Oiketicoides numidicum Sobczyk & Arnscheid 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sobczyk, Thomas
name: Arnscheid, Wilfried R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Psychidae
Oiketicoides
Oiketicoides numidicum

description: Oiketicoides numidicum sp. nov.
(Figs 11, 33, 47, 58)
Type material. Holotype: • ♂, TUNISIA: Bou Hebma, iii (?).1929, Dr. H. Bytinski-Salz, Slg. Daniel (slide GP 4068, Arnscheid, MWM).
Etymology. Numidicus (lat.: originating from Numidia). Numidia was an ancient berber kingdom that occupied the modern-day territories of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and parts of Morocco.
Description. ♂ Medium-sized Oiketicoides species with evenly light brown scaled wings. Wingspan 24.0 mm, forewing length 11.5 mm, FI: 2.0.
Head. Antennae length approx. 5.2 mm with probably about 37–38 segments (34 present, tip broken off), dorsally densely light brown scaled. Pecten dark brown. Longest pecten is twelve times the length of the antennal segments’ length. Frons densely covered with hair-like light brown scales, vertex laterally and ventrally markedly darker grey-brown. Eyes very large, round; EI: 0.45.
Thorax. Very narrow, slender, covered with yellowish brown scales. Legs with brownish yellow hair-like scales. R3+r4 at one third length and m2+ m3 at half length stalked. Ground colour yellow-brown, evenly densely scaled, costal margin slightly darker. Scales are narrow, mainly double-pointed, deeply indented (class 2, Fig. 33). Fringes lanceolate to spatulate, distally mainly 3–5 pointed, light, translucent. The rear-side coloured uniformly. Hindwings m2 and m3 one third stalked. Wing colour as on forewings but scales of hindwings narrower, with one or two dentations. Fringes are a bright, yellowish-white.
Abdomen. Dorsally and ventrally covered with long, hair-like brownish yellow scales.
Male genitalia. (GP 4068, Arnscheid). Tegumen and vinculum elongated and connected in an elliptical shape, distal end of tegumen sclerotized, pointed, laterally on both sides clearly folded inwards, medially notched, covered with scattered fine setae. Valvae reach the distal end of tegumen, distally covered with fine long setae, sacculus distally covered with 5 small, sharp projections. Vinculum very narrow, medially with short appendages, saccus very short, distally widened and fishtail-shape rounded. Phallus slightly shorter than total genital length, elongated tubular, almost straight, widened distally with a distinct hook-shaped projection (Figs 47, 58).
Distribution. Seems to be distributed only in the semi-desert areas of central Tunisia. Beside the holotype no other specimen have been collected.
Diagnosis. The species differs from the quite similar O. hurei by the broader wings, the lighter wing colour, the distinctly narrower scales and the different shape of the male genitalia. In O. hurei the tegumen is rounded, the saccus distinctly longer and reaching about a quarter of the genital length, distally pointed. The saccus of O. numidicum is very short, distally widened and fishtail-shape rounded.
description: Published as part of Sobczyk, Thomas & Arnscheid, Wilfried R., 2021, Taxonomic revision of the North-African species of the genus Oiketicoides Heylaerts, 1881 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae: Oiketicinae), pp. 483-508 in Zootaxa 4975 (3) on pages 495-496, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4975.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4926498