Orthotrichia meyi, Wells & De Moor, 2020

Wells, Alice & De Moor, Ferdinand C., 2020, Hydroptilidae (Trichoptera) of Angola, a new genus, seven new species, and five new records, Zootaxa 4868 (4), pp. 495-514 : 508-509

Orthotrichia meyi sp. nov.

( Figs 45–47 )

Holotype male, [CAW 765A, slide], ANGOLA, Moxico Province, Cuembo River, Site 9— Cuembo source lake (Salia Kembo), Light trap, -13.1363, 19.04529, 04/xi/2016, I.S. Ferreira.

Diagnosis. Distinct from most other central African species of Orthotrichia in having the male genitalia more or less symmetrical and having the bilobed processes of the inferior appendages widely divergent.

Description. Male. Length of each forewing 1.7 mm (n = 1). Antennae damaged, flagellomeres rectangular in profile. Abdominal segment VII with stout midventral lobe bearing strong setae. Genitalia: segment IX with apical angles produced distally to form processes, each tipped with one seta, dorsally with slender, curved strap terminating in pair of hooks; inferior appendages forming pair of sclerotised pincer-like processes ventrally with stouter pair of conical processes dorsally and bilobed processes slender, elongate and widely divergent.

Etymology. The species meyi is named for Wolfram Mey a Trichoptera researcher and colleague from Germany.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Remarks. No other African species has been described as having the bilobed processes of the inferior appendages in the form of widely divergent lobes; however, these structures are often extremely difficult to see, so simply may have been missed in some species descriptions. In some respects, this species resembles Jabitrichia flagellum ( Marlier 1965 [1966]) from a similar Angolan site, the shores of Lake Calundo, which was described in Orthotrichia but, as recognised by Kjaerandsen and Andersen (2002), J. flagellum has a long filament at the apex of the phallus and is clearly misplaced in that genus.

Figures

FIGURES 45–47. Orthotrichia meyi sp. nov. [CAW 765A], male genitalia. 45, ventral; 46, dorsal; 47, left lateral. Abbreviations: IX, X = abdominal segment IX and tergite X; b. pr. = bilobed process; inf. app. = inferior appendage (paired); lt. lb. IX = lateral lobe of segment IX (paired); me. ap. = mesoventral apotome at base of inferior appendages and bilobed process; me. lb. = medial lobe on segment VIII; ph. = phallus.