Megacraspedus cerussatellus Rebel, 1930

Huemer, Peter & Karsholt, Ole, 2018, Revision of the genus Megacraspedus Zeller, 1839, a challenging taxonomic tightrope of species delimitation (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae), ZooKeys 800, pp. 1-278 : 130-131

Megacraspedus cerussatellus Rebel, 1930

Megacraspedus cerussatellus Rebel, 1930: (14).

Examined material.

Lectotype ♂, here designated, [Bulgaria] "Alibotusch [mountains] 1700 m 14.VII.29" "Megacraspedus cerussatellus Rbl Type ♂" "BC TLMF Lep 06702" "Mus.Vind Gen. Präp. 16.648 ♂" "BC TLMF Lep 06703" (NHMW).

Redescription.

Adult. Male (Figure 107). Wingspan 11 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with moderately long scale brush, brown on outer and lower surface, white mottled with brown on inner surface, white on upper surface; segment 3 about half as long as segment 2, whitish brown. Antennal scape white, with pecten of several hairs; flagellum brown. Head and thorax white mottled with light brown in middle; tegula white. Forewing clear white, mottled with scattered black-tipped scales, especially in apical part; a blackish brown dot at end of fold; one sub-costal at 1/4, one in middle of wing and one before apex; black-tipped scales along termen; fringes white. Hindwing light grey, with white fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. Only one specimen was examined.

Male genitalia (Figure 233). Uncus large, sub-square, apically weakly convex; gnathos hook slender, distinctly longer than uncus, strongly bent at about one-quarter, distal part straight and weakly diverged, apically pointed; anterior margin of tegumen with shallow, rounded emargination; pedunculi of moderate size; valva moderately stout, distally weakly curved, extending to about middle of uncus; saccular area densely covered with setae, without separated sacculus; posterior margin of vinculum with shallow medial emargination, without distinct lateral humps, vincular sclerite elongated sub-triangular, with sclerotised edges; saccus prominent, weakly U-shaped, with rounded apex, ratio maximum width to length approximately 0.75, posterior margin with broadly rounded mediolateral projections, separated by shallow incision, medial part with long sclerotised ridge from posterior margin almost to apex of saccus, lateral sclerites nearly length of maximum width of saccus, with distinctly bulged apex; phallus with large globular coecum, distal three-fifths slender, straight, dorsal part with weakly bulged sclerotisation sub-apically.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus cerussatellus is characterised by its short segment 3 of the labial palpus, the antennal scape with several hairs, and by its pure white forewings with scattered black scales and dots. It is most similar to M. multipunctellus sp. n. (p 167). The male genitalia are very similar to M. attritellus (Figure 234) from which they differ in the slightly longer and distally broader gnathos hook and in particular the large globular coecum of the phallus, with a shorter and more slender distal part lacking distinct sclerotisation. They differ from M. consortiella (Figure 235) e.g., by the sub-square shape of the uncus and are easily distinguished from M. leuca by the distinctly smaller and V-shaped saccus.

Molecular data.

BIN BOLD:ACA8764 (n = 1). The distance to the nearest neighbour M. attritellus is 7.6% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Southern Bulgaria.

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The type-series was collected in late July at an altitude between 1600 m and 1700 m.

Remarks.

Megacraspedus cerussatellus was described from several, mostly defective, males in poor condition, collected by A. K. Drenowski in the Alibotusch Mountains, S Bulgaria on 24.vii.1929 ( Rebel 1930). A lectotype is here designated in order to fix the identity of the species and conserve stability of nomenclature.