Dragmatucha polystriana Park & Karisch, 2022

Karisch, Timm, Dutton, Amy-Jayne, Yu, Tae-Uk & Park, Kyu-Tek, 2025, Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) from Nimba Mts. bordering Liberia and Guinea, Part I: The subfamily Torodorinae, with descriptions of 15 new species, Zootaxa 5728 (2), pp. 247-286 : 266

3. Dragmatucha polystriana Park & Karisch, 2022

( Fig. 11 )

Dragmatucha polystriana Park & Karisch , in Park et al., 2022b: 369 . TL: Ivory Coast, Mt. Tonkoui.

Material examined. 1♂, Liberia, Nimba Mountains , alt. 1050 m, 4.2 km SE Yekepa, camp secondary forest on. SE slope, 7°32’35.6’’N 8°31’20.3’’W, 27 viii 2022 LF, leg. T . Karisch, gen. slide no. 4167/Karisch, barcoding SDEI300015 , in SDEI.

Diagnosis. Male ( Figs 11A, B ). Wingspan 14.0 mm. The forewing is very similar to D. kakumensis Park, 2020 (described from Ghana, in Park et al. 2020), but it can be distinguished by the female genitalia. The male is reported for the first time here, with description and illustration of the male genitalia

Male genitalia ( Figs 11C, C 1 ): Uncus slender, reaching apex of basal plate of gnathos, sharply pointed apically. Gnathos basal plate semi-ovate, rather pointed apically, median process large, strongly bent beyond middle, sharply pointed apically. Tegumen weakly sclerotized, with concave anterior margin. Valva broad basally, extremely narrowed medially; cucullus foot-shaped; outer margin nearly straight in basal 2/3, and rounded distally, densely setose. Juxta shield-shaped; anterior margin deeply concave, without latero-caudal lobes; median process short, about half the juxta. Aedeagus as long as valva, bent before middle, with minute particles along ventral margin; cornutus reduced.

Female genitalia: See Park et al. (2022b, fig. 9B).

Distribution. Ivory Coast (Mt. Tonkoui), Liberia ( Nimba Mts.: new record).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A, Topographic map of the Guinea Highlands (Wikipedia.org./wiki/Guinea_Highlands/, Tom Radulovich, CC BY- SA 4.0, colours adapted); B, Blue itabirit at Blue Lake in laminar formation with other minerals (photo: A.-J Dutton, 2022); C, View from the NW-SE-exposed mountain ridge to the main ridge of Nimba Mountains in Liberia, in the middle with the excavations for iron ore. (photo: A.-J. Dutton, 2022); D, Blue Lake and its surroundings showing the extent of iron ore mining in the southern part of the Nimba Mountains (photo: T. Karisch, 2022); E, Cloud covered main ridge of the southern part of the Nimba Mountains (photo: A.-J Dutton).

FIGURE 11. Dragmatucha polystriana Park & Karisch, 2022:A, male; B, head with labial palpus; C, male genitalia (gen. slide no. 4167/Karisch); C1, ditto, aedeagus; D, abdomen.