Coccothera willydeprinsi, Zilli & László & Kingston & Larsen, 2024

Coccothera willydeprinsi sp. nov.

( Figs 8-10 View Figure 8 View Figure 9 View Figure 10 ).

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Material examined

Holotype: ♂, DRC. Democratic Republic of Congo. Province: Tshopo. Yangambi reserve , 100 km. WNW Kisangani, 0º45'49"N, 24º30'17"E, 450 m ASL. 14.- 23.v.2012, leg. et coll. KL, later ZMUC. Gen. prep. 4949 ♂ KL . GoogleMaps

Description Imago: ( Figs. 8-9 View Figure 8 View Figure 9 ). Wingspan ♂ 7 mm. Head, thorax and abdomen dark grey with a few yellow tipped scales. Antennae less than half the length of the forewing, dark grey and yellow ringed underneath yellow in the first half. Labial palps short and light yellow, mixed with black scales mainly towards the apex. Legs light yellow, but the last segment of the legs ringed black. Spurs are white.

Forewings: Regular shaped, costa slightly convex, ground colour dark brown to black. Basal blotch and median fascia with scattered yellow spots arranged in diffuse stripes. Antemedian and postmedian fascia narrow and angled towards the costa and shiny leaden in colour and with a minute leaden shiny dot in the middle of the angle. Five costal white strigula towards the apex and a diffuse dark subterminal blotch. Termen with a black dividing line, cilia light yellow. Underside very different with a large whitish area along dorsum and another more diffuse elongate whitish area at the centre of the wing. This area is bordered with scattered black scales in a larger blotch towards costa and a smaller one basally. The terminal part of the wing is more chocolate brown coloured.

Hindwings: Slightly irregular shaped with a rounded extension at termen. Dark orange-brown, darker at the costa, with patches of black scales at the basal part and which also form a prominent oval whitish spot laterally. Undersides the same but the scattered black scales at the basal part are more exposed and also form an elongate black-scaled area along the basal half of the costa.

Male genitalia: ( Fig. 10 View Figure 10 ). Valva elongate, with a large cucullus nearly half the size of the valva. Cucullus setose with a large slender thorn at the ventral side. Sacculus with long rather weak hairy scales. Pedunculus very weak, uncus short and simple, phallus bottle shaped with almost parallel sides towards apex.

Diagnosis

Coccothera willydeprinsi sp. nov. is defined by the diffuse standard “ Coccothera ” pattern with a minute leaden dot in the median fascia and by the oval whitish areas on the underside of the forewing and the oval whitish area in the corner of the underside of the hindwing, which is different from other species in the genus. In the male genitalia the species is characterized by the elongate and strongly setose cucullus, with the long and thin thorn at the ventral side. These presented structures are unique in the Coccothera genus.

Biology

The species is only known from the single type specimen collected in May by light at Yangambi. Vegetation of the type locality is dense impenetrable tropical forest on the slopes leading down to the Congo River. Host plant is not known. The type locality at Yangambi is illustrated in Fig. 2 View Figure 2 .

Distribution

DRC. Democratic Republic of Congo: Province: Tshopo.

Etymology

The species is named in honor of the well-known European entomologist Willy De Prins (Leefdal, Belgium), who participated in the expedition.