Mesophleps albilinella (Park, 1990)

Li, Houhun & Sattler, Klaus, 2012, A taxonomic revision of the genus Mesophleps Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) 3373, Zootaxa 3373, pp. 1-82 : 42

Mesophleps albilinella -group

Wingspan 8.0–17.0 mm. Labial palpus thin, segment 2 smooth-scaled or dorsal scales very slightly raised distally; segment 3 about two-thirds length of 2; colour pattern variable, 2 black with white distal ring, 3 white, sometimes with black tip; in M. albilinella 2 completely black, 3 black in basal half, distally white. Forewing with distal half or three-fifths dark along costa, dark area interrupted at about distal fifth by oblique white line.

Genitalia ♂ ( Figs 8, 76–79). Ventral surface of uncus convex (not concave and hood-like). Gnathos hooks small, arising fairly close together. Valva simple, with parallel margins. Posterior margin of vinculum with pair of conspicuous sclerotized spines. Phallus with relatively long thin apical portion.

Genitalia ♀ ( Figs 9, 105–107, 135–138). Apophyses anteriores and posteriores relatively short, dorso-posterior extension of segment VIII densely set with microtrichia (visible at high magnification), anterior margin of sternite VIII convex, area around ostium bursae distinctly wrinkled; sclerotized antrum short, tubular; ductus bursae long, thin, entering corpus bursae posteriorly or postero-laterally ( M. albilinella ), ductus seminalis laterally from posterior part of corpus bursae but some distance from entrance of ductus bursae.

Biology. Host-plants mostly unknown. The larvae of one species ( M. coffeae sp. nov.) feed in the berries of Coffea (Rubiaceae) .

Distribution ( Figs 23, 24). Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia (Borneo), Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia (Queensland), East Africa ( Kenya, Uganda), West Africa ( Sierra Leone).