Dichrorampha sakartvelana, Zlatkov, Boyan, 2016

Zlatkov, Boyan, 2016, Taxonomy of two montane Dichrorampha species from the Balkans and Caucasus (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae), Nota Lepidopterologica 39 (1), pp. 13-20 : 16-19

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Tortricidae

Dichrorampha sakartvelana sp. n. Figs 5-6, 11-13, 15

Material.

Holotype ♀, with three labels: "Georgia, Great Caucasus | Mountains, Caucasus Range, | near Abano pass | 2280 m N 42°15 ’54’’ E 45°30 ’17’’ | 27.vii.2014, netting | leg. B. Zlatkov", "Holotypus ♀ | Dichrorampha | sakartvelana | det. B. Zlatkov 2015 [red label]", " BFUS | ♀ | Genitalia slide | No. 27.vii.2014/1", BFUS. - Paratype ♂, with three labels: the first as in Holotype; the other two: "Paratypus ♂ | Dichrorampha | sakartvelana | det. B. Zlatkov 2015 [red label]", "NMNHS | ♂ | Genitalia slide | No. 27.vii.2014/2", NMNHS.

Description.

Adult (Figs 5-6). Sexual dimorphism subtle. Head: Frons and vertex covered with brown-grey scales. Palpus labialis with whitish basal and brown-grey distal segment; the second segment with whitish base and brown tuft at the distal end. Antennae covered with dark grey scales. Thorax: Nota, patagia and tegulae uniformly grey, thorax underside (including coxae) whitish, legs brown. Forewings comparatively wide, in male with costal fold with 1/5 of the length of the costal edge. Forewing length male 8.65, female 8.90 mm, wingspan in set specimens 18.5 -19 mm. The specimens are worn, but preserved areas on the forewing upperside have pale greenish-grey overlaying scales which apparently do not form an obvious pattern. No markings are visible with the exception of five pairs of faint distal costal strigulae (pairs 5-9 sensu Baixeras, 2002). Three black terminal dots are present. Underside uniformly brown. Cilia creamy with pale brown margin. Hindwings with pale brown upperside and whitish underside. Cilia whitish. Abdomen covered with pale grey scales.

Male genitalia (Figs 11-12): Tegumen bearing a small lobe as uncus. Valva broad basally with wide basal cavity. Costal edge slightly convex. Sacculus nearly parallel to costal edge, indistinctly concave, ending with nearly straight angle. Ventral incision elongated, trapezoidal. Neck of valva slender, more than two times narrower than the basal part of valva and relatively long, 3/4 of its length. Cucullus with large dorsal lobe, densely covered with long setae, and a small rectangular ventral prominence. Phallus slender, ca. 3/5 of the length of valva, bent ventrally in the basal part, with membranous area extending at first on right, then on dorsal side. A large triangular prominence pointed dorsally at the right side of the tip is present. Circa 20 sockets of deciduous cornuti are counted.

Female genitalia (Fig. 13): Papillae anales wide. Apophyses posteriores equal in length to the apophyses anteriores, the latter look naturally deformed. Sterigma sclerotised, slightly asymmetrical, trapezoidal, with two incisions on the posterior margin of the postostial part. Ostium wide. Subgenital plate trapezoidal with distinctly sclerotised lateroposterior margins and rounded posterior angles. Antrum with the length of the membranous part of ductus bursae, well sclerotised, remarkably wide, nearly symmetrical, wineglass shaped and enveloped in a thin cuticular membrane visible after staining. The proximal sclerotisation of ductus bursae is barely discernible only under higher magnification. Ductus seminalis emerging at the middle of the membranous ductus bursae. Corpus bursae ovoid. A single moderately sized signum is present.

Diagnosis.

The new species is characterized externally by uniformly coloured forewings (though the specimens are not fresh) and large size. The male genitalia resemble some species of the "section petiverellae" (sensu Danilevsky and Kuznetzov 1968), which apparently are closely related to Dichrorampha sakartvelana sp. n. Dichrorampha flavidorsana Knaggs, 1867 and Dichrorampha filipjevi (Danilevsky, 1948) have similarly shaped valva, but the apical prominence of the phallus is pointed ventrally, and the ventral process of the cucullus is much larger in Dichrorampha filipjevi . Dichrorampha petiverella (Linnaeus, 1758) and Dichrorampha proxima (Danilevsky, 1948) are also similar in general, but they have two distinct processes of the cucullus. Female genitalia do not demonstrate clear affinities to any Palaearctic Dichrorampha .

Preimaginal stages.

Unknown.

Biology.

The moths were collected at the end of July, but their condition presumes that they are on the wing earlier. The larval host plant is most probably Achillea sp. above which the moths were flying (plant material was not preserved and an exact identification is thus not possible). The habitat (Fig. 15) is a subalpine meadow at an elevation of ca. 2300 m with denuded rocks where the host plant grows.

Distribution.

Known from the type locality only.

Etymology.

The name of the species is an adjective, derived from the autonym for Georgia, Sakartvelo, and the specific ending for Tortricidae -ana.