Porphyrosela desmodivora De Prins, 2012

Prins, Jurate De & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2012, Systematics, revisionary taxonomy, and biodiversity of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), Zootaxa 3594 (1), pp. 1-283 : 169-171

63. Porphyrosela desmodivora De Prins , new species

( Figs 116 , 414 )

Diagnosis. Although the available specimens of P. desmodivora do not possess intact genitalia, the wing pattern and natural history data provide enough characters to diagnose this new species. The forewing pattern of P. desmodivora differs from that of P. homotropha by the more brownish ground colour. Porphyrosela desmodivora is speckled with brownish, dark grey, rectangular scales. The size of strigulae is also different: in P. desmodivora the third costal and dorsal strigulae are small, smaller than first costal and dorsal strigulae, dirty white and largely indistinct. In P. homotropha these two strigulae are the largest strigulae, bright white and bold, and very distinct. Both P. gautengi and P. desmodivora have three costal strigulae on the forewing, but P. desmodivora differs from P. gautengi by its ground colour: P. desmodivora has a dense irroration of brown scales, whereas P. gautengi is unicolorous ochreous. The coloration of head and legs is also different between those two species (see description below). None of the Afrotropical species of Porphyrosela , except P. desmodivora , feeds on Desmodium .

Note: Four species of Porphyrosela feed on Desmodium plants worldwide: the Australasian Porphyrosela aglaozona ( Meyrick, 1882) , the Palaearctic and Oriental P. alternata Kumata, 1993 , the New World P. desmodiella ( Clemens, 1859) , and the Oriental P. neodoxa ( Meyrick, 1916) ( De Prins & De Prins 2005, 2006).

Porphyrosela desmodivora significantly differs from P. desmodiella , because the latter possesses two tranverse fasciae (10 specimens of P. desmodiella , belonging to the collection of Lord Walsingham and deposited in the collection of BMNH, drawer Mi 10019; see also Braun 1908: pl. XXIV, figs 14–15). It also differs from P. aglaozona and P. neodoxa by forewing pattern. In P. aglaozona the forewing has four costal and three dorsal strigulae, in P. neodoxa three costal and two dorsal strigulae whereas in P. desmodivora three costal and three dorsal strigulae are present on the forewing ( Meyrick 1916; Wessels 2010). Porphyrosela desmodivora resembles P. alternata , but differs from it by ground colour and by the pattern of the apical part of forewing. Additional characters that are diagnostic include: in P. alternata i) strigulae are large semi-round or round shaped; ii) strigulae are approximately of equal size; iii) the gaps between strigulae are approximately as large as the diameter of strigulae; iv) the first dorsal strigula is large and bold. In P. desmodivora i) the strigulae are long rectangular shaped; ii) strigulae have more than 2× difference in size; iii) the gaps between strigulae are 3× and larger than the width of strigula; iv) the first dorsal strigula in P. desmodivora is small, hardly visible. The above mentioned characters are summarized in tables 6 and 7.

Holotype: ♂, [1] ‘Kamerun [ Cameroon] / Ekona / 20.iv.1938 / [leg.] Buhr S. G.; [2] ‘Mine an [on] / Desmodium / adscendens / 8.52’; [3] ‘Glas [preparation] No 61’; [4] ‘Einige Kleinschmetterlinge aus oberseitigen Platzminen (M.) / an Desmodium adscendens (Papilion.) / Ekona / 20.iv.1938 ’ [printed in red on a slender long white piece of paper, folded and pinned under the specimen]; [5] ‘Holotype ♂ / Porphyrosela / desmodivora / De Prins, 2012 ’, in ZMHB.

Paratype: 1 ♂ (abdomen damaged). 1♂: Kamerun [Cameroon], Ekona, 20.iv.1938, [leg.] Buhr S. G; mine an [on] Desmodium adscendens , 8.52, in ZMHB.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 116 ). Forewing length: 1.15–1.45 mm.

Head: Vertex tufted with short ochreous piliform scales, frons smooth, metally shiny, mainly from long narrow piliform scales, but bearing a few pale, less shiny, broader almost rounded appressed scales on vertex-frons boundary projecting ventrally. Labial palpus as long as diameter of eye, drooping, directed downwards, pale baige, basal palpomere light brown, a very slender line of tiny brown dots running along front side of two basal palpomeres. Haustellum short, pale beige. Antenna slightly shorter than forewing, consisting of 27–28 flagellomeres, basal part of antenna light brown, midden part pale and gradually getting darker brownish towards apex, apical flagellomeres brown; pedicel slightly longer than following flagellomere, brownish beige; scape shorter and thicker than pedicel, dorsally loosely covered with appressed, short, brownish, piliform scales, with 5–6 short stiff brownish hair-like pecten.

