Ourapteryx alba Cheng & Han 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Cheng, Rui
name: Jiang, Nan
name: Zhu, Chaodong
name: Xu, Yongqiang
name: Han, Hongxiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Ourapteryx
Ourapteryx alba

description: Ourapteryx alba Cheng & Han, sp. nov. (Figs 14, 34, 48)   
Description. Head. Antennae filiform in both sexes, greyish brown with white at basal 11 to 13 segment dorsally. Frons greyish brown on upper one third, remaining white. Labial palpus greyish brown with white scales terminally and ventrally. Vertex white.  
 Thorax. Patagia, tegulae and thorax white. Legs white, black patches present between femora and tibia of fore- and median legs, hind tibia dilated in male, with hair-pencil, both sexes with two pairs of spurs. Forewing length: male 25–27 mm; female 27–29 mm. Forewing with outer margin straight. Hind wing with a long tail, tip acute, shoulder prominent. Wings white. Forewing densely diffused with grey striation; short grey streaks present on costal area between base and postmedial line; antemedial and postmedial lines straight, grey, former nearer to latter on anal margin than on costa; discal spot linear and grey; terminal line black, invisible near apex and anal angle; fringes mostly pale yellowish brown, white near anal angle. Hind wing with discal spot indistinct; medial line straight, grey, not extending to costa and anal margin; grey scales present on M 3 and CuA 1 and CuA 2; submarginal area densely diffused with grey striation, forming 3 or 4 teeth inside; terminal line black, invisible near shoulder and tip of tail and anal angle; fringes mostly pale reddish brown, white near shoulder and tip of tail and anal angle; tail with two spots at base, connected by a grey band, anterior small dark red, surrounded with black scales, posterior represented by a black dash. Underside white, transverse lines faintly indicated. Forewing with R 1 and R 2 coincident, anastomosing shortly with Sc.   
Abdomen. Abdomen white with setal comb on third sternite.  
Male genitalia. Uncus triangular with acute apex. Socii small and membranous. Gnathos with median process small and tongue-like. Valva simple, rounded apically; costa straight, only very weakly swollen medially. Furca developed on right side, semicircularly arched at terminal one-fourth or slightly incurved at distal area, terminating with a dense row of thorns, reaching halfway between median process of gnathos and base of uncus or reaching base of uncus. Saccus rounded and very short. Aedeagus cylindrical; vesica with a sclerotized plate densely covered with a cluster of short spines of different length.  
Female genitalia. Lamella postvaginalis and lamella antevaginalis almost lunate, latter short and crinkled, about half length of former. Colliculum present. Ductus bursae curved medially, sclerotized with longitudinal ribs, longer than length of corpus bursae. Corpus bursae globular, bearing a signum at base; signum rounded with many marginal spines, disc large and rounded.  
 Diagnosis. The external characters of the species are almost identical to O. pseudebuleata Inoue, 1995 (Figs 15, 35, 49). However, the wings are more white and the transverse lines of the wings are often darker than in O. pseudebuleata. In the male genitalia, the apex of the furca of O. alba Cheng & Han, sp. nov. is shorter and less deeply curved than in O. pseudebuleata. The signum of the female genitalia of O. alba Cheng & Han, sp. nov. are smaller than that of O. pseudebuleata.   
 Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word albus, which means white. This refer to the frons and the wing colour.   
Material examined. Holotype ♂, China, Yunnan (IZCAS): Weixi, Tacheng, 2800 m, 13–14.VII.2014, coll. Xinxin LI, IZCAS slide no. Geom-02862. Paratypes. China: Yunnan (IZCAS): 5♂, same locality and date, coll. Xiaodan PAN; 2♂, Weixi, Lidiping, 3200 m, 13.VIII.1984, coll. Dajun LIU; 2♂ 2♀, Lijiang, Yulongshan, 2800–3200 m, 14–20.VII.1984, coll. Dajun LIU; 1♂, Lijiang, Gaoshan, Zhiwuyuan, 3260 m, 20. VI.2009, coll. Dayong XUE; 1♀, Baoshan, Baihualing, 1520 m, 11–13.VIII.2007, coll. Chunguang WU. Xizang (IZCAS): 1♀, Zayü, Cawarong, Longcun, 2883 m, 9.IX.2014, coll. Hong LIU.  
Distribution. China (Yunnan, Xizang).
description: Published as part of Cheng, Rui, Jiang, Nan, Zhu, Chaodong, Xu, Yongqiang & Han, Hongxiang, 2024, Eleven new species of the genus Ourapteryx Leach, 1814 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) from China, pp. 158-174 in Zoological Systematics 49 (2) on pages 166-168, DOI: 10.11865/zs.2024205, http://zenodo.org/record/12172221