Elachista granicorna Kaila & Sruoga 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kaila, Lauri
name: Nupponen, Kari
name: Sruoga, Virginijus
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Elachistidae
Elachista
Elachista granicorna

description: Elachista granicorna Kaila & Sruoga sp. nov.
Figs 7, 36
Type material.
Holotype. TAJIKISTAN • ♂; W. Pamir Mts., 3000–3200 m, Devlokh Valley, near Khaburabot Pass; 38.3731 ° N, 70.4259 ° E; 17 Jul. 2013; K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg.; http://tun.fi NH 476, DNA sample FinBOL 2021; Kaila prep. 6153; RCNupp, to be deposited in MZH.
Diagnosis.
E. granicorna is a large and narrow-winged species; its forewings are densely mottled brownish grey without a distinct pattern. In the male genitalia, the truncated cucullus, tapered juxta lobes, and distally granulate vesica separate E. granicorna well from the other species treated here.
Description.
Wingspan 12.0 mm. Labial palpus as long as diameter of head, off-white, fuscous below. Head, and neck tuft off-white, tegula, thorax, scape and pedicel of antenna off-white, intermixed with brownish grey scales; flagellum grey, weakly annulated with slightly paler rings. Foreleg grey with tarsal articles distally white, legs otherwise grey. Forewing unicolorous consisting of off-white scales that are distally grey, fringe concolorous, sparsely scattered with grey-tipped scales, and forming grey fringe line. Hindwing pale grey with concolorous fringe. Underside of wings grey with slight yellowish hue.
Male genitalia. Uncus lobe as long as broad at its broadest point, weakly tapered towards round apex, with a few short setae distolaterally, incision separating uncus lobes 0.6 length of uncus. Spinose knob of gnathos shortly oval, 1.3 × as long as broad. Valva 3.5 × as long as broad at its broadest point in the middle; costa weakly convex medially, shallowly emarginated in its distal fourth; sacculus basally dilated, slightly concave in the middle, joining cucullus at a right angle, distal margin of cucullus straight, not bent towards costa. Digitate process small, about 1 / 7 length of valva, distally slightly dilated, blunt and setose. Juxta lobes medially produced; median margin somewhat convex; distal margin with a few short setae; lateral process long and narrow; lateral margin concave; median plate with shallow dorsally directed median sac. Vinculum short and broad, V-shaped. Phallus 0.7 × as long as valva, straight, 7 × as long as broad at its broadest place near base, gradually narrowed distally; caecum short; vesica with one elongate cornutus formed as long tooth arising from small irregular sclerotized plate; vesica apically with group of small granules, length of cornutus a little more than 0.1 × length of phallus.
Female. Unknown.
Biology.
Host plant unknown. The only known specimen was captured at mid-July.
Distribution.
Tajikistan.
Etymology.
Adopted from the Latin words granum (seed, small kernel, pellet) and cornu, - us (horn). This refers to the somewhat horn-shaped cornutus, surrounded by the apically granulose vesica. It is adjusted to feminine gender to follow that of the generic name Elachista. A noun in apposition.
DNA barcode information.
Intraspecific divergence distance N / A (n = 1) (http://tun.fi NH 476, DNA sample FinBOL 2021) Nearest neighbor is E. atrisquamosa Staudinger, 1880 with 6.8 % divergence.
description: Published as part of Kaila, Lauri, Nupponen, Kari & Sruoga, Virginijus, 2025, On species of the Elachista bedellella group (Gelechioidea, Elachistidae, Elachistinae) similar with E. rudectella Stainton, 1851 and E. graeca Parenti, 2002, with descriptions of five new species, pp. 103-136 in Nota Lepidopterologica 48 on pages 103-136, DOI: 10.3897/nl.48.142483