Tactusa brevis Fibiger, new species
Creators: name: Fibiger, Michael
name: Han, Hui-Lin
name: Kononenko, Vladimir S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Micronoctuidae
Tactusa
Tactusa brevis

description: Tactusa brevis Fibiger, new species
(Figs. 12, 13, 21, 25)
Type material. Holotype. Male, China, Guizhou prov., Huangguoshu, 24–26.ix.2008, leg. Han, H.L. & Liu, E., coll. NEFU. Paratypes. 8 males and 7 females. 8 males with data same as holotype, genit. preps 6210, 6223, 6224, 6228, 6229 M. Fibiger, colls NEFU and M. Fibiger; 3 females, China, Yunnan prov., Mojiang, 18–19.ix.2008, leg. Han, H.L., Liu, E. & Wang, Y., genit. preps 6207, 6208 M. Fibiger, colls NEFU and M. Fibiger; 2 females, China, Guizhou prov., Guanling, 22–24.ix.2008, leg. Han, H.L. & Wang, Y., genit. prep. 6211 M. Fibiger, coll. NEFU and M. Fibiger.
Diagnosis. T. brevis belongs in its own species-group (Fibiger 2010). This species-group is interpreted as the most derived in the genus Tactusa. It differs from other species of Tactusa in the uniformly dark brown forewing. In the male genitalia, by the thread-like tegumen, vinculum, and saccus; the short and broad valva; the extremely broad ampulla, somewhat broad comma-shaped, outwardly circular; ventrally with pointed tip; phallus very narrow, S-shaped; carina membranous on dorsal side; ventral side spine-like. In the female genitalia, by the coneshaped, heavily sclerotised antrum, and the very long ductus bursae.
Description. Adult (Figs. 12, 13). Wingspan: 11 – 12 mm, forewing narrow. Head, patagia, and base of costa black; ground colour of forewing brown, with costal-medial dark brown patch, and with dark brown subterminal and terminal area, including fringes; cross-lines black, subterminal line broad, terminal line marked by black interveinial dots; reniform stigma beige-yellow, outlined by black. Hindwing unicolourous grey, with discal spot; fringes grey. Ventral surface unicolourous light brown.
Male genitalia (Fig. 21). Tegumen, vinculum, and saccus thread-like, latter V-shaped; valvae short and broad, asymmetrical, cylindrical, inside open between sacculus and clasper; clasper curved, in right angle between valvae margins; ampullae asymmetrical, left one largest, ventral pointed tips jagged outwardly; digitus absent; juxta semicylindrical, asymmetrical; phallus long S-.shaped; coecum long and broad; carina membranous on dorsal side, ventral side spine-like; vesica unarmed.
Female genitalia. (Fig. 25). Ovipositor rounded, setose; posterior apophyses slightly longer than ovipositor; anterior apophyses untraceable; 7th and 8th abdominal segments totally fused; ostium slightly displaced; antrum cone-like, heavily sclerotised; ductus bursae narrow, 4 times longer than corpus bursae; corpus bursae globular, with cross-shaped signum.
Bionomics. The biotope is a moist, mainly broad-leaf forest, with bushes and herbaceous plants, close to a river. The Mojiang collecting site is a large ravine, with a brook. All specimens were collected at light in midf September. The early stages are unknown.
Distribution. (Fig. 30) China (Yunnan and Guizhou prov.).
description: Published as part of Fibiger, Michael, Han, Hui-Lin & Kononenko, Vladimir S., 2011, Five new species and one new subspecies of Micronoctuidae from China, with a checklist of Chinese species, including Taiwan (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea, Micronoctuidae), pp. 41-53 in Zootaxa 2777 on page 51, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.276927