Megalota aquilonaris Brown, 2009

Brown, John W., 2009, The discovery of Megalota in the Neotropics, with a revision of the New World species (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutini), Zootaxa 2279 (1), pp. 1-50 : 11-12

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2279.1.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5315418
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038E7928-FFCA-FF94-FDB0-E6C2FEDEFD09
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Megalota aquilonaris Brown
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

4. Megalota aquilonaris Brown View in CoL , new species Figs. 4 View FIGURES 1–12 , 28 View FIGURES 28–30 , 52 View FIGURES 52–55

Diagnosis. The forewing of M. aquilonaris lacks the pinkish overtones of M. submicans and M. synchysis . The male genitalia of M. aquilonaris are similar to those of M. vulgaris but can be distinguished by the nearly symmetrical patches of setae from the basal portions of the valvae (the patch on the right valva is much weaker in vulgaris ) and the shorter, broader, and less curved phallus, lacking the tiny apical distal thorn. The female genitalia of M. aquilonaris can be distinguished from other species of the submicans group by the greatly reduced mesal lobe of the lamella postvaginalis.

Description. Head: Vertex tawny brown, frons creamy white; labial palpus creamy white with small patches of tawny brown and dark brown. Thorax: Dorsum variable from creamy white to tawny brown, usually mixed with some darker brown. Hind tibia in male unmodified, with appressed white scales. Forewing length 6.8–8.2 mm (mean = 7.5); basal 0.3 pale brown, bordered distally by pale region separating basal patch from median fascia; median fascia concolorous with basal patch, with basal and distal edges irregular, broadest at costa forming a subtriangular patch, attenuate or obsolete by lower edge of discal cell; a linear brown band from dorsum ca. 0.75 distance from wing base to termen; a brown semicircular patch from a narrow stalk near mid-termen; entire surface of forewing usually overscaled with pale gray. Fringe brown. Hindwing brown, anal margin in male with fold poorly defined, with a few long scales. Abdomen: Brown. Male genitalia ( Fig. 28 View FIGURES 28–30 ; 4 View FIGURES 1–12 preparations examined) with tegumen subrectangular, slightly and evenly concave laterally from costa of valva to just before attachment of uncus; uncus cordate with shallow mesal notch, each lobe densely spined; socius ill-defined, membranous; valva essentially symmetrical, although elongate setae from basal portion of left valva slightly longer than those from right; triangular incurved projection from near middle of valva slightly shorter than in other members of species group; basal process of valva as in submicans , short, stout, slightly wider in middle, 2.5–3.0 times as long as wide, with 4–5 large spines at blunt distal end. Phallus slightly bent at ca. 0.4 distance from base, comparatively broad throughout, with small sclerotized region ventrally at apex. Female genitalia ( Fig. 52 View FIGURES 52–55 ; 4 View FIGURES 1–12 preparations examined) with papillae anales simple, unmodified; sterigma a sclerotized plate with an oval mesal region outlined by narrow line of sclerotization, mesal lobe reduced to narrow crescent-shaped dorsal expansion of sterigma; colliculum strongly sclerotized, extremely short, ca. 0.17 length of ductus bursae; remainder of ductus bursae membranous; corpus bursae elongaterounded; signum an irregularly rounded, sclerotized patch with 5–6 short blunt spines of variable length and size.

Holotype. Male , Mexico, San Luis Potosí, 25 mi N Tamazunchale, 3–4 Aug 1963, W. Duckworth & D. Davis ( USNM), USNM slide 128,801.

Paratypes (7♂, 3♀). MEXICO: San Luis Potosí: 25 mi N Tamazunchale , 3–4 Aug 1963 (4♂), W. Duckworth & D. Davis ( USNM) . El Salto , 8 Aug 1966 (1♂), O. S. Flint ( USNM) . El Naranjo, El Salto , 29 Jun 1965 (1♂), P. J. Spangler ( USNM) . Chiapas: Río Lacanja , 22 km N Ocosingo, 19 May 1981 (1♀), C. M. & O. S. Flint, Jr. ( USNM) . Jalisco: 2.3 mi E Durazno , 27–29 Dec 1990 (1♀), D. Faulkner & N. Bloomfield ( SDNHM) . Veracruz: Cordoba , 9 Jan 1925 (1♂, 1♀), T. Escalante ( USNM) .

Additional specimens examined. COSTA RICA: San Pedro de Montes de Oca , r.f. Croton gossypiifolius Vahl (CR889), em: 12 Dec 1932 (1♂), C. Ballou ( USNM) .

Distribution and Biology. This species is recorded from the Mexican states of Chiapas, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, and Veracruz, which includes both the eastern and western portions of the country. The single worn specimen from Costa Rica deviates slightly in genitalia and forewing maculation from specimens from Mexico, and hence, it is excluded from the type series; it was reared from Croton gossypiifolius Vahl (Euphorbiaceae) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is Latin for north or northern in reference to the northern distribution of this species.