Meleonoma basiprocessa, Wang & Zhu, 2020

Wang, Shuxia & Zhu, Xiaoju, 2020, Study of the genus Meleonoma Meyrick, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae) from China, with descriptions of twenty-one new species (II), Zootaxa 4881 (2), pp. 257-289 : 261-262

Meleonoma basiprocessa sp. nov.

( Figs 4 , 26 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FE864BC8-7C3A-4CA8-A877-64FC0EE3F110

Type material. CHINA, Sichuan: Holotype ♂, Mt. E’mei (29.59°N, 103.38°E), 830 m, 13.VII.2014, leg. KJ Teng et al., slide No. YAH15170 ( NKU).

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to M. microdonta sp. nov. in the forewing pattern, but can be distinguished by the valva with a large, sub-triangular process at base on the ventral margin that is longer than the median width of the valva, the saccus ovately dilated distally and the aedeagus without a cornutus in the male genitalia; in M. microdonta , the valva has a small triangular process at base on the ventral margin that is distinctly shorter than the median width of the valva, the saccus is not dilated distally, and the aedeagus has a spine-shaped cornutus.

Description. Adult ( Fig. 4 ). Forewing length 5.0 mm.

Head greyish brown, yellow laterally; occiput yellow, tipped blackish brown medially. Labial palpus with first and second segments blackish brown, mixed with yellow scales; second segment with an indistinct yellow ring before apex; third segment yellow, with scattered blackish-brown scales. Antenna with scape blackish brown except yellow at apex; flagellum yellow, alternated with blackish brown on dorsal surface.

Thorax and tegula blackish brown mixed with yellow scales. Forewing narrowly elongate, pointed at apex; ground colour yellow, with dense black scales; costal margin with a rounded black spot at base, with a large black stripe extending from beyond basal spot widened to about basal 1/3; costal spot black, triangular, from basal 2/5 widened to before distal 1/3 horizontally; apical patch black, wide, sub-rectangular, running from apex along termen to tornus; tornal spot fused with apical patch; fold with an ovate black spot at distal 2/7; cell with an ovate black spot at basal 3/5, with smaller rounded black spot at anterior and posterior angles, touching costal spot and tornal spot respectively; dorsum with a wide black stripe on basal 2/3; fringe yellow, blackish brown before apex and around tornus. Hindwing and fringe brown. Legs yellow; on ventral surface, fore coxa blackish brown except yellow apically, femora of fore- and midlegs blackish brown except yellow apically, hind femur blackish brown, tarsi of fore- and midlegs blackish brown except yellow at base of basal tarsomere and at apices of basal two and apical one tarsomeres, hind tarsus with basal four tarsomeres blackish brown except yellow at apices, all tibiae blackish brown except yellow apically.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 26 ). Uncus with basal 3/4 broad, distal 1/4 tapered to apex, with dense short setae. Gnathos heavily sclerotized laterally, fused with tegumen anteriorly, not reaching anterior margin of tegumen. Tegumen inverted U-shaped; lateral arm elongate, uniformly wide except narrower at apex. Valva wide at base, slightly narrowed to basal 2/5, widened from basal 2/5 to middle, thereafter narrowed to rounded apex, with dense long setae; ventral margin with a large sub-triangular process at base, longer than median width of valva, rounded at apex; costa narrow, convex near base, reaching before apex; transtilla short, sub-cylindrical, slightly narrowed to rounded apex, medially joined by a membranous band. Sacculus sub-quadrate, with a curved vertical ridge before apex; apex shallowly concave, forming a triangular dorsal process and a smaller sub-rounded ventral process bearing a few tiny denticles. Saccus large and elongate, longer than uncus, ovately dilated distally, with a vertical fold along midline reaching before apex. Juxta arched in semicircle. Aedeagus with basal 3/4 tubular; distal 1/4 inflated, with two curved ribbon-like sclerites.

Female unknown.

Distribution. China (Sichuan).

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin basi- and processus, referring to the process at base of the ventral margin of the valva.

Figures

FIGURES 3–8. Adults of Meleonoma spp. 3, M. acutata sp. nov., ♂; 4, M. basiprocessa sp. nov., ♂; 5, M. bicornea sp. nov., ♂; 6, M. bidigitata sp. nov., ♂; 7, M. circinans sp. nov., ♂; 8, M. compacta sp. nov., ♂. All holotypes. Scales = 2.0 mm.

FIGURES 25–30. Male genitalia of Meleonoma spp. 25, M. acutata sp. nov., paratype, slide No. YAH15102; 26, M. basiprocessa sp. nov., holotype, slide No. YAH15170; 27, M. bicornea sp. nov., holotype, slide No. YAH15106; 28, M. bidigitata sp. nov., paratype, slide No. YAH15459; 29, M. circinans sp. nov., holotype, slide No. YAH15397; 30, M. compacta sp. nov., holotype, slide No. YAH15073. Scales = 0.2 mm.