Neolithocolletis mayumbe De Prins 2012, new species
Creators: name: Prins, Jurate De
name: Kawahara, Akito Y.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gracillariidae
Neolithocolletis
Neolithocolletis mayumbe

description: 2. Neolithocolletis mayumbe De Prins, new species
(Figs 12, 22, 144–146, 357, 443, 447)
Diagnosis. Neolithocolletis mayumbe can be separated from all other Afrotrotropical Lithocolletinae by the shiny golden ground colour of the forewing and the presence of indistinct whitish fasciae. The male genitalia of N. mayumbe has a tegumen with two pairs of apical setae and narrow bar-shaped valva with two barbs at the cucullus.
Holotype: ♂, [1] ‘Congo Dem. Rep. [Democratic Republic of the Congo] / Bas-Congo 320 m / Nat.[ure] Res.[erve] Luki-Mayumbe / 05°27’S 13°05’E / 22.iii.2006 / leg. J. & W. De Prins’; [2] ‘Gen. Prep. 3704♂ / De Prins’; [3] ‘MRAC/KMMA / 00407’; wing venation preparation [4] ‘MRAC/KMMA 00535’; specimen ID: [5] ‘ RMCA ENT 000003293 ’; [6] ‘DNA voucher / CLV16007’, in INRA; [7] ‘Holotype ♂ / Neolithocolletis / mayumbe / De Prins, 2012 ’, in RMCA.
Description. Adult (Fig. 22). Forewing length: 2.1 mm (holotype).
Head: Vertex tufted with golden shiny piliform scales directed dorso-anteriorly, with faint intermixture of chestnut tipped piliform scales, occiput with short, almost white piliform scales directed dorso-posteriorly; frons smooth shiny white. Labial palpus slightly longer than eye, dirty white with a couple of dark ochreous scales on external lateral side of palpomere, drooping, directed ventrally, terminal palpomere with blunt apex, maxillary palpus small silver shiny, directed anteriorly; haustellum pale beige. Antenna nearly as long as forewing, not ringed, consisting of 39–40 flagellomeres, shiny golden to 2/3, flagellomeres with dark ochreous tipped scales apically at distal 1/3, followed by silvery shiny sector of flagellomeres, subterminal flagellomeres ringed by elongate, stout, dark brown scales (visible at 50×) followed by pale beige apex of antenna; scape only slightly thicker than flagellomere, short, white with a few dark brown scales dorsally, bearing 10–12 thick dirty white pecten half as long as diameter of compound eye, pedicel as rest of basal flagellomeres.
Thorax: Shiny white with slight golden shading on anterior and lateral margins, tegulae shiny golden. Forewing elongate, ground colour shiny golden, with indistinct fasciate whitish markings, intermixing with ground colour of forewing and dark beige scales; small dark brown round patch present on apex; fringe shiny golden, short from apex to tornus, and dirty white, long with some fuscous tipped scales at tornus. Hindwing silvery shiny greyish white; fringe very long, shiny, concolourous with ground colour of hindwing. Fore femur fuscous ochreous dorsally and dirty white ventrally with dark brown stout scales at apex; foretibia is fuscous ochreous irrorated with dark brown round appressed scales dorsally and elongate, stout, dark brown scales laterally; tarsomere I pale ochreous with dark ochreous apex, tarsomere II dirty white with fuscous apex, tarsomere III fuscous, tarsomere IV shiny white with fuscous at base, tarsomere V shiny white; midfemur white, midtibia dirty beige and tarsus uniformly pale ochreous beige with dark brown scales on apex of terminal tarsomere; hind femur and hind tibia dirty white, tibial spurs shiny white, tarsomeres I and II dirty white with pale ochreous apex, tarsomere III ochreous fuscous with white apex, terminal tarsomeres shiny white.
Abdomen: Ochreous dorsally, terga I–III light beige, shiny white ventrally with yellowish shade in genital segments. Sternum VIII rather long, 397 µm, spatulate, lateral margins strongly sclerotized, roughly edged, caudal part gently rounded.
Male genitalia (Figs 144–146). Tegumen moderately long (ca. 455 µ m), slightly shorter than valva, tegumenal arms narrow, sclerotized, subapically abuting, apical part subconical, spinulosae with three slender apical setae 54–65 µm long (visible at enlargement 100×) [fourth seta not perceptible in preparation due to its slight laterodorsal position on apex of tegumen]. Valvae symmetrical, valva elongate, slender, narrow, ca. 480 µ m long, nearly parallel-sided, slightly inflated caudally, with two large barbs at cucullus: one at apex, other at ventral subapical margin of valva; apical half of valval ventral surface densely covered with long setae; valva sparsely setose medially, setae free at basal one third. Vinculum well developed, U-shaped, strongly sclerotized, with long, slender saccus, almost two-thirds length of valva (352 µm); saccus pointed caudally. Transtilla moderately developed, complete. Aedoeagus ca. 600 µm long, longer than valva, with enlarged coecum, slender cylindrical towards vesica, vesica with dense scobination (visible at enlargement 200×). Anellus developed, conical.
Female genitalia. Unknown.
Etymology. The name refers to the type locality, Mayumbe Forest. It is a noun in apposition.
Habitat. West African primary forest (Figs 443, 447).
Host plant(s). Unknown.
Flight period. The specimen was collected in late March.
Distribution. (Fig. 357). Known only from the type locality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
description: Published as part of Prins, Jurate De & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2012, Systematics, revisionary taxonomy, and biodiversity of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), pp. 1-283 in Zootaxa 3594 (1) on pages 31-32, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3594.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6052126