Yponomeuta athyris Meyrick, 1928

Agassiz, David J. L., 2019, The Yponomeutidae of the Afrotropical region (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea), Zootaxa 4600 (1), pp. 1-69 : 31

35. Yponomeuta athyris Meyrick, 1928

Hyponomeuta athyris Meyrick, 1928:415

Type locality: South Africa: Kwazulu Natal , Weenen .

Illustrated by Clarke (1965) and listed by Walker (1864) as part of British Museum collections.

Redescription of adult ( Plate 6 ). Wingspan 15 mm. Head and appendages white, labial palpus drooping, segment 3 longer than segment 2; Scape white, flagellum white with brown and white annulation on ventral side. Thorax and tegula white with pale brown spots. Forewing ground colour white, markings brown; a flattened triangular marking in fold, some blotches along dorsum, beyond tornus and towards costa in terminal area, two brown spots on termen, fringe white. Hindwing pale grey, fringe concolorous.

Male genitalia: not examined.

Female genitalia: not examined.

Diagnosis. The whitish forewing with markings appearing as a broken oblique fascia make this unlike any other Yponomeuta species. However, since the species is known only by a single specimen, the range of possible variation cannot be assessed.

Biology. Not known.

Distribution. Known only from the holotype, Weenen, Kwazulu Natal, Republic of South Africa.

Type material. Holotype; Republic of South Africa, Natal , xii.1926 H.P. Thomasset ( NHMUK).

Comments: The specimen is not in good condition and lacks abdomen. It is even uncertain that it belongs to Yponomeutini . It is left in the genus Yponomeuta in which it was described but is here placed among other genera until further material is available for study.

Figures

PLATE 6. The codes X1 to X6 refer to presently undescribed species, and are used to identify the specimens, and are also used in the museums where they are deposited.