Tinissa spirella, Yang, Linlin & Li, Houhun, 2012

Yang, Linlin & Li, Houhun, 2012, Review of the genus Tinissa Walker, 1864 (Lepidoptera, Tineidae, Scardiinae) from China, with description of five new species, ZooKeys 228, pp. 1-20 : 14-15

Tinissa spirella sp. n. Figs 1, 13, 18

Type material:

Holotype ♂ − CHINA, Sichuan Province: Wolong Nature Reserves (31°01'N, 103°10'E), 1900 m, 7.VIII.2004, leg. Yingdang Ren, genitalia slide No. XYL05050.

Diagnosis.

The new species is similar to Tinissa conchata sp. n. by having an elongate, rodlike saccus and a slender aedeagus. It can be recognized from the latter by the L-shaped uncus lobe with an apical thorn, the subovate subscaphium with slender fingerlike process on each side, the spiral juxta, the pyramidical valva, and the needlelike aedeagus curved dorsad, without spinule. In Tinissa conchata sp. n., the uncus lobe is ovate, with shallow pocket posterolaterally; the subscaphium is clubbed, with elongate setae posteriorly, the juxta is rectangular in basal 2/3 and scallop-shaped in distal 1/3, the valva is flask-shaped, and the clubbed aedeagus is straight, with a row of small spinules.

Description.

Adult (Fig. 13): Male wingspan 20.0 mm. Vertex ochreous yellow, posterior margin ochreous white; frons ochreous white, tinged with ochreous yellow. Antenna with scape and pecten ochreous white, pecten about 10−20 bristles; flagellum pale yellowish brown, first segment blackish brown above. Labial palpus with first and second segments creamy white on inner surface, dark brown mixed yellowish brown on outer surface; third segment ochreous yellow, with yellowish brown spot at base and before apex on outer surface. Thorax creamy white mixed with dark grayish brown scales; tegula with anterior half dark grayish brown, posterior half creamy white but pale gray at middle. Forewing index 0.27, rectangular, apex protruded triangularly, termen slightly concave inward at about 2/5; yellowish brown mixed with grayish brown, shining bluish violet, with scattered faint white dots, large and conspicuous at base, along costa, termen and dorsum; M absent in cell, R4 and R5 separated. Hindwing index 0.32; grayish brown, shining bluish violet; M stem conspicuous in cell, branched at middle; fringe pale grayish brown. Legs yellowish brown; fore femur dark brown on ventral surface, tarsus with first segment blackish brown on outer surface, with faint dark brown spots on outer surface of second to fifth segments; mid tibia with blackish brown spot at base, with one narrow, blackish brown band at middle, with one broad, oblique, dark brown band before apex on outer surface, tarsus with small, blackish brown spot at base and middle on outer surface of first segment; hind tibial tuft pale yellowish brown, blackish brown before apex on outer surface, tarsus with first segment dark brown at base and apex on dorsal surface, with long, fine scales dorsally, third segment dark brown dorsally.

Male genitalia (Fig. 18). Corema present; eighth sternite straight on posterior margin. Uncus lobe L-shaped, widely spaced to each other, completely fused with vinculum; distal half setose dorsally, with a large apical thorn. Subscaphium bulletlike, with a pair of small and narrow triangular protuberances at middle on anterior margin, with a slender fingerlike process arising from anterior 2/5 of each side, 0.5 × length of subscaphium. Saccus rodlike. Juxta heavily sclerotized, each lobe spiral, with long setae ventrally, fused on inner margin. Valva short, heavily sclerotized, more or less triangular, apex pointed, dorsal margin with long setae; process from membrane between valva and juxta mastoid, with short setae at apex. Transtilla absent. Labides small, triangular, heavily sclerotized. Aedeagus very slender, needlelike, 1.2 × length of saccus, curved dorsad, complete dorsally and ventrally, roundly protruded at base ventrally, without carina or spinule.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution.

China (Sichuan).

Etymology.

The specific name is derived from the Latin spirellus (= spiral), referring to the small, spiral, whorl-shaped juxta.