Alucita deja Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, 2020

Ustjuzhanin, Peter, Kovtunovich, Vasily, Maicher, Vincent, Safian, Szabolcs, Delabye, Sylvain, Streltzov, Alexander & Tropek, Robert, 2020, Even hotter hotspot: description of seven new species of many-plumed moths (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae) from Mount Cameroon, ZooKeys 935, pp. 103-119 : 103

Alucita deja Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich sp. nov. Figs 13-15

Type material.

Holotype • male (NECJU 201906), Cameroon, Bamboo Camp, 350 m a.s.l., Mount Cameroon (SW slope), 4.0879°N, 9.0505°E, 20.XII.2014, lgt. V. Maicher, Sz. Sáfián, Š. Janeček, R. Tropek. Paratypes • 1 female (CUK), PlanteCam, 1100 m a.s.l., Mount Cameroon (SW slope), 4.1175°N, 9.0709°E, 11-18.XII.2014, lgt. V. Maicher, Sz. Sáfián, Š. Janeček, R. Tropek • 1 female (NECJU 201909), PlanteCam, 1100 m a.s.l., Mount Cameroon (SW slope), 4.1175°N, 9.0709°E, 11-23.IV.2015, lgt. V. Maicher, Sz. Sáfián, Š. Janeček, R. Tropek.

Diagnosis.

Alucita deja differs from other Alucita species by the distinctive white mirrors on its abdomen. The new species’ male genitalia are similar to A. janeceki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, 2018 in the absence of valves and the shape of the saccus (illustrated in Ustjuzhanin et al. 2018), but A. deja differs in the smoothly rounded apex of its uncus, the apically sharp anellus arms, jagged acicular cornuti in the aedeagus, and the wing colouration.

External characters.

Female wingspan 15 mm, male wingspan 13 mm. Head with pure-white appressed scales. Thorax and tegulae also pure white anteriorly, sharply contrasting with dark brown posterior portions. Labial palpus short, 1.5 times as long as longitudinal eye diameter. Third segment short, not tapered apically. Antenna brown. Scape pure white. Wings and fringes dark brown. First lobe of forewing with white band around 1/3, narrow white band around 3/5 and yellowish-brown band edged with white around 4/5. Several irregular fine white cross-lines across all other lobes and fringes of both wings. Hind leg yellowish-brown. Fourth, sixth and last tergites of abdomen with mirrors of pure-white scales. Abdomen completely pure-white ventrally.

Male genitalia.

Uncus straight, long, of even width. Gnathos short, wide, apically expanded. Valves not developed. Anellus arms straight, apically sharp. Saccus shaped as elongated oval, with small notch at apex. Aedeagus robust, slightly shorter than entire genital structure, with jagged acicular cornuti from its medial part to apex.

Female genitalia.

Papilla analis narrow, elongated. Posterior apophyses thin, straight, shorter than anterior apophyses. Antrum wide, sclerotized, shaped as truncated tube with extended ostium. Outer edge of ostium jagged. Ductus wide and corrugated at its confluence to antrum and bursa copulatrix. Ductus seminalis short, bag-like, membranous, departing from confluence of ductus to antrum. Bursa copulatrix of irregular oval shape with elongated protrusion at apex.

Distribution.

Cameroon.

Flight period.

April, December.

Etymology.

The species name is a noun in apposition in honour of the limnologist and cyanobacteria specialist, Andreja Kust, a dear soulmate of Vincent Maicher.

Figures

Figures 13 - 15. Alucita deja Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov. 13 adult female, Paratype, NEJCU 14 male genitalia, Holotype, preparation slide no. 201906 15 female genitalia, Paratype, preparation slide no. 201909. Scale bar: 5 mm.