Istrianis Bidzilya & Karsholt, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bidzilya, Oleksiy
name: Karsholt, Ole
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy

description: 20. Istrianis y emeniasquamella sp. nov.
Material examined. Holotype ♂, YEMEN, Prov. Ibb, 5 km NE Al, Qa'Jdah, 28.iv.1998, 1850 m, Fibiger et al. (gen. slide 165/14, O. Bidzilya) (ZMUC). Paratypes: 2♀, same data as holotype (gen. slide 157/14; 261/14, O. Bidzilya) (ZMUC); 3♂, Yemen, prov. Sana'a, 15°18'12''N, 44°16'48''E, mountains SW Sana'a, Jabal'Ayban, Bait Na'arna, 18.iv.1998, 2700 m (Fibiger) (gen. slide 264/14, O. Bidzilya) (ZMKU; ZMUC); 1♂, Yemen, prov. Shabwah, Abdalla Garib Plateau, 63 km NW Mukalla, 1335 m, 2.v.1999 (Fibiger et al.) (ZMUC) 1♂, Yemen, 13.57/43.57, Ibb, 1,5 km W Jiblah, 7.ix.1996, 2100 m (Hacker) (gen. slide 232/12, O. Bidzilya) (ZMHU).
Adult (Figs 50, 51). Male. Wingspan 9.2–10.5 mm. Head white, termen with a few brown-tipped scales, segment 2 of labial palpus brown with narrow white rings at base and in middle, apical fourth with a few white scales, inner surface white, segment 3 white with brown medial and subapical rings; scape brown, underside light grey, other antennal segments brown with white basal rings; thorax, tegulae and forewing covered with grey, brown-tipped scales. Forewing covered with grey, brown-tipped scales, costal margin with three black indistinct marks: at base, just before and just after middle; light ochreous subcostal streak to 1/3, ochreous brown spot below costal margin at ½ length, paired black dots surrounded by ochreous scales at base of cell, in the middle and at the end of cell, diffuse black dash in fold; cilia grey, black-tipped; underside black except for apical 1/3; hindwing grey with black pattern extended from half width of base nearly to middle of dorsal margin, cilia grey.
Female. As male, but hindwing uniformly grey; abdominal segments I–V black on dorsum.
Male genitalia (Fig. 80). Tergite VIII prolonged, tongue-shaped, parallel-sided, distal ¼ tapered, distinctly longer than broad, anteromedial emargination broad, triangular, its distal portion narrow; sternite VIII 2.5 times broader than long, posteriolateral projections comparatively long; uncus moderately broad, tapered in distal 1/4, about 1.5 times narrower than gnathos; gnathos broad, distinctly longer than uncus, apex broad, rounded, with strongly sclerotized hook; tegumen boomerang-shaped, lateral lobes comparatively narrow, weakly narrowed in middle, anteromedial emargination broadly rounded; valva nearly straight, apex weakly pointed; phallus evenly narrowed apically, longer than valva, apex pointed.
Female genitalia (Figs 107, 139, 140). Segment VIII trapezoidal, nearly as long as broad; apophyses anteriores two times longer than segment VIII; anterior margin with rounded, broadly separated, finely papillated lobes; posterior sclerite small, slightly longer than broad, drop-shaped; anterior sclerites elongated, very narrow; subostial folds distinct; antrum tubular; ductus bursae long, narrow, broadened before globular corpus bursae; signum subhexagonal, posterior lobe with small anteromedial emargination, anterior lobe broader than posterior, medial emargination broad, shallow, medial ridge narrow.
Diagnosis. I. yemeniasquamella resembles externally I. nigrosquamella, but the forewings are darker, and the whitish pattern along costal margin and the whitish spot at 2/3 of costa are absent. The male genitalia are most similar to those of I. kyrgyzsquamella, but differ in having the gnathos 1.5 rather than 2 times broader than uncus, the apically tapered phallus and the narrower lateral lobes of tegumen. The female genitalia resemble those of I. piskunovi sp. nov. and I. squamodorella, but differ in the absence of oxhorn-shaped anterolateral sclerites.
Biology. Host plant unknown. Adults have been observed in April and September at altitudes from 1335 to 2700 m.
Distribution. Yem en.
Etymology. The name I. yemeniasquamella refers to the origin of the species (Yemen) and to the distinct black scales on the hindwings characteristic for this group of Istrianis species.
description: Published as part of Bidzilya, Oleksiy & Karsholt, Ole, 2015, Revision of the genus Istrianis Meyrick, 1918 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) with special regard to the Palaearctic region, pp. 401-445 in Zootaxa 4059 (3) on pages 440-441, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4059.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/237390