Thiotricha uncaticula Lee & Li 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lee, Ga-Eun
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Thiotricha
Thiotricha uncaticula

description: Thiotricha uncaticula sp. nov.   
(Figs 8E, 23T, 32B, 49D)  
 Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA, Yunnan Province, Dali City, Weishan County, Mt. Weibao (25.18°N, 100.34°E), 2205 m, 2.viii.2014, leg. Kaijian Teng, Wei Guan, Xiuchun Wang and Shurong Liu, genitalia slide no. LGE18350. Paratype. 1 ♀, same data as holotype except 31.vii.2014, genitalia slide no. LGE18349.   
 Diagnosis. Thiotricha uncaticula is superficially similar to T. spatulativalva and T. curtisacca, but the forewing of T. uncaticula is brighter and the apex is less suffused with pink compared to the latter two species. The male genitalia are characterized by the valva strongly curved outward in distal 1/3, the slender anellus lobe and the short saccus. The female genitalia are very similar to those of T. spatulativalva and T. curtisacca, but the signum projections of T. uncaticula are all narrow triangular whereas those of other two species are broader and mixed with tongue-shaped projections.   
 Description. Adult (Fig. 8E). Wingspan 9.5−10.0 mm. Head ochreous cream. Labial palpus ochreous cream, tinged with fuscous on outer surface; segment III shorter than II, fuscous at base and at apex. Antenna with scape ochreous cream, posterior margin tinged with fuscous; flagellum dark fuscous except basal 1/4 or 1/5 of dorsal surface ochreous cream, male cilia slightly longer than diameter. Thorax ochreous cream. Tegula ochreous cream, anterior margin dark fuscous. Forewing ochreous cream, strongly mixed with brown or fuscous posteriorly, anterior edge of costa black, termen broadly fuscous, apical spot round and moderate, below apical spot marked with pink, markings nearly identical to T. spatulativalva except apical area less suffused with pink. Fringe, hindwing and legs as in T. spatulativalva.   
 Male sternum VIII (Fig. 23T). Approximately 1/10 length of abdomen, broad, sub-pentagonal.   
 Male genitalia (Fig. 32B). Uncus spatulate, setose along apical margin. Gnathos hook short, simple. Tegumen approximately 3 times as long as uncus. Valva with basal 2/3 curved inward, gradually broadening; distal 1/3 spatulate, curved outward, sparsely setose, rounded at apex. Anellus lobe slender, approximately 1/3 length of valva, slightly dilated apically; apical bristle nearly straight, 1/3 length of anellus lobe. Juxta with a hummock-like broad process, sparsely setose. Vinculum produced posteriorly. Saccus short, broad at base, gradually narrowing toward blunt apex, not exceeding tegumen pedunculus. Aedeagus with basal 2/5 dilated, then uniformly elongate, distal 1/6 slightly narrowed, blunt at apex; a ventral tooth before apex.   
 Female genitalia (Fig. 49D). Papillae anales heavily sclerotized except around medial setae, sharply pointed and hooked apically. Apophyses anteriores slightly shorter than apophyses posteriores. Tergum VIII very short. Sternum VIII broad, anterior margin concave at middle and strongly sclerotized. Ostium bursae broad. Ductus bursae broad at base, narrowing to colliculum, then gradually broadening toward corpus bursae, twisted near corpus bursae; colliculum near base, ductus seminalis arising from posterior 1/4. Corpus bursae small obovate, 1/3 length of ductus bursae; signum situated at posterior 1/3, with basal plate rounded, consisting of narrow triangular projections arising from the plate.   
 Distribution. China (Yunnan).   
 Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin, uncatus (hooked) and - culus, referring to the strongly sclerotized and hooked papillae anales in female.
description: Published as part of Lee, Ga-Eun & Li, Houhun, 2024, A taxonomic review of Thiotricha Meyrick, 1886 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of 84 new species, pp. 1-222 in Zootaxa 5449 (1) on page 39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5449.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/11233121