Letrasilta ratnasambhava, Huang & Volynkin & Yin & Zhang & Fan & Pan & Wang, 2023

Huang, Si-Yao, Volynkin, Anton V., Yin, Xiong-Yan, Zhang, Yu-Long, Fan, Xiao-Ling, Pan, Zhao-Hui & Wang, Min, 2023, Letrasilta, a new genus for the Striatella cernyi Volynkin species-group with description of a new species from Xizang, China, and a replacement name for the genus group name Striatella Volynkin & S. - Y. Huang, 2019 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), Zootaxa 5315 (3), pp. 251-263 : 258-262

Letrasilta ratnasambhava S.-Y. Huang, Volynkin & Yin, sp. n.

Figs. 2, 3 , 16 , 23

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:88AC6027-D79E-4574-879B-B6B5EBADE08B

Type material. Holotype. male ( Fig. 2 , 16 ), 4.VI.2017, Beibeng Village , Motuo County, Linzhi City, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, Zhao-hui Pan leg., slide STS-40507, voucher number Lit 13 ( TAAHU) . Paratype. 1 female, same locality and collector as holotype, but 11. VI .2017, slide STS-40562, voucher number Lit14 ( TAAHU).

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 10 mm in the male holotype and 10. 5 mm in the female paratype. Letrasilta ratnasambhava sp. n. is externally reminiscent of L. cernyi comb. n. but is distinguished by the narrower medial line of the forewing and the indistinct medial line of the hindwing. In male genitalia capsule, L. ratnasambhava sp. n. differs from L. cernyi in the narrower distal section of the costa, the markedly longer and apically rounded distal costal process (whereas it is apically pointed in L. cernyi ), the larger distal membranous lobe, and the distally narrower distal saccular process. The phallus vesica of L. ratnasambhava sp. n. is largely similar to that of L. cernyi but differs in the longer cornuti in the subbasal cluster. The female genitalia of L. ratnasambhava sp. n. differ from L. cernyi in the broader posterior sclerotised section of the ductus bursae and the more rounded corpus bursae, which is elliptical in the congener.

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from Motuo County in southeastern Xizang, southwestern China.

Etymology. The specific epithet ratnasambhava is derived from one of the five principal buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, the Buddha Ratnasambhava. The represent colour of Ratnasambhava is yellow, similar to the colouration in the new species. The name is a noun in the nominative singular in apposition.

Figures

FIGURES 2–11.Adults of Letrasilta spp. and the type species of the genera Striatochrista nom. n. and Aberrasine. Depositories of the specimens: 2 and 3 in TAAHU; 4, 5, 7 and 9 in MWM/ZSM; 6 in OUMNH; 8 in CKC; 10, 11 in SCAU.

FIGURES 16–19. Male genitalia of Letrasilta spp. and the type species of the genus Striatochrista nom. n. Depositories of the slides: 16 in TAAHU, 17 and 19 in MWM/ZSM, 18 in OUMNH.

FIGURES 23–28. Female genitalia of Letrasilta spp. and the type species of the genera Striatochrista nom. n., Aberrasine, Indiania, and Idopterum. Depositories of the slides: 23 in TAAHU, 24, 25 and 28 in MWM/ZSM, 26 and 27 in SCAU.