Coleophora namaqua Baldizzone
Creators: name: Baldizzone, Giorgio
name: Van Der Wolf, Hugo W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Coleophoridae
Coleophora
Coleophora namaqua

description: Coleophora namaqua Baldizzone & van der Wolf, sp. nov.
(Fig. 4)
Holotype ♂ (GP Bldz 15000) “RSA, North.[ern] Cape | Kamieskroon, Farm Windhoek, 16.X.2007, leg. W. Mey ” “ Bachtal ca. 2km oberth. Farmhaus”, coll. ZMHU.
Paratypes: 5 ♂♂ (GP Bldz 15001) same locality and date as holotype; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 15038) “ South Africa, North[ern] Cape, Kamieskroon, Farm Windhoek, 16.X.2008 LF [Lichtfang], leg. Ebert, Mey & Kühne”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 15350), 1 ♀ (GP Bldz 15003) “ South Africa, North[ern] Cape, Kamieskroon, Sneekop, 28.XI.2008, leg. Ebert, Mey & Kühne”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 15355), 3 ♀♀(GP Bldz 15004, 15005, 15356) “ South Africa, North[ern] Cape, 29.XI. 2008, Spoekrivier, Bethel Klip, leg. Ebert, Mey & Kühne”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 13558) “ South Africa, Cederberge, Olifantsriever, 18–20.X.2001 LF [Lichtfang], leg. W. Mey”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 13563) “ South Africa, Richtersveld, Numees, Helskloof Gate, 9–12.X.2001 LF [Lichtfang], leg. W. Mey”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 15037) “ South Africa, Northern Cape, Quaggafontein, 29.IX.–5.X.2002, leg. K. Ebert”; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 11923) “ South Africa, Namaqualand, Mesklip, 18 km S Springbok, ONO Siedlung, 3.XI.2003 LF [Lichtfang], T. Karish leg.”. Paratypes in coll. ZMHU, Bldz and Wolf.
Diagnosis. A species with uniform brown forewings, except for a white line along the costa. The species shares this habitus with a great number of Afrotropical species and resembles that of Palearctic species in the 9th species group of Toll’s system. The genitalia resemble those of Afrotropical C. aarviki Baldizzone & van der Wolf, 2011, a species which has the same habitus as namaqua, but is slightly lighter. In the male genitalia the most obvious difference is the lateral margin of the sacculus, which is almost straight in aarviki, but slightly concave in namaqua, with a protuberance in the form of a triangle in the ventral angle; in the female genitalia the distal margin of S8 of aarviki is more convex than that of namaqua, but the most obvious difference is the spinal part of the ductus bursae, which in aarviki is much shorter than that in namaqua.
Description. Wingspan 13–16 mm. Head white. Labial palp internally white; the second segment, about twice length of third, has externally a brown longitudinal line. Antenna: scape white with a tuft of long bristly scales basally; flagellum completely white. Thorax white, with beige-coloured tegulae. Forewing brown, slightly lighter in the area between anal vein and dorsum; along costa a white line which is slender from base to midwing, then widening and ending before apex is reached. Fringe beige. Hindwing grey with fringe concolorous with that on frontwing. Abdomen beige.
Male genitalia (Figs. 35–38): Gnathos knob globular. Tegumen broad. Pedunculus slender. Transtilla two spoon-shaped structures, medially joined. Valvula large, rounded. Cucullus long, gradually widening towards rounded apex. Sacculus oblong, ventral margin straight, ventro-caudal angle rounded, dorso-caudal angle pointed. Phallotheca tubular, sclerified mainly on dorsal side, slightly narrowing towards blunt apex. Cornuti a long row of haphazardly positioned needles.
Female genitalia (Figs 40, 41): Papillae anales ovular. Apophysis posterioris about 2.5 times longer than anterioris. Sterigma subtrapezoid, about as long as wide; distal margin slightly convex, medially excavated towards ostium bursae. Ostium bursae ovular. Colliculum cup-shaped, heavily sclerotized, corresponding with excavation, and as long as sterigma. Ductus bursae: first segment narrow, transparent, with medial line; second segment with thicker medial line, enveloped in a sleeve covered with tiny spikes over a length of 10 times that of sterigma, ultimately ending in several coils; third segment transparent, merging with sack-like corpus bursae. Signum leaflike with long pedunculus.
Abdominal apodemes (Figs. 39, 42): Anterior lateral strut 3 times longer than posterior. Transverse strut with convex distal margin; proximal margin straight, slender. Tergal disk about three times longer than wide, covered with about 40 tiny spikes.
Bionomy. The foodplant and the early stages are not known.
Distribution. Known only from the north-west of South Africa.
Etymology. The species is dedicated to the Namaqua, a Khoikhoi people who traditionally inhabit the Namaqualand region of South Africa.
description: Published as part of Baldizzone, Giorgio & Van Der Wolf, Hugo W., 2015, On the taxonomy of Afrotropical Coleophoridae (II) (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae), pp. 335-362 in Zootaxa 4000 (3) on pages 344-346, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4000.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/254352