Palumbina melanotricha Lee et Li, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ga-Eun Lee 1
name: Houhun Li
name: Taeman Han
name: Haechul Park
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Palumbina
Palumbina melanotricha

description: Palumbina melanotricha Lee et Li, sp. nov.
(Figs 1, 23, 36, 69, 92)
Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA, Hainan Province, Bawangling Nature Reserves (19.12°N, 109.08°E), 161 m, 18.i.2016, leg. Kaijian Teng, Xia Bai and Mengting Chen, genitalia slide no. LGE16060, DNA voucher no. LGE- G061. Paratypes. Hainan Province: 1 ♂, Jiaxi Nature Reserves (18.83°N, 109.19°E), 220 m, 15.xii.2009, leg. Zhaohui Du and Linlin Yang, genitalia slide no. LGE16327; 1 ♂, Tea Garden (18.88°N, 109.67°E), 690 m, Shuiman Town, Wuzhishan City, 6.xi.2016, leg. Xia Bai, Shuonan Qian and Wanding Qi, genitalia slide no. LGE16342.
Description. Adult (Figs 23, 69). Wingspan 11.0̄ 12.5 mm. Head white. Labial palpus creamy white, stout, slightly appressed; segment I with outer surface ochreous; segment II with hair pencil partially different in color: those arising from apex of II coarse and black except base ochreous, remaining hair pencil fine and creamy white; segment III with dorsal surface ochreous, suffused with fuscous apically, twice as long as II, blunt at apex. Antenna with scape white, ochreous on posterior margin; flagellum black except dorsal 2/3 yellowish white, flagellomeres ĪIII with distinct indentation (Fig. 23), cilia as long as width. Thorax and tegula whitish ochreous. Forewing ground color creamy to brown, yellowish white at base; markings yellowish white, usually indistinct: antemedian fascia straight, slender; distal streak at anterior 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4, respectively, lying from distal 1/2 to 1/4, two upper distal streaks slender and longer in length. Hindwing light brown to fuscous. Legs creamy-white to ochre; fore tibia and tarsus black on outer surface, mid tarsus black at apex of each tarsomere, hind femur black at base, hind tibia and tarsus suffused with black on inner surface.
Pregenital abdomen (Fig. 36). In male, coremata absent; sternum VIII large, sub-trapezoidal.
Male genitalia (Fig. 92). Uncus large, 1/2 length and 2/3 width of tegumen, narrowed basally, broadened near apex; apex concave medially, with hairs on ventral surface laterally. Culcitula absent. Gnathos hook upcurved from middle, widened near apex, straight at apex. Tegumen with anterior margin broadly concave. Valva broad, slightly curved inward from base to distal 1/3; distal 1/3 straight, setose, slightly narrowed, blunt at apex. Sacculus slender, about 1/3 length of valva, narrow at base, widening toward apex, with sparse hairs on distal 1/4. Anellus lobe digitate, 1/2 length of valva; apical bristle as long as anellus lobe, exceeding apex of valva. Vinculum broad, subtrapezoidal, posterior margin nearly straight. Saccus 1/2 length of anellus lobe, sub-triangular, blunt at apex. Juxta simple, with sparse hairs at middle of inner margin. Aedeagus with basal 2/5 dilated, constricted at middle, distal 1/ 4 broadened in dorsal view, apex nearly straight; slender and straight sclerite arising from middle, exceeding apex of aedeagus.
Female. Unknown.
Diagnosis. Palumbina melanotricha sp. nov. can be distinguished by the labial palpus having a coarse black hair pencil, which is unique in this genus. The subapically widened gnathos and distally narrowed valva are diagnostic for this species.
Distribution. China (Hainan).
Etymology. The species name is derived from the Greek melano- (black) and tricho (hair), referring to the black hair pencil on the labial palpus.
Variations. The black hair pencil of the male labial palpi can vary in the proportion that is colored. It is almost entirely black except the base in one specimen while it is black on the distal half in two other specimens. Depending on the specimens, the markings on the forewing can be hard to discern.
description: Published as part of Ga-Eun Lee 1, Houhun Li, Taeman Han & Haechul Park, 2018, A taxonomic review of the genus Palumbina Rondani, 1876 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of twelve new species, pp. 1-73 in Zootaxa 4414 (1) on pages 16-17, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4414.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1230220