Nemophora angustialata Kozlov 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kozlov, Mikhail V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Adelidae
Nemophora
Nemophora angustialata

description: Nemophora angustialata Kozlov, sp. nov.
(Figs. 58, 103, 134, 164)
LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 00B75EE8-6DC2-4807-A6CD-011942AC0F27
Holotype ♁: India, West Bengal, Tonglu (27º 02' N, 88º 05' E); labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Holo-│ type’; 7 × 13 mm, print ‘Tonglo, Sikkim, │ 10,000 feet. │ July 1886. │ H. J. Elwes.’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910–427’; 7 × 17 mm, black frame, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois? │ nemophorella Typ │ W ♁ │ Named by Wlsm.’; 15 × 30 mm, pencil ‘n. 9 │ Tonglo’; 9 × 16 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 30642’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘HOLOTYPE ♁ │ Nemophora │ angustialata Kozlov’ (NHM). Paratypes. 1 ♁, labelled: 7 × 17 mm, black frame, print ‘ INDIEN W. B. │ Darjeeling Manjitar │ ca. 650 m 19.–21.VII.1989 │ leg. W. Thomas │ 3’; 8 × 15 mm, yellow paper, print ‘Zool. Mus. │ Berlin’; 7 × 19 mm, print ‘ PARATYPE ♁│ Nemophora │ angustialata Kozlov’ (ZMHB). 1 ♁, labelled: 7 × 17 mm, black frame, print ‘ INDIEN W. B. │ Darjeeling Himafalls │ 2000 m 4.VIII.1989 │ leg. W. Thomas │ 11’; 8 × 15 mm, yellow paper, print ‘Zool. Mus. │ Berlin’; 7 × 19 mm, print ‘ PARATYPE ♁│ Nemophora │ angustialata Kozlov’ (ZMHB).
Diagnosis. Nemophora angustialata differs from all Nemophora species recorded in India and Sri Lanka by the extremely narrow unpatterned forewing.
Description. Male (Fig. 58). FWL 6.6–7.7 mm, WLR 0.25–0.28. Vertex densely covered with brownish yellow piliform scales; frons bronze medially and pale yellow laterally, with row of piliform scales below antennal sockets; colour of these scales changes from yellow medially to brown laterally. PLB 1.4–1.5 × vertical eye diameter (1.25 × length of scape), dorsally covered with appressed light yellow scales, ventrally with sparse raised light brown piliform scales. Proboscis light brown, base with light yellow scales. Eyes not enlarged; interocular index 0.50– 0.55. Antenna 2.9–3.0 × FWL. Scape and flagellum bronze, distal part of flagellum slightly lighter than proximal part. Tegulae and thorax yellowish brown. Forewing (Fig. 103) uniformly light yellowish brown, with slight bronze iridescence; fringe yellowish brown. Hindwing light brown, with slight bronze iridescence; costal area of same colour as other parts of hindwing; fringe greyish brown. Legs from bronze to light yellowish brown. Epiphysis at 0.4–0.5, almost reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen greyish brown to bronze, distal parts of all sternites pale yellowish grey.
Female unknown.
Male genitalia (Figs. 134, 164). Tegumen almost triangular, with small but distinct medial ridge. Socii oval, nearly equal to diameter of phallus. Vinculum 2.9 × length of valva, V-shaped, with straight lateral margins; distal margin gently W-shaped. Tips of valvae and tegumen are at about same level. Ventral margin of valva at 0.4 × total length with small but distinct protrusion; dorsal margin nearly straight; tip of valva narrowly rounded. Valvae fused basally up to 0.2 × total length; their internal margins distinct. Anellus 0.25 × length of valva. Transtilla with short medial process. Juxta 0.45 × length of phallus, arrow head wide (WLR 0.6), with pointed tip and long pointed lateral arms. Phallus of same length as vinculum, in lateral view shallowly C-shaped. Distal 0.4 of phallus trifurcate; left process short and thick, with rounded tip (a similar process present also in N. seraphias); right lobe of intermediate length, and medial lobe forms the tip of phallus. Base of phallus narrowly funnel-shaped.
Distribution. India (Sikkim, West Bengal).
Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from angustus (Latin: narrow) and ala (Latin: wing) and refers to forewing shape of this species.
Comments. Although Walsingham clearly labelled a holotype as ‘ Nemotois nemophorella ’, he never published the description of this species.
description: Published as part of Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2023, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) of India and Sri Lanka, pp. 1-81 in Zootaxa 5300 (1) on pages 45-46, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5300.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8012772