Exaeretia terskeella Lvovsky, 2016

Exaeretia terskeella Lvovsky, 2016

( Figs 1–6 View FIGURES 1–10 , 11–20 View FIGURES 11–20 )

Material examined: Kyrgyzstan, Northern Tian Shan Mts. , Kungey Ala-Too Range, Issyk-Kul region, 13 km NW Balykchy, steppe, 3070 m, 42.53972N, 76.06583E, loc. 18, 24.vii.2019, 3 ♂ ♂, I. Dvořák leg. GoogleMaps , 10.–11.vii.2024, 18 ♂ ♂, 1 ♀ (gen. prep. J. Šumpich JŠ25104, JŠ25105, JŠ25106) (DNA Barcode NMPC-Lep-1898 [658(0n)], NMPC- LEP-1938 658[0n]), J. Šumpich leg. (all NMPC) .

For description of male, see Lvovsky (2016) and figs 1–3, 5, 11–18.

Description of female

Adult. ( Figs 4, 6 View FIGURES 1–10 ). Wingspan 12.0 mm. Head, tegula and thorax dirty white. Palpus white, with a slight admixture of darker scales. Antennae light brown. Both pairs of wings heavily reduced. Forewings dirty white, relatively broad, pointed at their apex, with two distinct brown spots, one at 2/5 and one at 2/3. There is a fine dusting of brown scales, more pronounced along the costa, at the apex and at the base. Hind wings lanceolate, almost white, slightly darker at their apex. Cilia concolorous with wing.

Genitalia. ( Figs 19–20 View FIGURES 11–20 ). Sternite VIII twice as long as it is wide, markedly convex anteriorly, posterior margin straight. Ostium rounded, densely covered with microtrichia. Ductus bursae slightly shorter than bursa copulatrix, expanded anteriorly, with an elongated sclerite. Bursa copulatrix oval, signum long, elliptical, sharp terminally, with many distally oriented spines.

Diagnosis. Due to its brachyptery, the female of E. terskeella differs significantly in external appearance from all other species of its genus. Males are externally indistinguishable from E. nebulosella , a fairly conspicuous species of which the female is not yet known. This may likewise be due to brachyptery, in which case the females of E. nebulosella and E. terskeella are likely to be very similar in appearance. Based on current knowledge, the female genitalia of E. terskeella are unmistakable due to their distinctive elongate sclerite in ductus bursae.

Molecular data. BIN: BOLD:AGP7416. The intraspecific average distance of the barcode region is 0.00% (n = 2) The minimum distance to the nearest neighbour, E. lvovskyi (BIN: BOLD:ADC5991), is 2.72% (p-dist); and the minimum distance to the most similar species, E. nebulosella (BIN: BOLD:ACX7885), is 5.81% (p-dist).

The holotype of E. terskeella was barcoded by P. Buchner using the NGS method. The sample number is TLMF Lep 23553 and an incomplete sequence 658[200n] was obtained (sections 4 and 5 are missing). Identification by individual sections yielded 100% matches with various species of the genus Agonopterix Hübner, [1825] , most frequently with A. babaella Amsel, 1972 . As these results do not align with the correct classification of the species within Exaeretia , the DNA of the barcoded E. terskeella holotype is likely completely degraded.

Bionomy. Host plant unknown. The series presented in this paper was collected by light trap on mountain steppe habitat in July, at an elevation of 3070 m ( Figs 21–22 View FIGURES 21–22 ).

Distribution. Kyrgyzstan, Issyk-Kul Region: Terskey Ala-Too Range ( Lvovsky 2016), Kungey Ala-Too Range

(this paper).