Sufetula falcata Muller, Hayden & Leger 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Müller, Anne
name: Hayden, James
name: Lees, David C.
name: Léger, Théo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Crambidae
Sufetula
Sufetula falcata

description: Sufetula falcata Müller, Hayden & Léger, sp. nov.
LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 31A9F139 - 796F-4D06-B14 C-B 58F9 AB447B8
(Figures 14, 27, 39, 50)
Material examined. Holotype. Ƌ. PHILIPPINES: Luzon, Zambales, Zambales Mountains, Coto; 15.46 ǫN 120.05 ǫE; 150m; 09-10 Nov. 1998; W. Mey, W. Speidel leg.; DNA voucher MFNLEP977; MfN gen. prep. 400M; specimen voucher coll.mfn-berlin.de_u_5f078e (MfN). Paratypes. 2 ♀; specimen identifiers coll.mfn-berlin.de_u_961e1d, 2af8cb; 1 unsexed; specimen identifier coll.mfn-berlin.- de_u_c7387e. Detailed information in Table S1.
Diagnosis. Sufetula falcata sp. nov. exhibits short and slender forewings (Figure 14) with a nearly straight postmedian line. In the male genitalia (Figure 39), the oblong shape of the valva separates this species from other Sufetula species. In the female genitalia (Figure 50), the clearly demarcated C-shaped signum bearing sclerotised spines separates this species from its congeners.
Description. Wings (Figure 14). Forewing length: 4.3 mm (n¼1); narrow, ground colour greyish brown to dirty white. Antemedian line white, thin, broadly curved outwards to CuP vein, running straight to dorsum along anal area. Costa with three rounded, whitish spots. Median discoidal spot small, rounded, black. Postmedian line white, running roughly straight toward dorsum up to vein M 2, dorsal half slightly incurved inwards. Margin dashed with dark brown. Wing outer margin projected outwards at apex. Fringe chequered dirty white and brown. Tympanal organs (Figure 27). Ƌ ♀. Bullae tympani 1/6 recessed posterior of ramus tympani. Posterior depressions shallow, half as wide as bulla, length about 1/3 width, apparently not sexually dimorphic. Venulae secundae faintly marked, incurved medially, running down to anterior 1/3 of sternum II. Pons tympani fused throughout. Male genitalia (Figure 39). Uncus ca 2/5 of tegumen arm length, slender, with constricted base, apex blunt with bristles. Tegumen bridge broad, roughly as long as uncus. Valva with oblong, elongate shape, about twice as long as wide, distally slightly curved upwards, apex truncate. Phallus with two patches of minute sclerotised spines at anterior 1/4. Female genitalia (Figure 50). Posterior apophyses ca 2.7 × tergite VIII length. Anterior apophyses ca 2 × tergite VIII length. Colliculum short, forming sclerotised ring. Ductus bursae ca 2.3 × corpus length, straight, looped twice on anterior 1/4. Corpus bursae ovoid. Signum ca 1/4 × corpus length, C-shaped with concave side facing posteriad, bearing sclerotised spines.
Distribution. Known from Luzon (Zambales), Palawan and Panay an elevation between 150 and 900 m (Figure 55).
Etymology. From the Latin falcatus, a, um, “bent, scythe-shaped”, referring to the C-shaped signum in the corpus bursae of the female genitalia.
DNA barcoding. The maximum observed intraspecific variation is of 0.3% between the specimen MFNLEP-PYRALPHIL11-D07 from Palawan and the specimen MFNLEP977 from Zambales (Luzon).
description: Published as part of Müller, Anne, Hayden, James, Lees, David C. & Léger, Théo, 2025, Assessment of species diversity of the Lathrotelinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from the Philippines using morphology and DNA barcoding reveals eight new species, pp. 1-24 in Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity CLXVI (CLXVI) on page 20, DOI: 10.1016/j.japb.2025.01.012, http://zenodo.org/record/15396126