Torodora alterniella Park & Bae 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Park, Kyu-Tek
name: Bae, Yang-Seop
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lecithoceridae
Torodora
Torodora alterniella

description: Torodora alterniella Park, sp. nov.
(Figs. 3A–F)
Type material. Holotype: ♂, Cambodia, Kep Prov., Kep Spring Vy Lodge, 40 m, 1–2 v 2011, leg. JB Heppner; gen. side no. CIS-6097. Paratypes: 2♀, Mondulkiri, 7 x 2010, leg. Bae, Ju & Vi; gen. side no. CIS-8079, -8082. 3 ♂, 1♀, Laos, Bolikhamsai Prov., PKK nat. Park, 8 o 27′23˝N 103 o 03′ 05˝E, 470 m, 26 vii 2019, leg. Bae, Ju & Vi; gen. side no. CIS-8097 (♂), CIS-8092 (♀).
Diagnosis. The new species, as well as following two new species, are very similar to T. parthenopis (Meyrick, 1932) which was described from Taiwan in the forewing pattern by sharing following characters: Ground color grayish-orange with sharply produced apex, a distinct black spot at apex surrounded by creamy-white scales below and small blackish dots along termen, and flagellum of antenna with alternative creamy-white and black rings. However, Torodora alterniella sp. nov. can also be distinguished from its allies by the male genitalia: uncus broadened with sharply produced latero-apical corner; valva broadly dilated in distal part (cucullus); juxta with short, digitate caudal processes and a long, quadrate lobe on anterior margin medially.
Description. Adult (Figs 5A, B). Wingspan 13.0–14.0 mm. Head: Covered with creamy-white scales anteriorly and grayish-orange posteriorly, with erect creamy-white scales laterally. Antenna longer than forewing, about 1.3 times than the length of forewing; scape elongated, creamy white on dorsal and ventral surface, dark brown anteriorly and posteriorly; flagellum with distinct creamy-white and black rings alternatively. Second segment of labial palpus thickened, slightly arched, dark brown on dorsal surface, grayish orange in basal 2/3, and creamy white speckled with brownish scales in distal 1/3 on outer surface, creamy white on inner surface evenly, with creamy-white apex; 3 rd segment slender, slightly longer than 2 nd segment, strongly upturned, blackish ventrally, creamy white laterally. Thorax: Tegula and thorax grayish orange dorsally. Hind tibia with rough, pale grayish-orange scales above, speckled with dark-brown scales apically; 1st tarsus long, creamy white; 2 nd and 3 rd black in basal half and creamy white beyond. Forewing ground color grayish orange to yellowish brown, with an obscure white, oblique line, arising from near middle of costa and a more distinct white oblique line from beyond 3/4 of costa toward termen, terminated at veins R 3+4; a black, distinct rounded spot at apex, with creamy-white scales at inner side, and smaller black dots along termen, forming a line; apex sharply produced; termen oblique, concave before middle; fringe concolorous with ground color. Hindwing slightly broader, more grayish scales than forewing; apex acute; termen slightly sinuate; fringe concolorous; venation with M 2 close to M 3 +CuA 1 at base, M 3 and CuA 1 stalked for basal half.
Abdomen (Fig. 2F): Spinous zones on tergite in male narrowly developed along posterior margin with strong spines; sternite VIII more or less trifurcated posteriorly, with large, triangular median protrusion.
Male genitalia (Figs. 3C–D): Uncus broadened distally, sharply produced at lateral apices. Gnathos relatively small. Tegumen weakly sclerotized, emarginated in inverted V-shaped on anterior margin. Valva elongated, expanded in basal 1/3 anteriorly; costa gently concave; cucullus dilated, densely setose; sacculus broad at base, narrowly terminated before cucullus. Juxta deeply concave on caudal margin; caudal processes short, digitate with round apex; median protrusion on anterior margin narrowly elongate-quadrate. Aedeagus stout basally, broader than basal part of valva, strongly bent medially, narrowed toward apex; narrowly produced at apex; cornuti consisting of two, large sacs with numerous needle-like spines.
Female genitalia (Fig. 3F). Abdominal sternite VIII deeply emarginated in U-shape. Apophyses anteriores short, about 1/3 the length of apophyses posteriores. Antrum membraneous, funnel-shaped. Ductus bursae with extremely narrow neck beyond antrum, then broadened, about half width of corpus bursae, as long as corpus bursae; ductus seminalis broad as wide as half of ductus bursae, arising from distal part of ductus bursae. Corpus bursae, large, ovate; signum plate vertically elongate-quadrate, slightly emarginated medially on anterior and posterior margin, with numerous, dense conic spines on surface.
Distribution. Cambodia (Kep, Mondulkiri Prov.).
Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin, alternus (= alternative), with a Latin suffix, - ellus, referring to the alternative coloration of rings on the antenna.
Remarks. Most of the known species of the genus Torodora Meyrick have an elongated, slender uncus in the male genitalia, but the uncus of this new species and the following species are widely expanded distally. The other examples with this kind of the uncus are also found in T. aenoptera Gozmány, 1978, T. flavescens Gozmány, 1978, and T. sirtalis Wu, 1997 from China, and T. bachmaensis Park, 2006, from Vietnam.
description: Published as part of Park, Kyu-Tek & Bae, Yang-Seop, 2021, Five new species of the genus Torodora Meyrick (Lepidoptera, Lecithoceridae Torodorinae) from Cambodia, with a tentative check-list of the genus, pp. 102-114 in Zootaxa 4949 (1) on pages 107-109, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4949.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4635941