Lecithocera tenuextrema Yu & Wang 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yu, Shuai
name: Wang, Shuxia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lecithoceridae
Lecithocera
Lecithocera tenuextrema

description: Lecithocera tenuextrema sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: AC7A3480-19BC-443D-B2C8-5F5B60320B0E
Figs 5B, 9B, 14B, 17I, 21A
Diagnosis
The new species is similar to L. tridentata Wu & Liu, 1993 in the male genitalia. It can be distinguished by the absence of a patch before the termen in the forewing, in the male genitalia by the cucullus being uniformly wide in basal ⅓, narrowed to the middle, thereafter slender in the distal half, and in the female genitalia by the signum of the corpus bursae having dense denticles and lacking a tooth. In L. tridentata, the forewing has a dark brown patch before the termen, the cucullus is uniformly wide in basal ⅓, narrowed from basal ⅓ to ⅔ and uniform in distal ⅓ (Wu & Liu 1993: 343, fig. 26), and the signum has 3 teeth but lacks denticles (Wu & Liu 1993: 345, fig. 39).
Etymology
The specific epithet is derived from the Latin “ tenu -” and “ extremus ”, referring to the slender distal part of the cucullus in the male genitalia.
Type material
Holotype
CHINA – Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region • ♂; Pingxiang, Shaoping Forest Farm; 22º08′ N, 106º56′ E; 280 m a.s.l.; 17 Apr. 2012; X.F. Yang leg.; slide no. LSR13405; NKU.
Paratypes (62 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀)
CHINA – Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region • 11 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype except 15–19 Apr. 2012; slide nos LSR12079, LSR12080, LSR13404, LSR13419, LSR13462; NKU • 25 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype except 18 Mar.‒12 Apr. 2013; slide nos LSR13363 ♂, LSR13369 ♂, LSR13370 ♂, LSR13385 ♂, YS19148 ♀; NKU • 6 ♂♂; same collection data as for holotype except 22 Jul. 2012; X.F. Yang and Z.G. Zhang leg.; slide no. LSR13018; NKU • 8 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype except 8‒25 Sep. 2012; Z.G. Zhang leg.; slide nos LSR12315 ♂, LSR12316 ♀, LSR12317 ♂; NKU • 9 ♂♂; same locality as for holotype; 190 m a.s.l.; 24‒28 Jul. 2011; B.B. Hu leg.; slide nos LSR12216, LSR13289; NKU • 1 ♂; Pingxiang, Qingshan Forest Farm; 300 m a.s.l.; 23 Jul. 2011; B.B. Hu leg.; slide no. LSR12186; NKU • 1 ♂; Pingxiang, Fubo Forest Farm; 550 m a.s.l.; 1 Aug. 2011; B.B. Hu leg.; NKU • 1 ♂; Guilin City, Quanzhou, Miaotou Town; 100 m a.s.l.; 25 Jul. 2013; X.F. Yang leg.; NKU.
Description
ADULT (Figs 5B, 9B). Wingspan 8.0‒12.0 mm. Head with frons orange white, vertex yellowish brown. Antenna orange white, flagellum ringed with dark brown. Labial palpus orange white on inner surface, yellowish brown on outer surface; third palpomere slender, nearly as long as second palpomere. Thorax and tegula pale yellowish brown.Forewing with costal margin slightly arched, apex blunt, termen oblique; ground colour orange white, covered with dense dark yellowish brown and dark brown scales, becoming denser around apex and along termen; basal streak dark brown, ill-defined; markings blackish brown: discal stigma small; discocellular stigma larger, elliptical; tornal streak diffused to below discocellular stigma anteriorly; fringe orange white, mixed with greyish brown scales; R 3 and R 4+5 short-stalked, R 4 and R 5 stalked for about ⅔ length of R 5, R 5 to termen below apex, M 2 and M 3 subparallel, CuA 1 and CuA 2 short-stalked. Hindwing and fringe pale greyish orange; fringe with an orange white basal line; M 3 and CuA 1 long-stalked.
MALE GENITALIA (Fig. 14B). Uncus short, broadly V-shaped; caudal lobe short digitiform, rounded apically. Gnathos with lateral arm broad taenioid; median process wide at base, narrowed to distal ⅓, then slender to pointed apex, curved ventrad at distal ¼ by right angle. Valva broad and parallel-sided basally, narrowed to cucullus; cucullus about 3/5 length of valva, uniformly wide in basal ⅓, narrowed to middle, thereafter slender to rounded apex, setose, with 3–4 rows of bullet-shaped setae ventrally in basal ⅓; costal bar narrow, gently angled at middle; sacculus narrow taenioid, reaching cucullus. Vinculum broad; saccus triangular with blunt apex. Juxta shield-shaped, with small notch at middle on posterior margin, with small protrusion at middle on anterior margin; posterior lobe semiovate basally, narrow taenioid distally, extending outward. Aedeagus about ⅔ length of valva, broad at base, narrowed to blunt apex, curved ventrad at basal ¼, with dense granules in vesica; cornuti consisting of some spines varied in size running from basal 2/5 to distal ¼, two sclerites placed beyond middle and small sclerite before apex.
SEVENTH ABDOMINAL STERNITE (Fig. 17I). Anterolateral rib thin, forked basally, curved, reaching before posterior margin of sixth abdominal sternite; posterolateral lobe wide at base, narrowed to about basal ⅔, then slender, gently concave on inner margin.
FEMALE GENITALIA (Fig. 21A). Eighth abdominal sternite gently concave at middle on posterior margin. Apophyses posteriores about 1.5 times as long as apophyses anteriores. Antrum subrectangular, longer than wide, spiculose. Ductus bursae slightly longer than corpus bursae, broad, narrowed posteriorly; ductus seminalis arising from about middle of ductus bursae, dilated subbasally and forming sac. Corpus bursae elliptical; signum subrounded, denticulate, placed at middle.
Distribution
China (Guangxi).
description: Published as part of Yu, Shuai & Wang, Shuxia, 2024, The genus Lecithocera (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae) from China, with descriptions of twenty-one new species, pp. 1-74 in European Journal of Taxonomy 924 on pages 37-43, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.924.2447, http://zenodo.org/record/10803382