Oecetis cracenta, Wells, 2004

Wells, Alice, 2004, The long-horned caddisfly genus Oecetis (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) in Australia: two new species groups and 17 new species, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 61 (1), pp. 85-110 : 94-95

Oecetis cracenta sp. nov.

Figures 34–36, 111

Material examined. Holotype, male, WA, King Edward River , 4–5 May 1992, 14°52.57'S 126°12.08'E, P.S. Cranston ( ANIC).

Paratypes. NT: 2 males, 3 females, Litchfield National Park , Florence Falls , 13°03'S 130°47'E, 9 Apr 1991, Wells and Horak ( NMV) .

Diagnosis. Wings mottled, not noticeably spotty; forewing length about 4 times maximum width, fork 1 with footstalk, and crossveins of posterior anastomosis clearly stepped. In male genitalia, in ventral view, the inferior appendages taper smoothly from base to apex and lack a mesial process, and the preanal appendages are rounded.

Description. Tibial spurs 0, 2, 2. Male forewing length 4.9–5.4 mm. Wings with vestiture of even length, without scales or spots, but forewing with a distinctive dark line marking the distal crossveins; forewing with footstalk on fork 1 and t2 more distal than t1 and t3. Male genitalia as in Figs 34–36. Segment IX short; preanal appendages in lateral view narrow at base and apically rounded, in ventral view stout, rounded. Inferior appendages in lateral view slightly expanded basodorsally, slender in distal two-thirds, in ventral view closely appressed basomesially, tapered to narrow apices, curved mesially, straighter distally. Phallus strongly downturned, sharply ‘beaked’ apically.

Distribution. Kimberley region of northern WA, and northern NT (Fig. 111).

Remarks. Seen in lateral view, the male genitalia of this species resemble closely those of O. crena from which it is distinguished by the smoothly rounded inner margin of the inferior appendages.

Etymology. Latin, descriptive of the male inferior appendages.