Casignetella pseudoheihensis Budashkin et Akulov, 2023

Akulov, E. N. & Budashkin, Yu. I., 2023, THREE NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS CASIGNETELLA STRAND, 1928 (LEPIDOPTERA: COLEOPHORIDAE) FROM SOUTHERN SIBERIA, Far Eastern Entomologist 489, pp. 21-28 : 24-25

Casignetella pseudoheihensis Budashkin et Akulov , sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 091FC485-D651-47FB-B409-0E8AB7785CA5

Figs 5–7

TYPE MATERIAL. Holotype: ♂, Russia: Krasnoyarsk Region, Emelyanovskii District, Minino settl., Pyatkova river , forest-steppe, dry slope, at light, 18.VIII 2018 coll. E. Akulov ( ZIN) . Paratype: ♂, Russia: Krasnoyarsk Region, Emelyanovskii District, Minino settl., Karakusha river , forest-steppe, dry slope, at light, 12.VIII 2023 coll. E. Akulov ( ZIN) .

DESCRIPTION. Wingspan 16–17 mm ( Fig. 5 ). Labial palps moderately long, 2.5 times as long as eye diameter. The third segment is 0.75 times the length of the second segment, raised obliquely upwards at a slight angle and covered with more or less smooth brownishdirty-white scales, lighter on the lateral and upper sides and darker in the lower half of the segment. The second segment is completely covered with rather long protruding scales the same as the third segment in color and almost also lighter on the upper side and partly darker on the sides and lighter (dirty-white) in the its lower part. Ventral apical tuft of the second segment of labial palps is very long. The head is covered mainly with bicolor scales, which are brownish in the lower part and dirty-white in the upper part, therefore in far as general, it looks quite variegated. The coloration of the thorax is similar to that of the head as it can be judged from a single not very fresh specimen we studied. Scape covered with more or less smooth brownish scales, flagellum with indistinct alternating darker brownish wide and light narrow dirty-white rings. Forewings brown in the anterior half with large inclusions of dirty-white scales forming blury intermittent dirty-white stripes along almost all veins running into the costal margin of the wing. On the costal margin, such scales form rather narrow lightening of the wing. A few relatively small clusters of dark brown scales scattered over the entire area of the wing; only in an external field, partially merging they form several rather large dark spots touching each other. Cilia is dark, brownish-gray; in the apical half of the outer edge of the wing it consists of scales of two colors: the deeper scales dark brounishgray as the rest of the cilia whereas outer scales, laying in one row above the former scales are shorter and flat-wide dirty-white. Hindwings are gray with the same dark brownish-gray cilia as the forewings. Spiny plates on abdominal tergites of medium length, rather narrow ( Fig. 6 )

Male genitalia ( Fig. 7 ). Gnathos broadly oval. Transtilla branches narrowly triangular, contiguous, not terminally pointed. Valva of medium width, relatively short. Sacculus is well sclerotized, of medium size, its terminal outhgrowth rounded-narrow-triangular and directed outwards. Cucullus of medium length and width, club-shaped. Valvula medium size, with slightly arcuate outer margin. Phallotheca rods of the same length, short and thin, approximately in middle rather slightly arcuately curved upwards, separated throughout their length. At the top of each rod bears, there is one small curved triangular tooth. Cornutus rather long and powerful, terminally almost not pointed, nearly straight over most of its length, but has a small annular loop at the base, connecting with a small rod-shapped basal area in parallel to the main spine, but slightly set back.

DIAGNOSIS. The new species belongs to the directella -species group and is similar to C. heihensis ( Li et Zheng, 1999) ( Russia: Middle Amur region, Primorsky region; Northeastern China) ( Li & Zheng, 1999; Anikin, 2019). Externally the new species just slightly differs from C. heihensis by darker colored of wings. In male genitalia, the new species is clearly distinguished by much longer and thinner transtilla branches, noticeably longer distal sacculus outgrowth, thinner phallotheca rods, their different armament (i.e. the presence of smaller apical teeth on both phallotheca rods, whereas in C. heihensis , only one larger tooth is present on the left rod, and the right rod not armed), and much thicker cornutus.

NOTES. Previously material on this species was erroneously identified as C. heihensis ( Akulov et al., 2019) .

BIONOMY. The host plants are unknown. The holotype was collected in forest-steppe biotopes on dry slope with Pinus silvestris , Betula sp. , Populus sp. and forb-grass vegetation with the predominance of grasses Stipa pennata , S. capillata , Koeleria macrantha and other are replaced by forb meadows and marshy grass-forb-legume meadows with Medicago falcata , Onobrychis sp. , Artemisia sp. , Veronica sp. and other.

DISTRIBUTION. Russia: Krasnoyarsk Region.

ETYMOLOGY. The proposed name of the new species emphasizes its greatest similarity with C. heihensis .

Figures

Figs 5–7. Casignetella pseudoheihensis sp. n., holotype. 5 – imago; 6 – spiny plates on abdominal tergites; 6 – genitalia.