Eucosmocydia lecaniodiscana Brown and Razowski 2022, new species
Creators: name: Brown, John W.
name: Razowski, Józef
name: Aarvik, Leif
name: Timm, Alicia E.
name: Copeland, Robert S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Tortricidae
Eucosmocydia
Eucosmocydia lecaniodiscana

description: Eucosmocydia lecaniodiscana Brown and Razowski, new species
Fig. 6, 7, 23, 31, 42
“Grapholitini sp. 5”: Brown et al. 2014: 350.
Diagnosis. Like several congeners, the forewing of E. lecaniodiscana has a slightly two-toned aspect, with the basal half paler, checkered brown and cream, and the distal half darker, with a complex pattern of striae, short dashes, and small patches of black, leaden gray, and orange-brown (Fig. 6, 7). In facies, E. lecaniodiscana most resembles the South African E. trigonoptila (Meyrick) and the Nigerian E. nigeriana. It differs from E. trigonoptila in having a perpendicular tornal line edging the speculum, and it is nearly indistinguishable from E. nigeriana, with rows of black scales on the hindwing (in the lower anal region and along some veins) of the male (Fig. 6).
The male genitalia of E. lecaniodiscana (Fig. 23) are most similar to those of E. nigeriana (Fig. 24) with the caulis long and rodlike, and the cucullus considerably more rounded than in other congeners. However, the ventral margin of the cucullus of E. lecaniodiscana is slightly longer and slightly less rounded than that of E. nigeriana. In E. lecaniodiscana the sclerite of abdominal segment 7 (Fig. 31) is slightly more trapezoidal than the somewhat flattened-crescent-shaped sclerite of E. nigeriana (Fig. 32) and that of E. lecaniodiscana lacks the tiny, posteriorly-directed, median triangular process of E. nigeriana.
In the female genitalia of E. lecaniodiscana (Fig. 42), the pocket of the sterigma is not as wide as in other congeners, and is more rounded and funnel-shaped anteriorly.
Description. Male. Head. Scales of vertex and frons pale gray mixed with cream; labial palpus weakly upturned, length approximately 1.2 times diameter of compound eye, third segment exposed, scales of labial palpus and basal flagellomeres of antenna concolorous with vertex. Thorax. Nota and tegula pale brown speckled with cream. Forewing (Fig. 6) length 5.0– 5.5 mm (n = 5); forewing with costa gently arched throughout, termen weakly concave beneath apex, broadly convex in remainder; pattern slightly two-toned, with slender, ill-defined, brown, median line dividing basal 0.5 from distal 0.5, terminating before costa; upperside ground color in basal 0.5 yellowish cream, speckled with greyish brown; distal 0.5 with pattern more complex including small irregular patches of pale orange and brown, a larger leaden gray patch in tornus; brown median fascia from before middorsum to subcostal area accompanied by a delicate parallel line from tornus followed by broad brown diffuse patch reaching speculum; speculum near mid-termen with slender, pinkish cream crescent-shaped mark and two black dots; costal strigulae cream, slender, divisions brownish, latter with two inner spots limited by whitish terminal line. Fringe orange-yellow with brown basal line. Forewing underside tan with alternating rows of black and cream scales in basal 0.75, except in costal region, vein at lower edge of discal cell and hind margin cream. Hindwing brown, paler in basal region, with scattered black scales in male. Fringe cream with brown basal line. Abdomen. Segment 7 (Fig. 31) with rounded-trapezoidal sclerite at mid-venter of anterior margin. Genitalia (Fig. 23) with tegumen slender, tapering terminad, pointed, with sparse fine setae in dorso-posterior 0.5 representing fused socii; valva narrowest in basal 0.5, ventral margin abruptly broadened and rounded at base of cucullus, costa and ventral margins of cucullus somewhat parallel-sided, rounded; caulis long, rodlike, from distinct convexity; phallus long, bent, curved terminally, with small terminal thorn, distinctly expanded at junction with caulis.
Female. Head and thorax. Essentially as described for male, but hindwing uniformly dark brown (Fig. 7). Abdomen. Venter of segment 7 with broad, subsquare area of faint sclerotization. Female genitalia (Fig. 42) with a pair of bristly pads at posterior margin of segment 7; area surrounding ostium a broadly triangular pocket with irregularly rounded, slight expansion at anterior end, giving rise to frail part of ductus bursae; ductus bursae slender in posterior 0.5 broader in anterior 0.5 beginning at origin of ductus seminalis; corpus round with two thorn-shaped signa of similar size.
DNA barcodes. There are seven sequences of this species in BOLD (BIN: ABW2609) (three of which are outside the BIN with short sequences of 307bp, and were not included in analyses), with an average distance of 0.88% among samples, and a distance of 4.17% to the nearest neighbor, E. nigeriana.
Types. Holotype ♂, Kenya, Ungoye, 0°36.807′S, 34°05.371′E, 1159 m, 10 Apr 2005, r.f. Blighia unijugata, A&M #3102, R. Copeland, USNM slide 142,071 (USNM). Paratypes (6♂, 10♀). Kenya: Coast: Gede Forest, 3°18.57′S, 40°01.084′E, 5 Jun 1999 (5♂, 7♀), r.f. Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius, KIP-14, R. Copeland. Gede Forest, 3°18.47′S, 40°01.05′E, 23 May 2000 (1♀), r.f. Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius, KIP-571, R. Copeland. Mtwapa, 3°56.67′S, 39°46.35E, 7 Jan 2000 (1♀), r.f., Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius, KIP-310. Ungoye, 0°36.807′S, 34°05.371E, 1159 m, 10 Apr 2005 (1♀), r.f. Blighia unijugata, A&M #3102, R. Copeland. Gongoni Forest, 4°24.23′S, 39°28.21E, 15 Feb 2002 (1♂), r.f. Haplocoelopsis africana, ICIPE /USAID #1752, R. Copeland.
Additional specimens examined. Kenya: Gede Forest, 3°18.57′S, 40°01.084′E, 5 Jun 1999 (5 specimens) r.f. Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius, KIP-14, R. Copeland. Gede Forest, 3°18.47′S, 40°01.05′E, 23 May 2000 (1♂), r.f. Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius, KIP-571, R. Copeland. Ungoye, 0°36.807′S, 34°05.371E, 1159 m, 10 Apr 2005 (1 no abd.), r.f. Blighia unijugata, A&M #3102, R. Copeland.
Distribution and biology. Eucosmocydia lecaniodiscana is known only from Kenya, where it was reared from Lecaniodiscus fraxinifolius Baker (n = 20), Blighia unijugata Baker (n = 3), and Haplocoelopsis africana F.G.Davies (n = 1) (all Sapindaceae).
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the genus of the most commonly recorded host plant, Lecaniodiscus Planch. ex Benth.
description: Published as part of Brown, John W., Razowski, Józef, Aarvik, Leif, Timm, Alicia E. & Copeland, Robert S., 2022, New species and new combinations in Afrotropical Eucosmocydia Diakonoff, 1988 (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutinae), pp. 1-27 in Insecta Mundi 2022 (927) on pages 15-17, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6533434