Thorax: Uniformly brownish, same basic colour as forewings; tegulae concolourous with thorax. Forewing ground colour greyish ochreous, speckled with brownish, dark grey rectangular dots with three costal and three dorsal dirty white strigulae, first costal strigula at 1/3 of forewing, large dirty white patch, reaching midline of forewing, irregularly rounded shaped, edged roundly with with blackish brown small rectangular scales irregularly surrounding first costal strigula; second costal strigulae twice smaller than first costal strigula, slightly beyond middle of forewing, dirty white, semcircular, edged on both sides by elongate recrangular brownish black scales; third costal strigula is smaller than first costal strigula, but slightly larger than second costal strigula, situated near apex, shiny white, irregular spot-shaped, without distinctive edging; first dorsal strigula small, at 1/4, semicircular, situated just basally of first costal strigula, dirty white, hardly visible, edged with blackish brown scales, except on dorsum, second dorsal strigula at 1/2 of dorsum, situated basally of second costal strigula, narrow, rectangular, just not reaching midline of forewing, irregularly edged from all sides except dorsum, third dorsal strigula situated in middle of gap between second and third costal strigulae, basally tornus, irregularly elongate, with apical part extending beyond midline of forewing, insignificantly edged on both sides with irregular row of blackish brown fuscous scales, apical scales longer, brightly ochreous and dark brown tipped, forming an inconspicuous fringe short line; fringe short pale greyish at apex and termen, gradually getting longer and becoming pale greyish with slight ochreous golden shade at tornus. Hindwing brownish ochreous, fringe of same colour as hindwing. Fore femur fuscous with metallic shine, fore tibia and tarsus, except tarsomere III, pale grey with metallic shine, tarsomere III and apex of tarsus dark brownish grey; mid-femur fuscous grey with brownish shadowing, mid-tibia pale grey with a weak metallic shine, tibial spurs dirty white with metallic shine, tarsus dirty white with strong metallic shine possessing a slight bronze shading towards apex of tarsus, on tarsomeres III–V, a few dark grey tiny piliform scales present on subbasal, middle, and apex of mid-trasomere I; hind femur ochreous fuscous with metallic shine, hind tibia shiny ochreous irrorated with blackish brown scales with dark grey erected hairs, pale grey patch at subbase and ochreous bronze apex of hind tibia, median spurs short, ca. 1/3 of hind tibial length, white with slight bronze sading at base, apical spurs short, white; hind tarsus dark ochreous fuscous with slight lighter shading at apical tarsomeres.

Abdomen: Dark brownish grey. Descaled sternum VIII of male small, rounded apically.

Male genitalia (damaged). Tegumen subconical, rounded apically, strongly sclerotized; basal arms of tegumen short, narrow, strongly sclerotized, curved, dilating from each with smooth anastomosis into median suture of tegumen, crossing dorsal side of tegumen.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet combines the generic name of the host plant and the Latin word vorare, meaning ‘greedily eating’, referring to the ability of the larva to consume its host leaf quickly.

Habitat. Unknown.

Host plant(s). Fabaceae : Desmodium adscendens (Sw.) DC.

Flight period. Adults were collected in late April.

Distribution ( Fig. 414 ). Recorded only from the type locality in West Cameroon.

Figures

FIGURES 111–116. Adults. Scale bar 1 mm. 111, Phyllonorycter ruwenzori, holotype ♂, Uganda, Rwenzori Mountains, Bundibugyo, 22.viii–3.ix.1952, leg. D.S. Fletcher, in BMNH. 112, Phyllonorycter silvicola, holotype ♀, Kenya, Kakamega Forest, 31.iii.2003, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000003277. 113, Phyllonorycter umukarus, holotype ♀, Rwanda, Nyungwe, mine 28.vii.2008, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000005152. 114, Cremastobombycia kipepeo, holotype ♂, Kenya, Arabuko Sokoke Forest, 18.iii.2004, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000003285. 115, Cremastobombycia morogorene, holotype ♂, Tanzania, Morogoro, 30.viii.1992, leg. L. Aarvik, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000006148. 116, Porphyrosela desmodivora, paratype ♂, Cameroon, Ekona, 20.iv.1938, leg. S.G. Buhr, in ZMHB.

FIGURES 403–414. Distribution of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae species. 403, Phyllonorycter gozmanyi. 404, Phyllonorycter maererei. 405, Phyllonorycter mwatawalai. 406, Phyllonorycter ocimellus. 407, Phyllonorycter pavoniae. 408, Phyllonorycter rhynchosiae. 409, Phyllonorycter ruwenzori. 410, Phyllonorycter silvicola. 411, Phyllonorycter umukarus. 412, Cremastobombycia kipepeo. 413, Cremastobombycia morogorene. 414, Porphyrosela desmodivora.