Thecobathra meniscata Liu & Wang 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Haoyu
name: Wang, Shuxia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Yponomeutidae
Thecobathra
Thecobathra meniscata

description: Thecobathra meniscata Wang, sp. nov.
(Figs 5, 15)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6945176D-F593-4FC9-8589-720BFACD4B8C
Type material. CHINA, Yunnan: Holotype ♁, Taiyanghe, 1450 m, 19.VIII.2014, leg. ZG Zhang, slide No. LHY21528.
Paratypes: Yunnan: 12♁, same data as holotype except dated 31.III‒23.VIII.2014, slide Nos. LHY21522, LHY21525, LHY21529, LHY21700, LHY21705, LHY21739, LHY21741, LHY21746; 3♁, Taiyanghe, Pu’er, 7‒ 9.VI.2015, leg. ZG Zhang, slide Nos. LHY21541, LHY21692, LHY21750.
Diagnosis. The new species can be distinguished in the male genitalia by the ventral plate of the gnathos with a pair of crescent-shaped anterior processes, and the sacculus produced to a long, slender thorn ventroapically.
Description. Adult (Fig. 5). Wingspan 15.5‒17.0 mm.
Head white, with appressed scales on frons. Antenna white; flagellum ringed with yellow dorsally. Labial palpus white except second palpomere yellow on outer surface.
Thorax and tegula white. Forewing white; costal margin with basal 1/4 dark brown, distal 1/3 yellowish brown; short, yellowish brown band extending from middle of fold obliquely inward to basal 3/5 of dorsum, then running along distal 2/5 of dorsum; fold with a speckle formed by dark brown scales at end; fringe yellowish brown along costal margin and dorsum, pale grey with dark brown tip along termen. Hindwing pale yellowish brown, pale brown along veins, with a whitish area between fold and dorsum; fringe pale grey, tinged with yellow around apex and along costal margin and termen. Legs white; spurs and tarsi yellowish brown; foreleg dark brown ventrally.
Male genitalia (Fig. 15). Uncus triangularly produced, bifid medially. Socius widely apart, subparallel-sided; apex hooked, produced outward, forming a tooth directed outward. Ventral plate of gnathos quadrate; paired large crescent-shaped processes extending from anterior margin, bent inward distally, bearing 1‒2 spines along outer margin and 3‒7 along inner margin. Valva kidney-shaped, widened medially, rounded apically, arched ventrally; costa banded. Sacculus distinct, dorsoapically extending along basal 1/3 of ventral margin of valva, forming a narrow band, ventroapically produced to a thorn longer than dorsal band. Saccus with posterior 4/5 U-shaped, anterior 1/5 stout and parallel-sided, apex blunt.Aedeagus about 1.6 times length of saccus, nearly straight, with two rows of dentations: one row along distal 1/10, the other along distal 2/5.
Female unknown.
Distribution. China (Yunnan).
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin meniscatus, referring to the two crescent-shaped anterior processes of the ventral plate of the gnathos.
description: Published as part of Liu, Haoyu & Wang, Shuxia, 2023, Taxonomic study of the genus Thecobathra Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) in China, with descriptions of eight new species, pp. 483-508 in Zootaxa 5325 (4) on page 495, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5325.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/8243618