Meleonoma puncticulata, Wang, 2020

Zhu, Xiaoju & Wang, Shuxia, 2022, Taxonomy of the genus Meleonoma Meyrick, 1914 (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae) from China (IV), with descriptions of twelve new species, Zootaxa 5087 (4), pp. 501-521 : 509

The puncticulata species-group

Diagnosis. Forewing length 4.8–8.0 mm, with the ratio of length to maximum width 2.8 to 3.2. Moths of the puncticulata species-group share a yellow forewing covered with dark scales or a greyish-brown forewing that usually has a discal, discocellular and plical dots; in the male genitalia, the uncus is sub-triangular, club-shaped, or long and spine-shaped, the gnathos is absent or only sclerotized laterally when present, and the sacculus is separated from the valva or only free distally. No significant characters are found in the female genitalia that can separate species of this group from those of the other species-groups.

The puncticulata species-group includes six known species: M. conica Wang, 2020 (In Zhu et al., 2020), M. leishana (Wang, 2006) ( Wang 2006b) , M. puncticulata Wang, 2020 (In Zhu et al. 2020), M. pultschukella Lvovsky, 2019 , M. robustispina Wang, 2020 (In Zhu et al. 2020) and M. sticta (Wang, 2006) ( Wang 2006a) . We describe eight new species from China below.