed with light brown. Hindwing fuscous except subapex cream; fringe fuscous except apical area white with a terminal black band. Legs mixed creamy white and beige; fore femur, tibia and tarsus fuscous on outer surface; mid femur fuscous at apex; mid tibia fuscous at base, outer surface with a fuscous oblique streak at middle; hind tibia with a fuscous oblique streak near apex on outer surface; mid and hind tarsi with first tarsomere fuscous on dorsal surface except apex, remaining tarsomeres with basal half fuscous.   
 Male sternum VIII (Fig. 25J). 1/5 length of abdomen, gradually narrowed from base to middle, with a large roundish projection at middle of lateral margins, strongly narrowed after the projection; posterior 1/5 bifurcate, each tine very slender and pointed at apex.   
 Male genitalia (Fig. 37B). Uncus tongue-shaped, rounded at apex. Gnathos hook simple, long. Tegumen approximately 3.5 times as long as uncus. Valva narrow at base, gradually broadening toward apex, with a notch at distal 1/6 of ventral margin. Anellus lobe round, approximately 1/6 length of valva, subapex with a robust bristle projecting inward. Juxta simple, sparsely setose. Vinculum simple, nearly straight. Saccus broad, sub-triangular, slightly exceeding tegumen pedunculus. Aedeagus with basal half globular, strikingly constricted beyond middle, broadened before apex, a short tooth on dorsal margin near apex, narrow at apex.   
 Female genitalia (Fig. 53F). Papillae anales moderately sclerotized. Apophyses anteriores slightly shorter than apophyses posteriores. Segment VIII broadly concave posteriorly; sternum VIII longer than tergum VIII, strongly produced anteriorly in U-shape. Ostium bursae large and rounded. Ductus bursae slender in posterior half and slightly broadened in anterior half; a very slender sclerite in posterior 1/3 ventrally; colliculum and ductus seminalis situated at middle or at posterior 2/5, colliculum anterior to ductus seminalis. Corpus bursae obovate, as long as ductus bursae; signum on posterior margin, large and rounded, bulged inward, with minute denticles.   
 Distribution. China (Guangxi, Hainan).   
 Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin, durus (hard) and stria (line), referring to the slender sclerite on the ductus bursae.
description: Published as part of Lee, Ga-Eun & Li, Houhun, 2024, A taxonomic review of Thiotricha Meyrick, 1886 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of 84 new species, pp. 1-222 in Zootaxa 5449 (1) on pages 82-83, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5449.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/11233121