Psectrotarsia flava Dognin
Creators: name: Pogue, Michael G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Psectrotarsia
Psectrotarsia flava

description: Psectrotarsia flava Dognin
(Figs. 1, 6–7, 16–17, 26, 31)
Psectrotarsia flava Dognin, 1907: 240.— Hampson, 1910: 233.— Poole, 1989: 842.— Matthews, 1991: 20.
Diagnosis. Psectrotarsia flava can be distinguished from all other species in the genus by the lack of pink coloring in the forewings.
Redescription. Male. Head: Frons with frontal tubercle cylindrical, protruding, with a distinct ridge around circumference and oblong median protuberance (Fig. 1), scales hairlike, pale yellowish-white; labial palp porrect, scales pale yellowish-white, some tipped with brown; antenna white; scape white; eyes large, globular. Thorax: Narrow scales pale yellowish-white mixed with others speckled pale brown and gray, wide flat white scales under narrow scales; foreleg pale rufous speckled with gray, fringe buff-colored, foretibia lacks spines, tarsi bearing a few white scales along apical margins; middle leg with femur white, tibia buffcolored, tarsi pale rufous with cream-colored apical margins; hind leg with femur white, tibia mostly white with pale rufous shading, tarsi buff-colored with hint of white on apical margins; underside with some wide flat scales and fine hairlike scales white. Forewing length 12.9–13.3 mm (n = 2); ground color pale yellow; obscure basal patch gray; antemedial line forms acute angle with costal margin extending to posterior margin, gray; median line from costal margin along proximal margin of reniform spot, angled from ventro-proximal corner of reniform spot to posterior margin; reniform spot at end of discal cell gray; veins radiating from discal cell highlighted gray; postmedial line scalloped, gray; subterminal area with gray band extending from costal margin, becoming fainter toward posterior margin; fringe white basally, rufous apically. Hindwing ground color shiny white, with wide gray marginal band varying in intensity; veins highlighted gray in some specimens; yellow along margin between gray band and fringe; fringe white. Abdomen: Dorsal surface gray with white scales apically, genital tuft pale yellowish-white; ventral surface pale yellowish-white, speckled with pale gray. Genitalia (Figs. 16–17) with uncus elongate, approximately 0.37X length of valve; apex pointed; valve broad, length 5X width, costal margin slightly angulate at 0.80X length, posterior margin gently curved to costal margin; ampulla elongate, 0.25X length of valve; corona with more than 10 setae; sacculus with ventral margin produced; juxta ovate with dorsal and ventral margins excavated; saccus V-shaped; aedoeagus slightly bent at middle, apex pointed; vesica with four diverticula (Fig. 17), left diverticulum lacking a cornutus, middle diverticulum with a short apical cornutus, longer right diverticulum lacking a cornutus, base of right diverticulum with uninflated, scobinate diverticulum bearing an elongate cornutus.
Female. Head, Thorax: As in male, except forewing length 13.6–14.9 mm (n = 2). Abdomen: Genitalia (Figs. 26, 31) with papilla analis fleshy, apex truncate; posterior apophysis 0.95X anterior apophysis, narrow; ductus bursae sclerotized and heavily striated in distal 0.67 with striations extending onto corpus bursae; appendix bursae present as undifferentiated cephalad extension of corpus bursae, approximately same size as corpus bursae; corpus bursae round; signa absent.
Holotype. Female, Peru, Trujillo. Dognin Collection. Psectrotarsia flava type f, Dogn. [hand written label]. USNM Type No. 31784 [red label]. Genitalia slide USNM 49761 [green label]. USNM ENT 0 0 147710 [bar-code label]. Deposited in USNM.
Distribution and Biology. Distributed in Peru, west of the Andes (Fig. 36). Larval host is unknown.
Material Examined. 2m, 1f. PERU: LIMA: Verrugas, 14 Apr. 1928 (1f), genitalia slide USNM 41174, R. C. Shannon, USNM ENT 0 0 147641. PIRUA: La Beatita, 18 Apr. 1969 (1m), genitalia slide USNM 41173, Ch. Korytkowski, USNM ENT 00147712; 18 Apr. 1969 (1m), genitalia slide USNM 49760, A. Castro, USNM ENT 0 0 147711.
Discussion. Psectrotarsia flava is known only from four specimens. The female genitalia differ from all other species in Psectrotarsia in that the ductus bursae bisects the corpus bursae into two subequal parts. If the portion dorsal to the ductus bursae is considered the appendix bursae, it is much larger than in any other species of Psectrotarsia.
description: Published as part of Pogue, Michael G., 2007, Revision of the Genus Psectrotarsia Dognin, 1907 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae), pp. 1-19 in Zootaxa 1637 on pages 3-4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.179565