Elachista chelonitis Meyrick, 1909

Sruoga, Virginijus & Prins, Jurate De, 2009, The Elachistinae (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae) of Kenya with descriptions of eight new species, Zootaxa 2172, pp. 1-31 : 7-8

Elachista chelonitis Meyrick, 1909

Material examined: 13, KENYA, Kakamega Forest, 00°20’N 034°51’E, 1645 m: 14.x.2001; 23, 1Ƥ, 15.x.2001; 1Ƥ, 17.x.2001, leg. J. De Prins, gen. prep. MRAC / KMMA 0 0 0 223 and 0 0 0 23Ƥ, specimen IDs RMCA ENT 000002716–000002720 ( RMCA).

For external characters and female genitalia refer to Parenti (1988: 190, 198; fig. 29).

Distribution. South Africa ( Meyrick 1909), Malawi (as “ Nyassaland ”) ( Meyrick 1914b), and Kenya (new record) ( Figs. 4 , 15 ).

Remark. The species was placed originally in Elachista Treitschke , but subsequently was designated as the type species of the monotypic genus Cleroptila Meyrick (1914b) . We examined the type specimen of E. chelonitis and the material collected in Kenya. The valvae of the male genitalia ( Fig. 16 ) are highly modified, but nevertheless, according to the classification proposed by Kaila (1999a), this taxon should be placed in the genus Elachista . Therefore, we synonymise Cleroptila Meyrick with Elachista Treitschke , syn. n.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Collecting localities of Elachistinae species in Kenya: 1, Arabuko Sokoke Forest National Park; 2, Aberdares National Park; 3, Hell's Gate National Park; 4, Kakamega Forest National Reserve.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Collecting localities in Kenya. 1, Arabuko Sokoke Forest National Park; 2, Aberdares National Park; 3, Hell’s Gate National Park; 4, Kakamega Forest National Reserve.

FIGURES 16 – 17. Elachista chelonitis Meyrick, male genitalia. 16, general view (phallus removed); 17, phallus. Gen. prep. MRAC / KMMA 0 0 0 22, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 0 0 0 0 0 2716. Scale bar 0.1 mm.