Megacraspedus golestanicus, Huemer, Peter & Karsholt, Ole, 2018

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 : 41-42

Megacraspedus golestanicus sp. n.

Examined material.

Holotype ♂, "Iran, [prov.] Khorassan NP [National Park] Golestan, Almeh 1770 m 2.5.2001 37°20,75'N, 56°07,02'E leg. P. Huemer" "BC TLMF Lep 03782" "P. Huemer GEL 1241 ♂" (TLMF). Paratypes. Iran. 4 ♂, same data as holotype, but BC TLMF Lep 03780, 03781 (TLMF).

Redescription.

Adult. Male (Figure 27). Wingspan 10-11 mm. Segment 2 of labial palpus with moderately long scale brush, brown on outer surface, whitish brown on inner surface, otherwise white; segment 3 white mottled with light grey-brown. Antennal scape with pecten of one hair; flagellum light brown, indistinctly ringed with black. Head, thorax and tegula as forewing. Forewing light greyish brown from white brownish- and black-tipped scales; base of costa blackish brown; margin of costa whitish; fringes light grey. Hindwing grey with light grey fringes.

Female. Unknown.

Variation. The few examined specimens show only slight variation. The margin of the forewing costa can be greyish or whitish. In one specimen there is no hair at the base of the antennal scape.

Male genitalia (Figure 165). Uncus approximately 1.5 times longer than broad, parallel-sided, apex rounded; gnathos slightly longer than uncus, moderately slender, curved, apex pointed; tegumen weakly constricted, anterior margin deeply excavated, pedunculi small, rounded; valva short, straight, of equal width, apex slightly distorted, rounded, extending to base of uncus; posterior margin of vinculum with broad lobes, anteromedial emargination broad, shallow; saccus broad at base, with long and narrow lateral projections, anterior edge with sinus-shaped projections, incised in-between, medial part with short sclerotised ridge, distal portion abruptly tapered, rod-like; phallus about length of tegumen without uncus, globular coecum, distal two-thirds weakly S-curved, tapered apically.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Megacraspedus golestanicus sp. n. is characterised by its relatively small wingspan, and its light greyish brown forewings without markings. Externally it is hardly separable from M. junnilaineni sp. n. (Figure 23). The short medial ridge of the saccus and the abruptly tapered rod-like distal part are characteristic features of M. golestanicus sp. n.

Molecular data.

BIN BOLD:AAU3338 (n = 3). The intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is low with mean 0.1% and maximum divergence of 0.2%. The distance to the nearest neighbour M. uzunsyrtus is 8.8% (p-dist).

Distribution.

Iran (Golestan).

Biology.

Host plant and early stages are unknown. The habitat is dominated by steppe meadows. The adults have been collected in the last third of May at light at an altitude of 1770 m.

Etymology.

This species is named after its place of occurrence: the province of Golestan in north-eastern Iran. The name is a masculine adjective.