Eridachtha cupaformis Park & Minet & Koo & Yu 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Park, Kyu-Tek
name: Minet, Joël
name: Koo, Jun-Mo
name: Yu, Tae-Uk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lecithoceridae
Eridachtha
Eridachtha cupaformis

description: 10. Eridachtha cupaformis Park, sp. nov.
LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 67DFC843-D06C-4568-9FD3-3E16679EFC53 (Fig. 18)
Type specimen. Holotype female: Uganda, Mpigi, Mpanga For., 0˚12’24”N 32˚18’05”E, 27–30 iv 2019, leg. K.T. Park, J.M. Koo & J.D. Kim, gen. slide no. CIS-7613 (wing slide no. CIS-7613-w), in NIBR.
Diagnosis. The new species can be distinguished from Eridachtha gymnopalpa and the following new species by the female genitalia: cup-shaped antrum and the broad plate of the signum. By external characters, Eridachtha cupaformis sp. nov. is superficially similar to the following new species, E. atrihispida Park, sp. nov. by having a similar hind tibia with scale-tufts and with black scales apically, near the middle and apex.
Description. Female (Figs 18A–C). Wingspan 14.5 mm.
Head: vertex pale orange to orange-white, with concolourous erect scales laterally. Antenna about 1.3 times longer than forewing; scape elongated, slightly dilated distally; flagellum orange-white, without annulations. Second segment of labial palpus arched, normally thickened, and devoid of rough scales dorsally; 3 rd segment slender, longer than 2 nd segment, strongly upturned.
Thorax: tegula and thorax orange-white dorsally. Hind tibia with orange-white, hair-like scale-tufts of black scales apically, near middle and at apex. Forewing ground colour orange-white, devoid of any markings; costa slightly arched around basal 1/3, then slightly concave medially, and also arched around basal 3/4; apex produced; termen oblique; fringe concolourous to ground colour; venation (Fig. 18C) with R 1 arising from before middle; R 3 free, very close to stem of R 4+5 at base; R 4 and R 5 stalked for about basal half; R 5 to termen; M 1 remote from stem of R 4+5; M 2 much closer to M 3 than M 1; CuA 1 arising from lower corner of discal cell. Hindwing ground colour similar to forewing, slightly broader than forewing; apex produced; fringe concolourous with ground colour; venation with Rs and M 1 short-stalked; M 2 shortly stalked with M 3 +CuA 1; M 3 and CuA 1 being coincident; discal cell opened.
Abdomen: no spinous zones dorsally.
Female genitalia (Fig. 18D): apophyses anteriores thick, dilated apically, about 2/3 the length of apophyses posteriores. Ostium bursae wide, nearly flat. Antrum short, broadened distally, about 1.5 times wider than long. Ductus bursae narrow in distal 2/5 (about 1.5 times the length of antrum); anterior 3/5 broadened as wide as antrum, wrinkled. Corpus bursae large, ovate; signum with heavily sclerotized central ridge, with the upper plate broadened and weakly sclerotized, the lower plate papilla-like.
Male unknown.
Distribution. Uganda (Mpigi).
Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin, - cupa (= cup) with - forma (= form), referring to the cup-shaped antrum in the female genitalia.
description: Published as part of Park, Kyu-Tek, Minet, Joël, Koo, Jun-Mo & Yu, Tae-Uk, 2024, Review of the Afrotropical members of the genus Eridachtha Meyrick, 1910 (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae: Lecithocerinae), with descriptions of 12 new species, pp. 275-307 in Zootaxa 5468 (2) on pages 301-302, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5468.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/11615739