Glyphipterix semicircularis Liu & Li, 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Tengteng
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Glyphipterigidae
Glyphipterix
Glyphipterix semicircularis

description: Glyphipterix semicircularis sp. nov.
(Figs. 2, 14)
Description. Adult (Fig. 2) with wingspan 10.5 mm. Head fuscous, with shinning reddish gloss. Antenna dark fuscous, tinged with bluish-purple gloss, slightly serrulated towards tip. Labial palpus white, median and terminal segments each with a dark-fuscous basal ring and a concolorous oblique median ring, both rings disconnected dorsally; terminal segment pointed, almost as long as median segment, dark fuscous ventro-apically. Thorax and tegula fuscous, with shinning greenish-metallic gloss. Legs with femurs pale-fuscous, tibiae dark fuscous; mid tarsus dark fuscous, with white rings on distal end of each segment; hind tarsus dark fuscous, with white rings on distal end of each segment, except last segment white entirely. Forewing sublanceloate, long and narrow; costa gently arched; apex obtusely rounded; termen gently concave below apex, then bluntly oblique. Forewing ground color fuscous, with golden and greenish-metallic reflections, blackish fuscous at apex; markings white, distally mottled shinning grayish-silvery scales; costa with eight streaks extending obliquely outwards across wing: first streak just before middle, reaching middle of distal end of cell; second streak from costal 3/5 to almost beyond distal end of first one, grayish silvery with metallic gloss on distal half; third streak shortest, about 1/3 length of second; fourth streak with white basal half almost as long as third, grayish silvery with metallic gloss on distal half; fifth streak just below costa; three subapical streaks (outmost one indistinct in right wing) more approximated, wedge-shaped, sixth and seventh streaks terminating in metallic grayish silvery; dorsum with two streaks: first streak slightly falcate, rather long and broad, from middle of dorsum straightly to fold, then strongly oblique outwards to before tip of first costal streak; second streak more or less S-shaped, from before tornus obliquely outwards, nearly touching second costal streak, silvery except white on dorsum; five grayish-silvery dots scattered on distal part of forewing: first dot below and beyond tip of fourth costal streak, second dot just beside and below first, third dot on notch below apex, oblong, two dots near tornus, somewhat united; cilia with basal half fuscous, distal half white with gray tip, entirely white on notch below apex, fuscous on tornus, tinged with blackish brown antero-apically. Hindwing and cilia fuscous, with metallic glossy.
Male genitalia (Fig. 14). Tegumen trapezoidal, with anterior margin three times as wide as posterior margin, sclerotized laterally and posteriorly, without bristles on diaphragma. Tuba analis exceeding tegumen. Vinculum heavily sclerotized, broad, semicircular, with height more than 1/2 length of tegumen, anterior margin extended forward; saccus short, narrow triangular, round distally. Valva with dorsal and ventral margins nearly parallel on basal half, sparely haired along dorsum; distal half almost oval, densely haired. Aedeagus slender, shorter than 3/4 length of valva; cornutus a tube, evenly narrowed. Anellus with basal half a sac, scattered with fine spines on outer surface; distal half regularly denticulated, with stronger denticles apically.
Female. Unknown.
Diagnosis. This species belongs to the equitella -group. Glyphipterix semicircularis sp. nov. superficially resembles G. equitella (Scopoli, 1763), but can be separated from it by the forewing pattern and the male genitalia. In the new species, the second dorsal streak on the forewing is more or less S-shaped, the tegumen of the male genitalia is truncated posteriorly and the vinculum is semicircular; while in G. equitella, the second dorsal streak is nearly straight, the tegumen is rounded posteriorly and the vinculum is conical.
Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA: Zhubalong (29°46′N 99°02′E), Batang County, Sichuan Province, 2500 m, 11.vii.2001, leg. Houhun Li & Xinpu Wang, genitalia slide No. LTT12149.
Distribution. China (Sichuan).
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin semicircularis, meaning semicircular, referring to the shape of the vinculum.
Remarks. Members of the equitella -group often vary slightly in the genitalia and costal markings within species (Diakonoff 1986). Taking G. equitella equitella for example, the costal streaks vary from five to seven on the forewings and sometimes are unequal in number on the left and right, and the first dorsal streak also varies in shape. So the costal streaks and the first dorsal streak can not be used as diagnostic characters (Diakonoff 1986). On the other hand, the shapes of the second dorsal streak, the tegumen and the vinculum are stable in the above mentioned congeners.
description: Published as part of Liu, Tengteng & Li, Houhun, 2014, Taxonomic study of the genus Glyphipterix Hübner (Lepidoptera: Glyphipterigidae: Glyphipteriginae) from Mainland China, pp. 1-25 in Zootaxa 3821 (1) on pages 4-5, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3821.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/286357