Mondeguina Corley & Rosete, gen. nov ., 2020

Corley, Martin F. V., Rosete, Jorge & Ferreira, Sonia, 2020, Mondeguina, a new genus for Apatetris mediterranella Nel & Varenne, 2012, with description of a new species from Portugal (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae), Nota Lepidopterologica 43, pp. 151-166 : 151

Mondeguina Corley & Rosete, gen. nov . Figs 2-3 , 4, 5 , 6 , 7-8

Type species.

Mondeguina atlanticella Corley & Rosete, sp. nov.

Description.

Wingspan 9-12 mm. Head with face flat and vertex smooth with appressed scales. Haustellum rudimentary. Labial palp segment 2 porrect, slightly thickened with scales which extend beyond base of segment 3, segment 3 upturned, about half as long as and thinner than segment 2, obtuse at apex. Antenna about nine-tenths length of forewing, scape elliptic, bearing pecten of about 12 hair-like scales, flagellum filiform. Forewing elongate, five times as long as wide, costa slightly curved in middle, apex acute but appearing rounded due to long scales around apex, dark-tipped scales give whole wing a speckled appearance, indistinct markings formed by groups of scales with longer dark tips; fringe of larger scales with blacker tips, not organised into a fringe line, dorsal fringe of hair-like scales. Hindwing slender, half as wide as forewing, widest at one-quarter, tapering most strongly between half and three-fifths, apical two-fifths very slender, narrowly acute at apex; fringes whitish, as long as wing width on costal side near base, longer towards apex and up to four times wing width on dorsal side. Venation (figured by Nel and Varenne 2012) of forewing with cell long, R4 and R5 stalked, R5 to apex, M1 and M2 stalked, M3 absent; hindwing with reduced venation, Rs free and unbranched to apex, M1 absent, M2 reduced to a fold, M3, Cu1 and Cu2 curved, A1+2 very short. Legs with unequal pair of spurs on mid-tibia, and two unequal pairs on hind tibia.

Male genitalia. (Figs 4 - 6 ). Uncus inserted on posterior side of tegumen, consisting of a pair of stout lobes; gnathos absent; tegumen wider than long; valva just longer than its width at base with broad sacculus reaching beyond middle, apex slightly expanded on ventral side forming a group of short sclerotised pegs; saccus short, wide and rounded, widest in middle; aedeagus tapering from base or a little above to two-thirds, apical third narrower sometimes ending in a slight hook.

Female genitalia. (Figs 7 , 8 ). Papillae anales almost spherical but somewhat flattened on their adjacent faces, with a transverse fold on the dorsal side; posterior apophysis less than length of papilla analis; segment VIII about twice as wide as long, dorsal side rectangular, ventral side largely excavated, anterior apophysis short, half as long as posterior apophysis or less; ostium on anterior margin of segment VIII; ductus bursae unsclerotised, corpus bursae elliptic, without signum.

Diagnosis.

Mondeguina gen. nov. is characterised by antenna nearly as long as forewing, scape with pecten; forewing venation (figured by Nel and Varenne 2012) M1 and M2 stalked, M3 absent; hindwing slender, only half as wide as forewing, not bilobed, with dorsal fringes up to four times as long as wing width, venation reduced, with M1 absent and M2 weakly marked as a fold. Male genitalia with contiguous pair of large uncus lobes, gnathos absent, tegumen wider than long. Female genitalia without signum. These characters combined clearly separate the new genus from Apatetris Staudinger, 1880 in the wide sense, in which the antennae, although with pecten, are about two-thirds length of forewing; forewing with M1, M2 and M3 separate; hindwing more than half as wide as forewing, bilobed with a pointed apex separated by an emargination from a shorter more rounded lobe, fringes mainly about twice as long as wing width; uncus not consisting of two separate lobes; two signa (rarely more) present in most species, although absent in Apatetris sensu stricto. Janse (1951) analysed the Apatetris group in an even wider sense, including some species that lack the diagnostic characters of Apatetris (antennal pecten and bilobed hindwing) and described new South African genera ( Filisignella , Curvisignella and Anapatetris ) which resemble Mondeguina in having hindwings not bilobed, but they all differ substantially in wing venation from Mondeguina .

Etymology.

Mondeguina is named after the Mondego River, the longest river that runs its entire course within Portugal. The type locality for the new species described from Portugal (below) is the Ilha da Morraceira which lies in the estuary of the River Mondego.

The new genus Mondeguina has two species:

Mondeguina atlanticella Corley & Rosete, sp. nov.

Mondeguina mediterranella (Nel & Varenne, 2012), comb. nov.

Basionym: Apatetris mediterranella Nel & Varenne, 2012. Nota lepidopterologica 35: 28. Type locality: France, Mas Fondame, Salses-le-Château, Pyrénées-Orientales.

Figures

Figure 6. Male genitalia. Mondeguina atlanticella, Portugal, Ilha da Morraceira (M. Dale 02492).

Figures 2, 3. Habitus. 2. Mondeguina atlanticella male, Portugal, Ilha da Morraceira (A. Lameirinhas). 3. M. atlanticella female, Portugal, Ilha da Morraceira (A. Lameirinhas).

Figures 4, 5. Male genitalia. 4. Mondeguina atlanticella, Portugal, Ilha da Morraceira (P. Huemer 19 / 1230). 5. M. mediterranella, Italy, Canale Quarantia (P. Huemer 05 / 1230).

Figures 7, 8. Female genitalia. 7. Mondeguina atlanticella, Portugal, Ilha da Morraceira (M. Dale 02484). 8. M. mediterranella, France, Arles (M. Dale 02653).