Ethmia hendersonorum Phillips

Phillips-Rodriguez, Eugenie, Powell, Jerry A., Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H., 2014, A synopsis of the genus Ethmia Huebner in Costa Rica: biology, distribution, and description of 22 new species (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Depressariidae, Ethmiinae), with emphasis on the 42 species known from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, ZooKeys 461, pp. 1-86 : 40-41

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Depressariidae

Ethmia hendersonorum Phillips sp. n. Figures 37, 82, 127, 165

Diagnosis.

This species is most similar to Ethmia lichyi , and it can be distinguished by its larger size and FW yellowish ground color and by the antrum being lightly sclerotized in the female genitalia.

Description.

Male: FW length 17.9-18.8 mm (n = 3). Head: Labial palpus elongate, reaching crown, yellowish, with brownish marks, third segment completely black; proboscis, front and crown yellowish; occipital tufts black at mid-dorsum. Thorax: Yellowish, pronotum with five blue-black spots on posterior half. FW ground color yellowish, with a series of elongated dark marking and spots over costal half, the most conspicuous a wide line from middle of cell to termen below apex, dorsal area paler with two dark spots. HW ground color whitish becoming brownish at apex; costa with a double hairbrush, white at base becoming blackish distally. Abdomen: Dorsal scaling brown, ventral yellowish; first segment laterally with elongate ochreous-white patch concealing an area of specialized scaling which forms a pouchlike fold; genital scaling ochreous. Genitalia (Fig. 82) with uncus and gnathos absent; basal processes wide; valva emarginated at 0.5 × from base; a cluster of about 10 large spines distal.

Female: FW length 18.8-19.7 mm (n = 2). Head and thorax: As described for male, except modification on HW and abdomen. Abdomen: Genitalia (Fig. 127) with sterigma narrow; antrum with a narrow sclerotized band posteriorly; signum deeply notched.

Holotype.

Male: INB0004222359, DNA barcoded, Costa Rica: Limón: Área de Conservación La Amistad Caribe: Veragua Rain Forest, Campamento, 400 m, 19.vii.2009, R. Villalobos. Deposited in INBio. Paratypes: Costa Rica: Heredia: Cordillera Volcánica Central, Sarapiquí, 10 km SE LA Virgen, 2F 18/20.ii.2003, D. Brenes. Limón: Área de Conservación La Amistad Caribe: Veragua Rain Forest, Campamento, 400 m, 1M 1F 19.vii.2009, R. Villalobos (INBio, EME, USNM).

Distribution and biology.

Ethmia hendersonorum has been found in Costa Rica (Fig. 165) on the Caribbean slope at 400 m, but not yet in ACG. The food plants and immature stages are unknown.

Etymology.

Ethmia hendersonorum is named in honor of Carrol and Ethelle Henderson of Blaine, Minnesota, for their lifetime careers of non-game conservation in Minnesota and Costa Rica, and support for biodiversity-directed ecotourism of Costa Rica.