Ypsolopha chicoi Vargas, 2021

Vargas, Hector A., 2021, Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n., the second representative of the widespread micromoth genus Ypsolopha Latreille (Lepidoptera, Ypsolophidae) from the Andes of northern Chile, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 72306-72306 : 72306

Ypsolopha chicoi Vargas sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence : sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-001, genitalia slide HAV-1471; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-002, genitalia slide HAV-1458; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : sex: male; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-003, genitalia slide HAV-1460; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One male adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : sex: female; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-004, genitalia slide HAV-1459; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One female adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : sex: female; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-005, genitalia slide HAV-1461; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One female adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence : sex: female; otherCatalogNumbers: IDEA-LEPI-2021-006, genitalia slide HAV-1472; Taxon : order: Lepidoptera ; family: Ypsolophidae ; genus: Ypsolopha ; specificEpithet: chicoi; taxonRank: species; nomenclaturalCode: ICZN; Location : continent: South America ; country: Chile; stateProvince: Parinacota ; locality: About 2 km south of Socoroma village ; verbatimElevation: 3400 m; verbatimLatitude: 18°27'22"S; verbatimLongitude: 69°35'15"W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; dateIdentified: June 2021; Event: samplingProtocol: One female adult emerged May 2021, reared from larva collected on Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa in April 2021; year: 2021; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; language: en; institutionCode: IDEA; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Male (Fig. 1 ). Forewing length 9.1-9.4 mm.

Head. Vertex with elongated narrow scales with slightly cleft apex, mostly greyish-brown, a few yellowish-white scattered near posterior margin; frons greyish-brown, mostly appressed scales, elongated narrow scales with slightly cleft yellowish-white apex laterally. Antenna about 2/3 length of forewing; mostly greyish-brown, a few yellowish-grey scales on scape. Ocellus posterior to scape base. Maxillary palpus with greyish-brown scales with yellowish-white apex. Labial palpus mostly greyish-brown; second segment with erect scales with yellowish-white apex projected to nearly half of third segment; third segment appressed scaled; inner face of first segment and basal part of second segment yellowish-white.

Thorax. Greyish-brown dorsally; mostly yellowish-white laterally with a few greyish-brown scattered scales. Foreleg mostly greyish-brown with yellowish-white scattered scales, tibial epiphysis greyish-brown. Mid-leg similar to foreleg in colouration, tibial spurs greyish-brown. Hindleg mostly yellowish-white with greyish-brown scattered scales, tibial spurs and tarsus mostly greyish-brown.

Abdomen. Mostly yellowish-white with a few greyish-brown scattered scales. Male tergum VIII triangular, with a pair of sclerotised posterior projections encircling the base of pleural lobes; sternum VIII mostly membranous, with a pair of coremata.

Male genitalia (Fig. 2 )

Tegumen bilobed, anterior margin deeply excavated. Socius digitate, narrowing apically, hair-like scales on the medial third. Gnathos Y-shaped; ventral arm widened, flattened, coarse, round apex, length about half the dorsal arms. Saccus cylindrical, length about 1.5 times the socius, round apex. Anellus with two narrow longitudinal sclerotised stripes separated by membranous area. Valva ovate; costal margin slightly rounded, with a slightly differentiated knob on the apex; distal margin broadly rounded. Phallus sub-cylindrical, broadly ventrally curved at middle, apex with a narrow ventral cleft, coecum about a fourth the phallus length; vesica with two small spine-shaped cornuti, length of the longest about twice the width of the distal third of the phallus.

Female. Similar to male in size and maculation.

Female genitalia (Fig. 2 )

Papillae analis narrow, elongated, slightly sclerotised, with few hair-like setae. Posterior apophysis spine-shaped, about four times the length of papillae analis. Anterior apophysis spine-shaped, about 2/3 the length of posterior apophysis, base bifurcated, dorsal arm continuous with tergum VIII, ventral arm continuous with sternum VIII. Sternum VIII rectangular, lateral margins slightly concave, elongated hair-like setae on posterior vertices. Antrum membranous, cone-shaped, with a sclerotised ring. Ductus bursae mainly membranous, coiled, a narrow longitudinal sclerotised patch about twice the length of anterior apophysis. Corpus bursae mainly membranous, about 2/3 the length of ductus bursae, signum on the basal half of the right side of corpus bursae, as a minutely sculptured plate, about 1/4 of length of the sclerotised patch of ductus bursae. Ductus seminalis at base of ductus bursae.

Diagnosis

Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. is recognisable, based on the morphology of the genitalia. The saccus reaches about 1.5 times the socius length, the phallus reaches about four times the coecum length and has a narrow ventral cleft at apex and the vesica has two small spine-shaped cornuti, the longest of which reaches about twice the width of the distal third of the phallus in the male and the sclerotised patch of the ductus bursae reaches about four times the length of the signum and about twice the length of the anterior apophysis in the female. The morphology of the genitalia of Y. chicoi sp. n. is remarkably similar to that of Y. moltenii , the only congeneric previously known from the same locality. However, in the male of Y. moltenii , the saccus and socius are similar in length, the phallus reaches about 3.3 times the coecum length and lacks a ventral cleft at apex and the vesica has a long arrow-shaped cornutus, whose length reaches about three times the width of the distal third of the phallus and, in the female, the sclerotised patch of the ductus bursae is slightly longer than the signum and anterior apophysis. Besides the morphological differences, the two species are associated with plants of different families: Y. chicoi sp. n. with Polygonaceae and Y. moltenii with Fabaceae .

Etymology

Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. is named in honour of the eminent Brazilian musician and composer Chico Buarque (Francisco Buarque de Hollanda), for all his wonderful contribution to the “Música Popular Brasileira".

Distribution

Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. is known only from the type locality, near Socoroma Village, on the western slopes of the Andes of the Parinacota Province of northern Chile (Fig. 3 ).

Biology

Larvae of Y. chicoi sp. n. feed partially concealed in silk webs on leaves, buds, flowers and fruits of the native shrub Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa (Walp.) Standl. ( Polygonaceae ). This shrub is also found in Bolivia and Peru; its Chilean range is restricted to a belt at about 3400-3500 m elevation in the northernmost part of the country ( Rodriguez et al. 2018).

Figures

Figure 1. Male holotype of Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. in dorsal view. Scale bar 1 mm.

Figure 2. Genitalia of Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. A. Male genitalia in ventral view, phallus removed. B. Phallus in lateral view. C. Female genitalia in ventral view. Upper rectangle shows a detail of the papillae analis in ventral view. Bottom rectangle shows the apex of phallus with the vesica and cornuti in lateral view; black arrow indicates apex of the longest cornutus; white arrow indicates ventral cleft. Scale bars 0.2, 0.2 and 0.5 mm, respectively.

Figure 3. Geographic distribution and habitat of Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. Rectangle on left shows the type locality (black circle) in northern Chile. Rectangle on right shows the habitat in the type locality, near the Socoroma Village, at about 3400 m elevation in the Andes.