Topiris digiticosta Sterling & Price & Lees 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sterling, Mark J.
name: Price, Ben W.
name: Lees, David C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Xyloryctidae
Topiris
Topiris digiticosta

description: Topiris digiticosta Sterling & Lees sp. nov.
Figs 21, 46 A, B
DNA barcodes.
N / A.
Type material.
Indonesia. Holotype • ♂, Indonesia, West Celebes, Paloe, 2700 ft., Feb.1937, J. P. A. Kalis leg., fwl 10 mm, specimen no. NHMUK 010923231, slide no. NHMUK 010316355.
Diagnosis.
See diagnosis for T. albidella above.
Description.
Male (Fig. 21). Forewing length 10 mm; wingspan 21.5 mm. Head missing. Thorax white with some pale ochreous scaling; tegulae missing; femur of foreleg pale ochreous; femur of mid leg pale ochreous, tibia and tarsus white; femur of hind leg with white scale tuft. Forewing broad, costa gently rounded at base, otherwise straight, apex rounded, termen angled slightly inwards, tornus rounded; white and unmarked except for a line of dark brown scales at the base of the costa to 1 / 5 and a terminal line of dark brown scales commencing just prior to apex and ending just before tornus. Hindwing as broad as forewing, white, unmarked apart from a small brown terminal line around 1 A + 2 A. Ventrally, forewing with brownish grey scaling between costa and Sc on the forewing, veins lined with brownish scales, terminal line also present though not as distinct as the forewing, hindwing white.
Female. Unknown.
Pre-genital abdomen. White with white anal tuft. Tergal spines on posterior part of T 2 – T 7; weak sclerotisation of part of T 8 and sternites. Venulae long, somewhat sinuate.
Male genitalia (Fig. 46 A, B). Uncus anteriorly broad, anterior margin of dorsal surface weakly emarginate, lateral edges tapering towards posterior apex. Gnathos not fused medially and with two narrow, strongly sclerotised lateral posterior projections. Tegumen band broad, strongly arched, lateral extensions of tegumen longer than width of tegumen band. Vinculum long, robust, U shaped, base substantially projecting anteriorly beyond base of valvae. Saccus large. Juxta with a broad V-shaped basal plate, anellus lobes broad, tapering. Valva broad, costal margin slightly concave, setose ventral membrane from costa confined to inner half of valva, with long fine setae and ridge at anterior margin, distal margin strongly concave, forming two distal lobes, posterior lobe long and digitate, anterior lobe smaller and curved, saccular margin of valva slightly curved, long thin ventral sclerite postmedially. Saccular process commencing medially in valva, straight and narrow, well sclerotised, strongly setose for> ½ length with brush of long bristles apically. Aedeagus long, with long, recurved, filament-like distal projection, small ovate distal thickening and small sclerite medially.
Biology and early stages.
Early stages unknown. Adult found in February.
Distribution.
Sulawesi, Indonesia. Known only from the holotype which was found by J. P. A. Kalis in the same area as some of his specimens of T. albidella.
Etymology.
digiticosta — from digitus (lat.), a finger; and costa, the distal margin of a wing or a valva. This species is named after the digitate lobe projecting from the costa of the valva in the male genitalia. The epithet is a noun in apposition.
description: Published as part of Sterling, Mark J., Price, Ben W. & Lees, David C., 2025, A revision of the hitherto neglected genus Topiris Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Xyloryctidae) with taxonomic notes on the genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910, pp. 297-368 in ZooKeys 1229 on pages 297-368, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1229.119155