Oiketicoides oberthueri
Creators: name: Sobczyk, Thomas
name: Arnscheid, Wilfried R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Psychidae
Oiketicoides
Oiketicoides oberthueri

description: Oiketicoides oberthueri (Heylaerts, 1883)
(Figs 5, 18a–c, 22, 40, 52)
Acanthopsyche oberthueri Heylaerts, 1883: 93: 59. Type locality: Algeria, Oran and Sebdou. Holotype ♂: Recent deposition unknown (Sobczyk 2011).
Examined material. MOROCCO: • 1 ♂, Südlicher Hoher Atlas, Taliouine, 30°32’N, 7°56’W, 07.xi.2011, leg. R. Bläsius; • 1 ♂ with case, Moyen Atlas, Ifrane Umg., 11–2.vi.1996, e. l. 24.ix.1996, leg. E. Bettag; • 2 ♂♂, Mittlerer Atlas, Coldu Zad, 2200 m, 08.viii.1997, leg. E. Bettag; • 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀ ♀, Mischliffen, 2036 m, 03–27.vii.1994, leg. Stübinger; 1 ♂, Hoher Atlas, Tizi-n-Test, 2100 m, 15.viii.1997, leg. E. Bettag (CTS); • 1 ♂, Anti-Atlas, Sidi Ḿzal Village, 1260 m, 29°48´00´Ń; 8°52´11´Ẃ, 30.ix.2005, leg. Gy. M. Lázló & G. Ronkay (MWM); • 1 ♂, Morocco, Casablanca, Sept. 1938, coll. Buckwell (MWM).
Supplementary description. ♂. Medium-sized Oiketicoides species, wings evenly fine scaled. Wingspan 18.0–21.0 mm (a bred specimen only 14 mm), body length 7.5–9.0 mm, forewing length 9.0–10.0 mm, FI: 2.1.
Head. Antennae length 4.5 mm, dark brown with 34–41 segments, densely yellowish brown scaled. Longest pecten is ten times the length of the antennal segments. Head densely covered with long hair-like dark grey and scattered light grey scales. Frons ventrally and medially mixed with narrow light grey scales, eyes very small, blackgrey, EI: 2.3.
Thorax. Thorax long light brown hairy. Legs long blackish brown hairy. Forewings elongated, r3+r4 of one third length stalked, m2+m3 short stalked. Hindwing m1+m2 stalked third to a quarter length, sc and rr merged. In the distal area of the dc connected to it in one point, then again runs separately. Wings thinly covered with dark grey, broad scales, somewhat more dense at the costal margin. The dc thinly whitish scaled. Scales broad (classes 3–4), predominantly with two dentations, rarely with three dentations, fringes very broad, distally indented with numerous short indentations (Fig. 22). Fringes broader ventrally, whitish, distal fringes dark grey.
Abdomen. Dorsally and ventrally densely covered with long, dark grey-brown, hair-like scales.
Male genitalia. (GU 020-2020, 053-2020, Sobczyk). Length 1.95 mm. Tegumen and vinculum elongated elliptically connected, distal end of tegumen sclerotized, rounded, laterally on both sides clearly folded inwards, medially notched. Valvae reach the posterior edge of the tegumen, sacculus distally with 2–4 prominent spines. Vinculum narrow, mediolaterally with extensions, saccus short, distally somewhat widened and rounded. Phallus length 1.35 mm, elongated tubular, almost straight, widened distally with a distinct hook-shaped projection (Figs 40, 52).
Female (preparation 054-2020, Sobczyk). Length 8 mm, diameter 2 mm, wingless. Head, thoracic segments and the first two abdominal segments distally strongly light brown sclerotized, fused. Head without eyes, mouth parts and antennae. Legs very short, of 2 segments, stocky, with a prominent pair of claws distally. Abdominal segments not sclerotized. Genitalia likewise not sclerotized, with numerous short spines. Bursa copulatrix opening semicircularly curved, posterior apophyses indicated as tiny sclerotized spots, antevaginal plate y-shaped, also more sclerotized than in other known females mentioned in this article.
Case. Length 14-27 mm, 5–7 mm in diameter, tubular in cross-section, silky, densely covered with short fragments of twigs or leaves, slightly protruding in the distal third.
Distribution. Widely distributed in Morocco and Algeria (Heylaerts 1883; present publication).
Similar species. O. oberthueri is characterised especially by its tiny eyes. In this feature it is only comparable withthe West Europeanspecies O. febretta, which isonthewingby daylightandhas alsotinyeyes (EI>2.2–2.6). Within the North African Oiketicoides only O. lambessa (EI: 1.63) shows such traits. The eye index of O. oberthueri is also very high (2.3), but it differs clearly from O. lambessa by the venation of the hindwings which shows the veins m1+m2 stalked whereas these veins are fused in O. lambessa. Due to the thinly whitish scaled dc O. oberthueri is also slightly similar to O. albomaculatus sp. nov. The latter is smaller and shows two whitish scaled areas in the basal and distal part of the dc.
description: Published as part of Sobczyk, Thomas & Arnscheid, Wilfried R., 2021, Taxonomic revision of the North-African species of the genus Oiketicoides Heylaerts, 1881 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae: Oiketicinae), pp. 483-508 in Zootaxa 4975 (3) on pages 490-491, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4975.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4926498