Coleophora riftella Baldizzone & Van Der Wolf 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Baldizzone, Giorgio
name: Van Der Wolf, Hugo W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Coleophoridae
Coleophora
Coleophora riftella

description: Coleophora riftella Baldizzone & van der Wolf, sp. nov.
(Fig. 8)
Holotype ♂ (GP Wf 9032) “ KENYA Rift Valley | Rumuruti 1800m | 0°20’N 36°35’E | 29.iv.2003 | D.J.L. Agassiz ”, coll. NHMUK.
Paratypes: 1 ♂ (GP Wf 10331) “ KENYA Rift Valley | Gilgil 2100m | 0°29’S 36°22’E | 3.ix.2006 | D.J.L. Agas- siz”, coll. NHMUK; 1 ♂ (GP Bldz 16645) “ KENYA Eastern | Lewa 2050m | 0°8’24.5”N 37°27’23.8”E | 1.xi.2013 | Agassiz, Beavan, Eckford & Larsen”, coll. NHMUK.
Diagnosis. This species of predominantly ochre with a characteristic white band on the forewing and a small dot in the cell. It belongs to a group of species characterized by a strongly curved sacculus with a horn-shaped protuberance in the dorsal corner, i.e., C. terenaula Meyrick, 1927, C. orphnoceros Meyrick, 1937, C. corniapicella Baldizzone (in press), C. sneeubergensis Baldizzone (in press), known only from South Africa. From these related species, C. riftella sp. nov. it is distinguished by the white band in the middle of the forewing, and in the male genitalia by the shape of the phallotheca, with the longest of the juxta rods ending in a curved and slender point, and by the cornuti, more numerous and larger than the other species.
Description. Wingspan 13–14 mm. Head dorsally ochre, white above the eye. Antenna ringed ochre and light brown; scape brown on inner side, without tuft of erect scales. Labial palpus white, shaded with ochre, especially on external side; second segment about 0.5 as long as third. Proboscis of normal shape, slightly longer than labial palpus. Thorax light ochre. Tegula white, ochre on outer edge. Forewing ochre, streaked with white along veins and part of costa; a white band located along anal fold and a small brown spot in cell; costal fringe whitish, dorsal fringe light ochre. Hindwing light ochre grey, fringes of same colour. Abdomen dirty white.
Male genitalia (Figs. 31, 33–35): Gnathos knob globular. Tegumen very narrow in middle, pedunculus long and dilated. Transtilla short, oval, joined in center. Valvula small, subtriangular. Cucullus wide and short. Sacculus curved and thickened on ventral edge, expanded in form of a long curved horn at dorsal end. Phallotheca with two long and thin juxta rods, one slightly more curved, terminating apically with a thin curved tip. Cornuti clustered in a short structure with five small spines.
Female genitalia: Unknown.
Abdominal structures (Fig. 32): No posterior lateral struts. Transverse strut slightly curved, thicker in central part of proximal edge. Tergal disk length about 4 times their width, covered by about 25 small spines.
Bionomy. The early stages and the foodplant are unknown.
Distribution. The species is known only from Kenya.
Etymology. The name derives from the word “rift” as in Rift Valley.
description: Published as part of Baldizzone, Giorgio & Van Der Wolf, Hugo W., 2020, On the taxonomy of Afrotropical Coleophoridae (III). New or little known species from Central and Oriental Africa (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae), pp. 151-174 in Zootaxa 4763 (2) on pages 162-164, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4763.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3756083