taxonID	type	description	language	source
039887CDFF87FF9B6FB1A946FCBAFE4E.taxon	description	(Fig. 1)	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF87FF9B6FB1A946FCBAFE4E.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined: Türkiye; Diyarbakır Province, Eğil District, 1 ♂ Yatır Village, 16.06.2019, leg. Y. Orak; Mardin Province, Savur District, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ Başkavak, 18.06.2022, leg. M. Kemal, K. Akın, E. Seven.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF87FF9B6FB1A946FCBAFE4E.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Afghanistan (Amsel 1970), Iran (Amsel 1961) and Türkiye (this study).	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF87FF9B6FB1A946FCBAFE4E.taxon	discussion	Remarks: When Amsel (1961) first described this species, he also provided a description and illustration of the male genitalia; however, despite having female specimens at his disposal, he did not include any description of the female genitalia. Later, Amsel (1970) reported 4 male and 2 female specimens from Afghanistan, and in that study also he did not provide any description or information concerning the female genitalia. Finally, Alipanah et al. 2024, mentioned 4 male and 13 female specimens collected from various parts of Iran. While they provided an illustration of the adult specimen, no description or depiction of the female genitalia was included. Notably, a distinct difference in the external morphology of the adult specimen was observed, particularly in coloration. Their specimen exhibited olive green to brown hues, whereas the specimen examined in the present study displays a more brick-brown coloration. For this reason, the specimens in Türkiye were initially considered a potential new subspecies. However, in Amsel's (1961) original description, the general coloration of the species was noted as brown, which aligns more closely with the specimens examined in the present study than with the specimen reported by Alipanah et al. (2024). Furthermore, in light of the aforementioned information that no prior description or illustration of the female genitalia could be found in the literature the female genital structure is described and illustrated now.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF87FF9B6FB1A946FCBAFE4E.taxon	description	Female genitalia (Figs. 2 a-b): Papillae anales suboval. Apophysis anterior about 1.35 x apophysis posterior. Antrum very slightly sclerotized. Bursa copulatrix roundish, signum absent. Ductus bursae thin, weak and distally swollen. Ductus seminalis at the apex of swollen ductus bursae.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF85FF9D6FB1A8D6FE06FD0A.taxon	materials_examined	Type material. Holotype ♂, Türkiye, Diyarbakır Province, Eğil District, Kazanlı Kübyat Village, next to the Dam Protection Association, 650 m, 13. v. 2020, leg. Y. Orak, in BEU (G. P. 393, K. Akın).	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF85FF9D6FB1A8D6FE06FD0A.taxon	description	Description. Adult morphology (Fig. 3 a): Wingspan 18 mm. Head (Figs. 3 b-c). Greyish beige, sprinkled with blackish-grey. Antennae filiform, with sinus and cilia whitish cream. Cilia nearly 2 x length the diameter of flagellomere. Labial palps oblique, segment- 2 very long about 5 x length of segment- 3 and almost 2 x the diameter of the eye. There is a dark cream-coloured bundle of scales to arise from base of the proboscis (fig. 3 b – blue arrow). Thorax. Patagia and tegulae same colour as the head. Forewings greyish-beige with blackish-grey darker areas (in the costal and anal areas). Discal spots obscure. Post-median line poorly defined, sinuous medially and lighter coloured. Antemedial line slightly zigzagged ending with a deep nothch before reaching the dorsum and it is lighter coloured. Hindwings creamy white, darker towards the edges. Cilia creamy white. Legs creamy ventrally, with blackish grey scales dorsally. Male genitalia (Figs. 3 d-g). Uncus oblong triangular. Gnathos swollen medially and tapering towards the tip. Bilobed sclerotization at base of uncus / gnathos (gnathos clasp) (fig. 3 d blue arrow). Tegumen broad. Valva narrow and with small editum at base (fig. 3 d red arrows), wide from nearly 2 / 5 onwards. Sacculus short. Juxta U-V shaped. Vinculum nearly U-shaped. Aedeagus slightly curved ventrally, with two cornuti (one slightly longer and thicker than the other). Uneverted vesica apparently partially with grainy sclerotization. Coremata developed, composed with paired three various scale tufts placed on the sclerotized plate. Female is unknown.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF85FF9D6FB1A8D6FE06FD0A.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The name of the species is dedicated to the second author's wife.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF85FF9D6FB1A8D6FE06FD0A.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Tephris yildizae sp. nov. differs morphologically from all known Tephris spp. Genitally, it is very similar to Tephris fractilineella Chrétien, 1911 (distribution: Algeria, Iraq, Palestine and Tunisia (Slamka 2019 )), especially in terms of genital armature. However, the new species differs in the presence of 2 cornuti in the aedeagus and the gnathos clasp (fig. 3 d blue arrow). Habitat (Fig. 4). Valley, wetland edge. There are sparse vegetation of Quercus, Pinus, Salix, Populus, Amygdalus, and Ficus trees in the habitat.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF85FF9D6FB1A8D6FE06FD0A.taxon	discussion	Remarks. The genus Tephris is represented by 11 species in the Globiz (Global Information System on Pyraloidea), with the majority (7 species) distributed in the Palaearctic region (Nuss et al. 2003 – 2024). The first record of this genus (T. verruculella Ragonot, 1887) in Türkiye was reported by Akın in 2015 from Bitlis province. Currently, the genus is represented in Türkiye by 2 species (T. verruculella Ragonot, 1887 and T. nigrisparsella Ragonot, 1887) (Kemal & Koçak 2020). G. Leraut (2021) divided the genus Tephris into 3 subgenera: Tephris, Fractephris and Orchidotephris by defining the two new subgenera Fractephris and Orchidotephris, based primarily on notable differences in the morphology female genitalia. Owing to the absence of female specimen, it is not possible to assign T. yildizae sp. nov., to a subgenus at this time. Tephris yildizae sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Tephris based on the head morphology of the adult individual — particularly the structure of the antennae and labial palps — which corresponds with the diagnostic features described by Ragonot (1890). Furthermore, the male genital armature and coremata show apparent similarity to those of T. fractilineella. However, in fractilineella are different structures at the base of valva (in the sacculus area) (see Leraut 2014, Slamka 2019) (in yildizae is base of both valvae slightly damaged) and presence of a single cornutus, also external characters of fractilineella are different, which raises some questions about its placement in the genus Tephris. The systematic placement of this species is expected to be clarified through future molecular analyses based on a broader sampling effort.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF83FF9D6FB1A9D4FEA9FA92.taxon	description	(Fig. 5)	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF83FF9D6FB1A9D4FEA9FA92.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined: Türkiye, Diyarbakır Province, Eğil District, 1 ♂ 2 ♀ Balaban Village, 30.08.2021; 2 ♂ Baysu Village, 03.08.2019; 1 ♂ Düzlük Village, 05.07.2021; 21 ♂ 25 ♀ Selman Village, 26.06.2021, leg. Y. Orak.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF83FF9D6FB1A9D4FEA9FA92.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Iraq, Iran (Amsel 1959; 1961) and Türkiye (this study).	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
039887CDFF83FF9D6FB1A9D4FEA9FA92.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Alipanah and Asselbergs (2018) redefined the female genitalia of the species and provided detailed information on the antennal structure of the adult and the gnathos of the male genitalia. They also evaluated the taxonomic status of A. kurdistanella f. unicolorella, described by Amsel in 1961, in terms of its designation as a subspecies or form.	en	Akin, Kesran, Orak, Yilmaz (2025): New Pyraloids (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from Southeast Türkiye with the description of Tephris yildizae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5686 (2): 270-276, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5686.2.6
