Thubdora nimbaensis Karisch & Park, 2025

Karisch, Timm, Dutton, Amy-Jayne, Yu, Tae-Uk & Park, Kyu-Tek, 2025, Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) from Nimba Mts. bordering Liberia and Guinea, Part I: The subfamily Torodorinae, with descriptions of 15 new species, Zootaxa 5728 (2), pp. 247-286 : 266-269

1. Thubdora nimbaensis Karisch & Park , sp. nov.

LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

( Fig. 12 )

Type specimens. Holotype: Male, Liberia, Nimba Mountains , alt. 1050 m, 4.2 km SE Yekepa, camp secondary forest on SE slope, 7°32’35.6’’N 8°31’20.3’’W, 27 viii 2022, leg. T. Karisch, gen. slide no. 4149/Karisch, in SDEI . Paratype: 1♀, same locality, 28 viii 2022, gen. slide no. 4185/Karisch, barcoding SDEI300047 , in SDEI.

Diagnosis. S imilar to T. bilobella Park, 2018 ( Cameroon), but it can be distinguished as follows: 1) larger size (wingspan 16.5–17.5 mm vs. 14–15 mm in T. bilobella ); 2) male genitalia with uncus deeply emarginated into U-shape, directed distally (in T. bilobella , V-shape, directed outwardly); 3) cucullus nearly parallel-sided (in T.

bilobella, much narrower beyond distal 3/4). The male genitalia are also similar to those of T. vernaculella Park & Karisch, 2022 ( Ivory Coast), but differs by the uncus bifurcated apically (not bifurcated in T. vernaculella ).

Description. Male ( Figs 12A, B ). Wingspan 16.5–17.5 mm.

Head: Shiny dark-brown, vertex with paler scales laterally.Antenna filiform; scape slightly broadened; yellowish brown, with fuscous patch dorsally; flagellum ciliate, pale yellowish brown, some segments with patches formed by dark-brown or brown scales. Labial palpus bent upwards; second palpomere broadened, pale yellowish brown; first palpomere about 3/4 as long as the second; pale yellowish brown outwardly, more greyish brown ventrally, with a greyish-brown tip.

Thorax: Shiny dark brown. Hind tibia shiny pale yellowish brown, proximal greyish dorsally and blackish, distally, whitish apically; median spurs shiny pale yellowish brown, inner spur twice as long as outer one; apical spurs shiny pale yellowish brown, with some black dots, inner 1/3 longer than outer. Forewing rather rectangular, ground colour shiny dark brown; costa nearly straight beyond basal 1/4; costal patch tiny triangular beyond basal 3/4; apex rounded; termen nearly straight; fringes shiny dark brown. Hindwing dark greyish brown; fringes dark greyish, with a fine pale-yellowish basal line.

Abdomen ( Fig. 12D ): Shiny dark brown, with a yellow tip; dorsal spinous zones with strong spines; zone of tergite VI elongated, with a pair of hair-pencils between tergite VII and VIII; segment VII with V-shaped, sclerotized sclerite dorsally and a large fan-shaped plate ventrally.

Male genitalia ( Figs 12C, C 1 ): Uncus deeply emarginated into U-shape, directed distally. Basal part of gnathos tongue-shaped, slightly upturned distally with round apex; median process gently bent downward beyond half. Tegumen weakly sclerotized, roundly concave on anterior margin. Valva broad; costa gently concave, with slight expansion basally, sclerotized along costal margin; cucullus long, nearly parallel-sided, about four times than the width, densely setose; apex rounded; sacculus invisible. Vinculum banded, weakly sclerotized. Juxta rather small, with triangular median plate. Aedeagus as long as valva; dorsal margin gently arched before 1/3, sharply terminated dorsally, ventral margin strongly bent in basal 1/4; cornuti consisting of a long, straight cluster of spiniform scales along ventral margin beyond basal 2/5, the other short cluster of spines dorso-distally.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 12E ): Apophyses anteriores about 2/3 the length of apophyses posteriores. Abdominal sternite VIII emarginated medially. Antrum quadrate, weakly sclerotized, about half the length of ductus bursae. Ductus bursae short, about 1/4 the length of corpus bursae. Corpus bursae extremely large, wrinkled on ventral surface; signum semi-ovate, weakly sclerotized.

Distribution. Liberia ( Nimba Mts.).

Etymology. Named after the type locality, Mt. Nima. An adjective in the nominative singular.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A, Topographic map of the Guinea Highlands (Wikipedia.org./wiki/Guinea_Highlands/, Tom Radulovich, CC BY- SA 4.0, colours adapted); B, Blue itabirit at Blue Lake in laminar formation with other minerals (photo: A.-J Dutton, 2022); C, View from the NW-SE-exposed mountain ridge to the main ridge of Nimba Mountains in Liberia, in the middle with the excavations for iron ore. (photo: A.-J. Dutton, 2022); D, Blue Lake and its surroundings showing the extent of iron ore mining in the southern part of the Nimba Mountains (photo: T. Karisch, 2022); E, Cloud covered main ridge of the southern part of the Nimba Mountains (photo: A.-J Dutton).

FIGURE 12.A, Thubdora nimbaensis Karisch & Park, sp. nov.:A, male (holotype); B, head with labial palpus; C, male genitalia (gen. slide no. 4149/Karisch); C1, ditto, aedeagus; D, abdomen V–VIII; E, female genitalia (gen. slide no. 4185/Karisch).