Protolychnis oculiella Park & Koo 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Park, Kyu-Tek
name: Koo, Jun-Mo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lecithoceridae
Protolychnis
Protolychnis oculiella

description: Protolychnis oculiella Park & Koo, sp. nov.
LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 457537E4-AF3B-4884-84BE-C7AD79FF57D0
(Figs 3A–E, I)
Type specimen. • Holotype: male, Kenya, Rift Valley, Kajaido North Dist., Maasai Lodge 1,865 m, 1°23′4″S 36°49′51″E, 1 v 2015, D.J.L. Agassiz, gen. slide no. CIS-7441, COI barcode CBNU260, in NHMUK.
Diagnosis. This new species is similar in superficial and male genital characters to P. petiliella Park, 2020, but it can be distinguished by the male genitalia: uncus slightly narrowed toward apex, whereas that of P. petiliella is more clavate distally; valva narrower at base, more narrowly elongated; and saccus much shorter, about 0.5 times shorter than that of P. petiliella (Figs 3F–H).
Description. Male (Figs 3A–C). Wingspan 14.0 mm.
Head: Vertex dark brown with orange-white erect scales laterally. Antenna thick, orange white, about 0.6 times shorter than the forewing length. Labial palpus slightly upturned; 2 nd segment thickened, covered with dark brown scales in basal 3/4, then gradually turning orange white toward apex on outer surface; 3 rd segment slightly curved upwardly, slender with sharply pointed apex, nearly same length as 2 nd segment, orange white entirely.
Thorax: Thorax and tegula dark brown, Forewing slightly broadened distally; ground color fuscous dark brown uniformly, with a distinct orange-white spot at apical end of discal cell; fainted blackish spots at basal 2/5 across wing medially; costa slightly arched at basal 1/6, nearly straight medially, then slightly oblique from beyond 5/6; apex more or less rounded; termen oblique with fringe concolorous with ground color. Hindwing broader than forewing, brownish gray.
Abdomen: Dark brown, spinous zones forming a band on dorsal surface along posterior margin of each segment (Fig. 3I).
Male genitalia (Figs 3D, E): Uncus elongated, slightly narrowed toward apex, with round apex. Gnathos strongly bent from before middle, with sharply pointed apex. Valva elongated, narrow at base, broadest at about basal 1/3; cucullus gradually narrowed toward apex, strongly upturned from 3/5; costa slightly expanded near base, then gently concave; ventral margin expanded in basal 1/3, then gently arched; apex rounded. Juxta broad at base, with nearly symmetrical caudal processes, longer than tegumen, pointed apically. Saccus rather short. Aedeagus slender, longer than valva, narrowed in basal 1/6; cornuti probably consisting of multiple broom-like setae but removed.
Etymology. The species epithet is derived from the Latin, oculi (= eye) with Latin diminutive suffix, -ella, referring to the orange-white eye-like dot on the forewing.
Distribution. Kenya.
description: Published as part of Park, Kyu-Tek & Koo, Jun-Mo, 2021, A new genus Viperinus Park with descriptions of two new species, and two new species of the genus Protolychnis Meyrick, 1925 (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Lecithoceridae) in Kenya and Tanzania, with a checklist of the world species, pp. 359-370 in Zootaxa 4985 (3) on pages 363-366, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4985.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4956106