Promalactis lophacantha Wang, Du & Li, 2013

Wang, Shuxia, Du, Zhaohui & Li, Houhun, 2013, Taxonomic study of the genus Promalactis Meyrick, 1908 from Southeast Asia (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae), Zootaxa 3669 (4), pp. 401-455 : 421

Promalactis lophacantha Wang, Du & Li , sp. nov.

( Figs 16 , 49 )

Type material: Holotype ♂, BRUNEI, Ulu Temburong (4°27'N, 115°12'E), 365 m, LP 283, GR 843887, 30.iv.1989, leg. M. G. Allen & K. R. Tuck, BM 1989−129, genitalia slide No. BMNH-33550 ( BMNH).

Description. Imago ( Fig. 16 ) with wingspan 7.5 mm. Head with vertex shining grayish white, frons silvery gray, occiput yellowish brown. Labial palpus with basal and second segments yellowish white on inner surface, yellow mixed with dark-brown scales on outer surface; third segment with basal 1/2 white, distal 1/2 brown, about same length as second. Antenna with scape white; flagellum white and brown on dorsal surface, dark brown on ventral surface. Thorax and tegula dark brown. Forewing ochreous yellow; markings white margined with black scales: basal fascia from near base of costal margin to basal 1/5 of dorsum; second fascia from about costal 1/4 to dorsal 3/5, arched medially; third fascia irregular, from costal 3/5 to tornus, its anterior 3/5 broader, nearly quadrangular, posterior 2/5 narrow; apex with a triangular white spot, its inner margin tinged with black scales on costal and dorsal margins; cilia yellow mixed with black scales, white on costal margin near apex, gray along distal part of costal and dorsal margins. Hindwing and cilia gray. Foreleg black, tibia with white spot at base and middle on dorsal surface, with a tuft of short white scales at apex, tarsus with white spots on dorsal surface; midleg with tibia and tarsus pale on ventral surface, black on dorsal surface, tibia with a white spot at base, with a tuft of long white scales at apex on dorsal surface, tarsus with white spots on dorsal surface; hindleg yellow, tarsus black with white spots on dorsal surface.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 49 ). Uncus broad at base, gradually narrowed to rounded apex. Gnathos tongue shaped, with two elongate, triangular lateral processes at base, distal 3/5 scobinate, apex with an ovate process. Tegumen branched from middle, narrowly blunt anteriorly. Valva sub-rectangular, bilobed distally: dorsal lobe slender, digitate, setaceous apically; ventral lobe broad, about 3 x width of and slightly shorter than dorsal one, with dense setae, rounded at apex. Costa projected medially, concave distally; with a long, heavily sclerotized process arising from base reaching about 3/4 length of costa, its basal 1/4 furcated and extended to diaphragma, nearly parallel medially, bilobed distally: dorsal lobe broad, somewhat triangular, apex with a cluster of dense, thick spines arranged tidily from short to long, directing upward; ventral lobe narrow, almost same length as dorsal one, triangular, twisted ninety degree at base, pointed apically. Sacculus weak, not well-defined. Saccus about twice length of uncus, broad at base, narrowed to 2/3, distal 1/3 slender, rounded at apex. Juxta nearly rectangular, sclerotized except distal half membranous laterally, with a thin basal handle reaching about 3/5 length of saccus; latero-medially projected, with a very thin lateral arm extending to base of dorsal margin of costal process, distal 3/ 5 with dense spinules. Aedeagus almost straight, about 1.8 x length of valva, basal 1/5 narrow, distal 4/5 broad, with a small papillary process before apex on ventral side, with three apical processes: dorsal process large and sinuate, acute and down-curved apically, ventral process smaller and dentate, third process near middle spine-like, slightly longer than ventral process; cornutus spine-like, situated distally, about 1/4 length of aedeagus.

Diagnosis. This new species can be separated from its congeners by the forewing having an irregular white fascia from costal 3/5 to tornus; the gnathos with two triangular lateral processes at base, the costa with a large process at base, the juxta with dense spinules on distal 3/5, and the aedeagus with three apical processes in the male genitalia.

Distribution. Brunei (Ulu Temburong).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin lophacanthus (= having a cluster of spines), referring to the dorsal lobe of the costal process having a cluster of dense thick spines at apex in the male genitalia.

Figures

FIGURES 9–16. Adults of Promalactis spp. 9, P.flagellaris sp. nov., holotype; 10, P.foraminulata sp. nov., holotype; 11, P. fortijuxtalis sp. nov., paratype; 12, P.lancea sp. nov., paratype; 13, P.latuncata sp. nov., holotype; 14, P. longisaccata sp. nov., holotype; 15, P. longisaccata sp. nov., paratype, showing the variation of dorsal spot; 16, P. lophacantha sp. nov., holotype (9– 11, 13–16: ♂, 12: ♀).

FIGURES 47–52. Male genitalia of Promalactis spp. 47, P. latuncata sp. nov., holotype, slide No. BMNH-33565; 48, P. medispinata sp. nov., holotype, slide No. MNHU-NK001; 49, P. lophacantha sp. nov., holotype, slide No. BMNH-33550; 50, P. palmifolia sp. nov., holotype, slide No. BMNH-33541, 50a, showing the variation of the juxta, slide No. BMNH-33542; 51, P. pectinifera sp. nov., holotype, slide No. BMNH-33534; 52, P. sectoralis sp. nov., holotype, 52a, enlarged distal process of aedeagus with dense spines, slide No. BMNH-33539.