Chrysoesthia halimionella Bidzilya & Budashkin, 2015, sp. n.
Creators: name: Bidzilya, Oleksiy V.
name: Budashkin, Yury I.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Chrysoesthia
Chrysoesthia halimionella

description: Chrysoesthia halimionella, sp. n.
Material. Holotype, ♂, Crimea, Ustje Arabatskoj Strelki, bereg Sivasha, 26.v.2013 (Budashkin) (gen. slide 225/14, O. Bidzilya) (ZMKU). Paratypes: 2 ♂, 1 ♀, same data as holotype (gen. slide 215/14♀; 248/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya); 3 ♂, 1 ♀, same data but 14.v.2014; 1 ♀, 28.v.2014, e. l. Halimione verrucifera; 8 ♂, Yuzhnoye Prisivashje, okr. Lvovo, 25.v.2006 (Budashkin) (gen. slide 238/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♂, same data but 18.v.2013 (gen. slide 76/14, O. Bidzilya); 4 ♂, 3 ♀, same data but 31.v.2013 (gen. slide 214/ 14♂; 232/14♀; 247/14♀, O. Bidzilya); 3 ♂, same data but 19.v.2007 (gen. slide 234/14, O. Bidzilya); 3 ♂, same data but 14.v.2014; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Crimea, 3 km E Ordzhonikidze, Dvujakornaya dolina, 19.vi.2004 (Budashkin) (gen. slide 243/14♀, O. Bidzilya); 2 ♂, same data but 21.v.2007 (gen. slide 242/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♂, Crimea, Barakol, saline steppe, at the day time, 30.vii.2014 (Budashkin); 1 ♂, Crimea, Kazantip, 23.v.2007 (Budashkin); 2 ♂, 1 ♀, Crimea, Evpatoria, Mirnyi, Donuzlav lake, saline, 20.vi.2012 (Bidzilya) (gen. slide 230/14♀; 229/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya); 2 ♂, 2 ♀, Crimea, Tarkhankut, 26.vi.2007 (Puzanov) (gen. slide 241/14♀; 246/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya) (all ZMKU).
Comparative material studied. C. sexguttella: 1 ♂, [Germany] Mecklenburg-Vorp., NSG Galenbecker See, 29.vii-2.viii.90 (Mey) (gen. slide 563/14, O. Bidzilya) (MFN); 1 ♀, Blankenburg, Zechstein, 9.viii.1996, e.l. (Steuer) (gen. slide 564/14, O. Bidzilya) (MFN); 1 ♂, Ukraine, Kiev distr., Muzychi, L-500 wt, 13.v.2007 (Nesterov) (gen. slide 223/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♀, Ukraine, Nikolaev, 13.vi.1934 (Obraztsov) (gen. slide 235/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♂, SE Ukraine, z-k Provalskaya step, 17.v.2000 (Bidzilya) (gen. slide 224/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♀, Ukraine, z-k Kamennye Mogily, 4.vii.1999 (Bidzilya) (gen. slide 226/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♂, Ukraine, Odessa reg., Komminternovskiy distr., western vic. of Korsuntsy vill., bank of Kujalnitskiy estuary, 16.v.2011 (Khalaim) (gen. slide 4/14, O. Bidzilya); 1 ♀, [Russia], Eastern Transbaikalia, Amazar, 10.vii.1993 (I. Kostjuk, O. Kostjuk, Golovushkin, Salata) (all ZMKU).
C. verrucosa: 2 ♂, Germany, 2.v.1993, Hirschberg, Thüringen (Pröse) (gen. slide 357/14, O. Bidzilya) (MFN).
Description. Adult (Figs. 1–4). Head: Covered with light grey, black tipped scales, labial palpus weakly upcurved, brown, segment 2 with whitish apex, inner surface off white, segment 3 with white medial and subapical rings, ½ the length of segment 2; scape brown, other antennal segments black, white ringed.
Thorax: Dorsum and tegulae concolorous with head; wingspan 6.2–7.0 mm; forewing black with silver basal, median, postmedian and apical fasciae; median and postmedian fasciae confluent on costal half; interfascial areas between basal and medial fasciae yellow from costa to dorsum, forming spot on dorsum between median and postmedian fasciae, and large spot on costa between postmedian and apical fasciae; small white spot on costal margin 3/4 distance from base to apex; cilia grey, black-tipped; hindwing dark grey, about half width of forewing, apex distinctly elongate. Variation manifested in variable width in interfascial yellow area between basal and medial fasciae, with yellow area either extending to costal margin or to near vein Sc.
Abdomen: Male genitalia (Figs. 8–10) with uncus subtriangular with strongly sclerotized edge, margins densely covered with long hairs; gnathos long, narrow, apex clavate; tegumen subtrapezoidal, dorsal portion narrowed with fish-scale like pattern on base; cucullus digitate, straight, of equal width, haired, apex rounded; sacculus slightly broader than cucullus, extending to 2/3 length of cucullus, posterior margin densely covered with short setae; vinculum narrow, posterio-medial incision V-shaped, deeply emarginated into saccus; saccus gradually tapered towards rounded apex, extending far beyond top of pedunculus; phallus (with vesica everted) as long as tegumen and uncus, broadest in middle, basal half sclerotized, distal vesica membranous, narrow, strongly sclerotized band extending posterio-medially from the middle of lateral margin. Female genitalia (Figs. 14, 15) with papilla anales elongate, subovate, strongly sclerotized; apophyses posteriores as long as width of papilla anales, rod-like; sternite VIII narrow, band-shaped, broadly rounded, weakly protruded anteriorly; apophyses anteriores ½ length of apophyses posteriores; ductus bursae moderately broad with gradual transition to very long, narrow corpus bursae; signum absent.
Diagnosis. This new species is closely related to C. sexguttella (Figs. 5, 6, 11–13, 16). It differs externally by its smaller size and larger yellow spot between the postmedian and apical fasciae. Moreover, the hindwings of the new species are narrower, with a longer and narrower apex. Chrysoesthia verrucosa Tokár, 1999, has a very similar wing pattern but has longer forewings and broader hindwings (Fig. 7). The male genitalia of C. halimionella differ from those of C. sexguttella (Figs. 11–13) in having shorter and narrower valvae and a longer and broader distal portion of the saccus. The female genitalia differ in having a shorter and narrower ductus bursae. The difference between C. halimionella and C. sexguttlella is supported by a considerable genetic distance (4.15%) (P. Huemer, pers. comm.).
Biology. Adults fly from the second week of May to late June and again from late July to mid-August. The species is apparently bivoltine with a less abundant (probably partial) second generation. In Crimea it inhabits saline and saline-steppes biotopes. According to long term observations, the species is very localized, and its distribution does not follow strictly the distribution of the host plant – Halimione verrucifera (Bieb.) Aell. (Chenopodiaceae). The larva is an obligate miner that produces elongate, spot-like mines of irregular shape on the leaves. Faeces remain inside of mine. Pupation occurs in a light whitish cocoon within leaf litter. A long diapause of a young larva probably occurs from August to April.
Distribution. Ukraine: Crimea.
Etymology. The specific name refers to the larval host, Halimione verrucifera.
description: Published as part of Bidzilya, Oleksiy V. & Budashkin, Yury I., 2015, New species of Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) from Ukraine, pp. 217-230 in Zootaxa 3974 (2) on pages 218-220, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3974.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/231888