Promalactis curvicosta Wang & Liu 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wang, Shuxia
name: Liu, Chen
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Oecophoridae
Promalactis
Promalactis curvicosta

description: Promalactis curvicosta Wang, sp. nov.
(Figs 9, 31, 48)
Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA, Guangxi: Mt. Lianhua, Dayaoshan, Jinxiu, 1000 m, 22.VII.2015, leg. MJ Qi & SN Zhao, slide No. LC 19516. Paratypes (5♂, 1♀). 1♂, same data as holotype. Zhejiang: 2♂, Huangtanyu, Mt. Jiulong, 467 m, 6‒8.VII.2013, leg. AH Yin & XC Wang, slide Nos. HXM13105, HXM13099. Fujian: 1♂, Tonngmuguan, Mt. Wuyi, 1090 m, 13.VIII.2020, leg. MJ Qi & XY Jin, slide No. LC19731. Hunan: 1♂, 1♀, Houwangzhai, Mangshan Yizhang County, 541 m, 24.VII.2020, leg. H Sun et al., slide Nos. LC19734 ♂, LC19762 ♀.
Diagnosis. The new species is nearly indistinguishable superficially from P. projecta, Wang, 2006, P. similiflora Wang, 2006, and P. subsimiliflora Lvovsky, 2013. The four species are also very similar in the male genitalia, sharing a similarly shaped valva. Promalactis curvicosta can be distinguished from these congeners by the curved costa of the valva with a triangular process near its base and a trapezoidal apical process; in P. projecta the costa has a digitate apical process and lacks a basal process; in P. similiflora and P. subsimiliflora, the costa has a basal process and lacks an apical process.
Description. Adult (Fig. 9). Forewing length 4.0‒ 4.5 mm.
Head: Vertex shining white, frons deep dark shiny grey, occiput bronze. Labial palpus with second palpomere greyish white on inner surface, dark brown on outer surface; third palpomere brown, with blackish brown scales. Antenna with scape white; flagellum dark brown on ventral surface, white on a few basal flagellomeres and dark brown alternated with white on remaining flagellomeres on dorsal surface.
Thorax: Dorsum of mesothorax and tegula yellowish bronze. Forewing orange yellow; markings white edged with dense black scales: costal spot triangular, from distal 1/3 to posterior angle of cell; basal streak extending obliquely inward to base of fold; antemedian streak from dorsal 1/2 oblique inward to basal 2/5 of anterior margin of cell, wider than basal streak and parallel with it; dorsal streak from before end of fold extending obliquely upward to tornus, close to tornal band; tornal spot banded, obliquely inward to below inner margin of costal spot; apical spot large, with a smaller spot above; terminal spot below apical spot; fringe orange yellow except grey tinged with white on tornus. Hindwing and cilia deep grey. Foreleg blackish brown, except femur slivery white ventrally, tibia with white spot at base and middle respectively, with a tuft of white scales at apex, tarsus with basal two tarsomeres white; midleg white, except tibia dorsally and tarsus blackish brown, tarsus white at apices of basal three tarsomeres; hindleg yellowish brown ventrally, greyish brown dorsally, tarsus white at apices of basal three tarsomeres, entirely white distal two tarsomeres.
Abdomen: Male genitalia (Fig. 31). Uncus broad basally, slightly narrowed to about middle, abruptly narrowed from middle to apex. Gnathos about 2/3 length of uncus; mesial plate rectangular, straight at apex; basal arms broad and short. Tegumen with height twice as long as uncus; lateral arms slightly narrowed anteriorly. Valvae elongately narrow, shoe-shaped, rounded at apex, densely setose in distal 1/3; costa about 2/3 length of valva, wide, heavily sclerotized, curved, with a weakly sclerotized, large, semicircular process at middle ventrally, with a triangular process near base and a larger trapezoidal process at apex dorsally, with a tuft of short spines beyond middle and a few spines at base on inner side of basal process; sacculus narrowly banded, subparallel-sided. Saccus large, elongate triangular, as long as uncus. Juxta slightly widened and bilobed posteriorly; basal lobe longer, clubbed, narrowed distally. Aedeagus shorter than valva, produced to an acute apex distally. Cornutus absent.
Female genitalia (Fig. 48). Apophyses posteriores slightly more than twice as long as apophyses anteriores. Eighth sternum medially concave on posterior margin, forming two broad setose lobes. Seventh sternum laterally produced into a large sub-triangular process serrated apically. Antrum slightly wider than ductus bursae, weakly sclerotized, short cup-shaped. Ductus bursae longer than corpus bursae, expanded toward corpus bursae. Corpus bursae small, not distinctly separated from curpus bursae; signum a narrow plate with a few denticles.
Distribution. China (Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang).
Etymology. The specific epithet of the new species is derived from the Latin curvus and the term costa, referring to the curved costa of the valva.
description: Published as part of Wang, Shuxia & Liu, Chen, 2021, Taxonomic study of the genus Promalactis Meyrick, 1908 (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) X. The commotica species-group, with descriptions of twenty-two new species, pp. 293-330 in Zootaxa 4980 (2) on pages 310-311, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4980.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/4889068