Istrianis falkovitshi Bidzilya & Karsholt, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bidzilya, Oleksiy
name: Karsholt, Ole
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy

description: 16. Istrianis falkovitshi sp. nov.
Type material. Holotype ♂, Turkmenia, Kopet-Dag, Germab, 780 m, 22.vi.1982 (Falkovitsh) (gen. slide 257/12, O. Bidzilya) (ZIN). Paratype: 1♀, same data as holotype (gen. slide 10/13, O. Bidzilya) (ZIN).
Adult (Figs 38, 39). Wingspan 10.2–10.7 mm. Head, thorax and tegulae covered with white, black-tipped scales, frons nearly white, labial palpus white with black basal and medial rings, upper side of segment 2 off-white; scape white, densely mottled with black, other antennal segments black with white basal rings. Forewing covered with grey, black tipped scales, a small white spot of irregular shape just beyond the middle of costal margin, diffuse white spot at ¾ of costa, a few black raised scales surrounded by yellowish orange about 1/3 near dorsum; elongated yellow sub-costal streak from base to ¼, a small yellowish orange subcostal spot in middle and one such spot in the end of cell, two small orange dots at 3/4 length; base and subapical area mottled with white; cilia white, black-tipped; hindwing of male light brown except for white area from base to nearly half length, hindwing of female light grey.
Variation. The female paratype has lighter, almost entirely white head, forewings almost uniformly blackish grey, and the yellowish pattern poorly expressed.
Male genitalia (Fig. 76). Distal portion of tergite VIII tongue-shaped, nearly parallel-sided, lateral arms very narrow, anteromedial emargination deep, distal portion subrectangular; sternite VIII more than two times longer than broad, posteriolateral projections moderately narrow; uncus slender, tapered, slightly narrower than gnathos; gnathos distinctly longer than uncus, apex with strongly sclerotized hook; tegumen boomerang-shaped, lateral lobes narrow, weakly constricted medially; valva moderately broadened in distal half; phallus tapered distally, slightly longer than valva.
Female genitalia (Figs 101, 131). Segment VIII nearly as long as broad; apophyses anteriores nearly two times longer than segment VIII; anterior margin with elongated lobes; posterior sclerite very narrow, much broader than long; anterolateral sclerites narrow, horn-shaped; anterior sclerites digitate, narrow; antrum tubular; ductus bursae moderately long; corpus bursae rounded; signum subhexagonal, posterior lobe with nearly straight upper margin, anterior lobe slightly broader than posterior lobe, with deep medial emargination, medial ridge moderately broad.
Diagnosis. I. falkovitshi is externally similar to I. piskunovi but the forewings are darker, and the male hindwings are mottled with brown. The male genitalia are very similar to those of I. piskunovi but differ in the narrower, medially constricted (parallel-sided in I. piskunovi) lateral lobes of tegumen; moreover the anteromedial emargination of tegumen is deeper than in the related species; sternite VIII that is more than two times longer than broad is an additional diagnostic character of I. falkovitshi. A very narrow horn-shaped anterolateral sclerite in combination with the very small posterior sclerite are characters that reliable separate the female genitalia of I. falkovitshi from the rest of Istrianis species.
Biology. Host plant unknown. Adults have been observed in the last third of June.
Distribution. Turkmenistan.
Etymology. I. falkovitshi is named after Mark Falkovitsh, Saint Petersburg, Russia who collected the type specimens.
description: Published as part of Bidzilya, Oleksiy & Karsholt, Ole, 2015, Revision of the genus Istrianis Meyrick, 1918 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) with special regard to the Palaearctic region, pp. 401-445 in Zootaxa 4059 (3) on page 435, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4059.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/237390