Nemophora timorella Kozlov 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kozlov, Mikhail V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Adelidae
Nemophora
Nemophora timorella

description: Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2E572409-7357-4135-B22D-032FDC2E7113
(Figs. 2, 10, 16, 19)
Holotype ♂: Indonesia, Timor Island (approx. 9º S, 124º E); labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Holo- │ type’; 9 × 12 mm, print + black ink ‘S. W. TIMUR [=Timor Island] │ 1500‒3000 ft. │ XI.‒XII. │ Doherty, 1891 │ No. 41708’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910‒427’; 9 × 16 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 29981’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘HOLOTYPE ♂ │ Nemophora │ timorella Kozlov’ (NHM) [examined]. Paratypes. 15 ♂, labelled: 8 mm circle with yellow border, print ‘Para- │ type’; 9 × 12 mm, print + black ink ‘S. W. TIMUR │ 1500‒3000 ft. │ XI.‒XII. │ Doherty, 1891 │ No. 417**’ [** = 03, 04, 06, 07, 09‒16, 18, 19; specimen no. 41718 has additional label: 11 × 32 mm, pencil ‘timurensis’]; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910‒427’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘PARATYPE ♂ │ Nemophora │ timorella Kozlov’ (all in NHM) [examined].
Diagnosis. Nemophora timorella is most similar to N. umbronitidella (Figs. 3, 4), from which differs by its smaller size (FWL 4.3‒5.0 mm), the pale yellowish brown basal field of the forewing, the nearly perpendicular external border of the basal field relative to the wing margins, a longer vinculum, the tips of the valvae slightly extending beyond the tip of the tegumen, a medial indentation in the fused basal parts of the valvae, and the triangular shape of the arrow head of the juxta. It differs from N. longipeniculella (Fig. 7) and N. brevipeniculella (Fig. 8) by the presence of two longitudinal silver stripes with brilliant iridescence in the dark ochreous brown basal field of the forewing.
Description. Male (Fig. 2). FWL 4.3‒5.0 mm, WLR 0.37‒0.39. Vertex light brown; frons with iridescent silver to light golden scales, and with row of pale ochreous brown piliform scales below antennal sockets. PLB 0.5‒0.6 × vertical eye diameter (1.3‒1.6 × length of scape), brown. Proboscis brown, base covered with dark coppery brown semi-erect elongated scales, forming small tuft. Eyes enlarged, occipitally closely approaching, with rounded dorsal margins; interocular index 1.3‒1.6, occipital distance 0.05‒0.07. Antenna 3.4‒3.9 × FWL. Scape ochreous brown, flagellum bronze, basal 20‒30 flagellomeres with rings of white scales, which gradually disappear towards apex. Tegulae and thorax light ochreous brown, with slight coppery tint on external margins of tegulae. Forewing (Fig. 10) bronze, with pale yellow basal field reaching costa at 0.35 and dorsum at 0.40 × FWL, ochreous yellow medial band, and oblique yellow band linking costa with outer wing margin. Basal field with two longitudinal glossy silver stripes with slight brilliant iridescence; lower stripe very narrow.Yellow medial band with sinuate margins, medially suffused with ochreous scales; on both sides bordered by narrow lines of dark brown scales. Bronze background of distal part of forewing suffused with ochreous scales, except for costal area near apex that is entirely bronze. Oblique yellow band, linking costa with outer wing margin, bordered by narrow line of dark brown scales; at outer wing margin it expands between veins M1 and CuA1 and is suffused with dark brown scales. Some of dark brown scales all over forewing show brilliant iridescence. Fringe bronze. Hindwing brown with coppery iridescence; costal area grey; anal field semitranslucent; fringe brown to light brown. Legs bronze; bases of all tarsomeres light yellow. Epiphysis at 0.6, reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen coppery brown dorsally, brown with bronze iridescence ventrally.
Female unknown.
Male genitalia (Figs. 16, 19). Tegumen onion-shaped. Socii 1.6‒1.8 × medial diameter of phallus. Vinculum 2.7 × length of valva, with straight lateral margins and slightly convex distal margin. Tips of valvae slightly extend beyond tip of tegumen. Ventral margin of valva medially with small lobe at 0.4 × total length; dorsal margin straight; tip of valva narrowly rounded. Valvae fused basally up to 0.2 × total length; internal margins not visible. Fused parts of valvae between ventral margins with distinct medial indentation. Anellus 0.35 × length of valva. Transtilla with wide triangular medial process. Juxta 0.6 × length of phallus; arrow head triangular, extremely wide (WLR 1.3), with pointed tip and short pointed lateral arms. Phallus 0.9 × length of vinculum, in lateral view shallowly C-shaped; tip narrow, hook-shaped; base narrowly funnel-shaped.
Distribution. Indonesia, Timor Island.
Etymology. The species is named after the type locality, Timor Island.
Comments. Although Walsingham clearly labelled one male specimen as the type of a proposed new species, he never published its description.
description: Published as part of Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2024, Description of six new species forming the sumbana species group of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg (Lepidoptera, Adelidae) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, pp. 111-122 in Zootaxa 5543 (1) on pages 115-116, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5543.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/14385298