Argyresthia (Argyresthia) minutilepidota 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 minutilepidota

description: 16. Argyresthia (Argyresthia) minutilepidota, sp. nov. (Figs. 25, 95, 151, 207)
Description. Adult (Fig. 25) wingspan 13.0̄ 14.5 mm. Head pale yellowish white. Labial palpus yellowish fuscous, grayish fuscous laterally. Antenna with scape yellowish white, pecten dark fuscous; flagellum white, ringed with blackish gray. Foreleg yellowish white except inner surface blackish gray on femur, blackish fuscous on tibia and tarsus, tibia dotted with blackish fuscous near base, at middle and on distal part dorsally, tarsus black on distal part of each tarsomere dorsally; midleg pale yellowish fuscous, femur dotted with blackish gray at base and middle ventrally, tibia dotted with blackish gray near base, at middle and near distal end dorsally, tarsus dark gray on outer surface, gray at distal part of each tarsomere on inner surface; hindleg yellowish white on inner surface, gray on outer surface, tarsus blackish gray at distal part of each tarsomere. Thorax white; tegula blackish fuscous. Forewing ratio 5.0; blackish fuscous; costa with black and yellowish-white dots alternately along basal 7/ 10, with white spot at distal 1/5 and before apex, the former larger; termen with three to four white spots; blackishfuscous streak below basal 2/5 of fold, irregularly widened distally, diffused to dorsum in some individuals; black spot before middle of cell, in some individuals divided into two approximate spots; dorsal band white, extending from base to end of fold; dorsal fascia black, from before middle of wing to beyond costal 3/5, ill-defined; black dot at lower angle of cell and at tornus; suffused white scales along veins R5 and M; cilia blackish fuscous, white adjacent to white spots, grayish fuscous near tornus. Hindwing and cilia uniformly gray.
Male genitalia (Figs. 95, 151, 207): Tuba analis shorter than width of valva. Socius covered with 21̄25 minute scale-like setae, about 1/10 length of socius, bearing two short setae posteriorly (Fig. 207). Gnathos inflated distally, with seven to nine long thick setae apically. Valva slightly narrowed at base, widened medially, distally narrowed towards rounded apex, dorsal margin arched basally, obliquely straight on distal 2/3, slightly concave before apex; covered with a row of long thick setae in disc near ventral margin, with several similar setae before apex. Saccus shorter than width of valva, with distal 2/3 apparently narrowed, linear. Phallus nearly straight, 3.5 times as long as width of valva (Fig. 151). Second sternite with about 16 micro-setae in each row; eighth sternite Vshaped. Coremata present.
Female unknown.
Type material. CHINA: Holotype, Ƌ, Zhongdian (27.59°N, 99.79°E), Yunnan Province, 3150 m, 14.vii.2001, leg. Houhun Li and Xinpu Wang, slide no. LTT12788. Paratypes: Sichuan Province: 4Ƌ, Rize (33.12°N, 103.88°E), Jiuzhaigou County, 2700 m, 13.viii.2002, leg. Shulian Hao, slide nos. LTT12445, LTT12455, LTT12782; 3♂, Zezhawa (33.16°N, 103.92°E), Jiuzhaigou County, 2400 m, 14, 15.viii.2002, leg. Shulian Hao, slide nos. JQ08072, LTT12459, LTT12459W. Shaanxi Province: 1Ƌ, Chenhe (33.98°N, 108.16°E), Zhouzhi County, 700 m, 21.vii.1987, leg. Houhun Li, slide no. LTT12785.
Other material: Sichuan Province: 1♀ (without abdomen), Rize (33.12°N, 103.88°E), Jiuzhaigou County, 2700 m, 13.viii.2002, leg. Shulian Hao; 1♀ (without abdomen), Wuxuhai (29.00°N, 101.51°E), Jiulong County, 2700 m, 6.vii.2012, leg. Jinwei Li.
Distribution. China (Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan).
Diagnosis. This new species resembles A. (A.) conjugella superficially. It can be distinguished by the white dorsal band on the forewing; in the male genitalia the socius are covered with minute scale-like setae that are approximately 1/10 the length of the socius and bear two short setae posteriorly, and the valva has the dorsal margin obliquely straight in the distal 2/3 and slightly concave near the apex. In A. (A.) conjugella, the dorsal band on the forewing is yellowish white, the socius bears larger scale-like setae that are about 1/5 the length of the socius and has three to five long setae posteriorly, and the dorsal margin of the valva is rounded in the distal 2/3.
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin minutus, meaning very small, and lepidotus, meaning scaled, referring to minute scale-like setae of the socius.
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 30-31, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.827746