Argyresthia (Argyresthia) flavifusca Liu, Wang & Li, 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Tengteng
name: Wang, Shuxia
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Yponomeutidae
Argyresthia
Argyresthia flavifusca

description: 17. Argyresthia (Argyresthia) flavifusca, sp. nov. (Figs. 26, 27, 96, 152, 208, 261)
Description. Adult (Figs. 26, 27) wingspan 10.5̄13.0 mm. Head and labial palpus yellow. Antenna with scape yellow, pecten brownish fuscous; flagellum yellowish, ringed with blackish fuscous. Foreleg blackish fuscous on inner surface, tibia yellowish white mixed with gray on outer surface, tarsus gray on outer surface of each tarsomere distally, remainder yellowish white; midleg mostly yellowish white mixed with gray, with tibia and tarsus blackish fuscous on inner surface; hindleg yellowish white to grayish white on inner surface, dark gray on outer surface. Thorax yellow; tegula dark fuscous. Forewing ratio 4.5; dark fuscous to blackish fuscous; costa with a pale yellow dot before apex, sometimes absent; dorsum with a yellow spot at base; dorsal fascia blackish-fuscous, from middle of wing obliquely outward to costa, narrowed; cilia concolorous with adjacent wing color. Hindwing and cilia uniformly gray. Female similar to male in size and wing pattern, but lacking forewing dorsal fascia (Fig. 27).
Male genitalia (Figs. 96, 152, 208): Tuba analis about equal to width of valva. Socius covered with 8̄9 scalelike setae, bearing two setae posteriorly (Fig. 208). Gnathos inflated distally, with nine long thick setae apically. Valva slightly rounded, widest near base, dorsal margin arched near base, straight distally, ventral margin rounded; a row of long thick setae in disc near ventral margin, with a clump of similar setae on distal area. Saccus shorter than width of valva, almost same width distally. Phallus curved basally, straight distally, 3.5 times as long as width of valva (Fig. 152). Second sternite with about 10 micro-setae in each row; eighth sternite slightly Y-shaped. Coremata present.
Female genitalia (Fig. 261): Ovipositor 2.8 times as long as eighth segment. Anterior apophysis 3/4 length of posterior apophysis, bifurcate at middle, branch fused, forming ventral margin of ostium bursae. Lamella postvaginalis narrow-rectangular. Antrum funnel-shaped, 4/7 length of eighth segment. Ductus bursae sparsely spinulate before and near opening of ductus seminalis; ductus seminalis originating from before middle of ductus bursae. Corpus bursae oval, covered with dense denticles, sometimes concave laterally at anterior 2/5; signum with basal plate short rectangular, horns narrowed and extending outward almost horizontally, anterior margin nearly straight.
Type material. CHINA: Holotype, Ƌ, Xiaonanchuan plant garden (35.34°N, 106.31°E), Erlonghe Forest Farm, Mt. Liupan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 1900 m, 27.vi.2008, leg. Shulian Hao and Zhiwei Zhang, slide no. LTT12880. Paratypes: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region: 2♀, data same as holotype, slide no. LTT12764; 1♀, Plant garden (35.34°N, 106.31°E), Mt. Liupan, 1900 m, 30.vi.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang, slide no. LTT12105; 1♀, Qiuqianjian Forest Station (35.56°N, 106.44°E), Qiuqianjia Forest Farm, Mt. Liupan, 1700 m, 2.vii.2008, leg. Shulian Hao and Zhiwei Zhang, slide nos. LTT12771, LTT12771W; 1♂, Miaomiaotai Forest Station (35.50°N, 106.29°E), Xixia Forest Farm, Mt. Liupan, 2300 m, 23.vi.2008, leg. Shulian Hao and Zhiwei Zhang, slide no. LTT12104. Gansu Province: 1Ƌ, Mt. Xinglong (35.80°N, 104.07°E), Yuzhong County, 2178 m, 20.viii.2007, leg. Feng Yang and Hanguang Gao, leg. LTT12437. Sichuan Province: 1Ƌ, Zezhawa (33.16°N, 103.92°E), Jiuzhaigou, 2400 m, 14.viii.2002, leg. Shulian Hao, slide no. LTT12787.
Other material: 1♀ (without abdomen), same data as holotype, except 28.vi.2008.
Distribution. China (Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan).
Diagnosis. The forewing is almost unicolorous except for the yellow dots on the costa and dorsum in the female, resembling unicolorous species in the subgenus Blastotere superficially. In the subgenus Argyresthia, species with the unicolorous “form” include A. (A.) conjugella, A. (A.) brockeella, and A. (A.) albistria. The genitalia of A. (A.) flavifusca are distinctive from those of A. (A.) brockeella and A. (A.) albistria. The closest congener of A. (A.) flavifusca is the unicolorous “form” aerariella of A. (A.) conjugella. Argyresthia (A.) flavifusca can be separated from A. (A.) conjugella by the yellow head; the forewing with a yellow spot at the dorsum basally; the socius with two short setae posteriorly in the male genitalia; the lamella postvaginalis narrow-rectangular; and the corpus bursae not concave on the anterior margin in the female genitalia. In contrast, the “form” aerariella of A. (A.) conjugella has a brown head; a forewing without yellow spot at the dorsum basally; a socius with three to five long setae posteriorly in the male genitalia (Fig. 206); and a trapezoidal lamella postvaginalis; and a corpus bursae deeply concave on the anterior margin in the female genitalia (Fig. 259).
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin prefix flav -, meaning yellow, and fuscus, meaning fuscous, indicating the yellow spots on the dark to blackish fuscous forewing.
description: Published as part of Liu, Tengteng, Wang, Shuxia & Li, Houhun, 2017, Review of the genus Argyresthia Hübner, [1825] (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea: Argyresthiidae) from China, with descriptions of forty-three new species, pp. 1-135 in Zootaxa 4292 (1) on pages 31-32, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.827746