Elachista derbendi Parenti, 1981

Elachista derbendi Parenti, 1981 View in CoL

Figs 25 View Figures 21–30 , 44 View Figures 43–45 , 51 View Figures 50–54

Elachista derbendi Parenti, 1981: 50. Type locality: Iran, Derbend, 25 km N Teheran. View in CoL

Material examined.

Holotype. IRAN • ♂; Derbend , 25 km N Teheran, 2000 m; 28–30 May 1963; Kasy & Vartian leg.; slide 2200 U. Parenti, Mus. Vind. 11.038 ( NHMW); female slide 1004 Parenti, Mus. Vind. 11.097, conditionally identified as E. derbendi by Parenti.

Diagnosis.

E. derbendi is a large, yellowish-coloured species with a rather distinct wing pattern with two longitudinal strips. In the male genitalia, E. derbendi is mostly similar to E. lagotara , however, E. derbendi clearly differs by the curved shape of the cornutus. The female genitalia of E. derbendi can be separated from other species treated here by a combination of two characters: 1) colliculum without longitudinal folds, and 2) ductus bursae gradually widened to the corpus bursae without a distinct border.

Redescription.

Wingspan 12.0 mm. Labial palpus 1.2 × diameter of head; labial palpus, head, neck tuft, tegula, thorax, scape and pedicel cream-coloured. Flagellum grey. Foreleg grey above with yellow rings in tarsal articles, legs otherwise pale yellow with faintly darker distal part of tibia and tarsal articles. Forewing ground colour pale yellow, basal 1 / 3 of costa narrowly grey, from middle to apex with grey scales forming two elongate, indistinctly delineated longitudinal stripes; fringe concolorous, scattered with grey-tipped scales forming indistinct fringe line. Hindwing pale grey, fringe cream-coloured. Underside of forewing yellowish grey with paler fringe, underside of hindwing pale grey with concolorous fringe.

Male genitalia. Uncus lobe 2 × as long as broad, distally round, incision separating uncus lobes 0.3 × length of uncus. Spinose knob of gnathos oval, nearly twice as long as broad. Valva 3.8 × as long as broad at its broadest point in the middle; costa convex medially, distinctly emarginated in its distal third; sacculus basally slightly bent, otherwise almost straight, joining cucullus without angle, distal margin of cucullus straight, distally round and joining distal margin without distinct limit. Length of digitate process 1 / 7 of valva, blunt, distally dilated and setose. Juxta lobes narrowly separated from each other, medially produced; median margin bent laterad; lateral margin distally straight, basally strongly concave; median plate with shallow dorsally directed median sac. Vinculum broad, V-shaped. Phallus parallel-sided, 0.7 × as long as valva, straight, about 5.5 × as long as broad; caecum somewhat elongate; vesica with cornutus formed as stout and curved tooth, length of cornutus about 0.1 length of phallus.

Female genitalia (with reservation of conspecificity). Papilla analis membranous, round, ventrally connected with inverted Y-shaped sclerotization. Apophysis posterioris 2 × as long as apophysis analis; apophysis anterioris almost as long as papilla analis. Ostium bursae narrow, dorsal wall without scobination. Colliculum swollen, asymmetric, 2 / 3 as long as apophysis posterioris. Remaining part of ductus bursae membranous, gradually widened, joining corpus bursae without distinct border. Corpus bursae oval, without signum, with prominent internal spines.

Biology.

Host plant unknown. Adults on the wing were recorded from mid-April until late June ( Parenti 1981).

Distribution.

Iran.

DNA barcode information.

None available.

Remarks.

The association of the male and female is not certain. Parenti (1981) did not include any female to the type series. However, the female characteristics of the slide available to us, with question mark identified as E. derbendi by Parenti, match well those of related species treated here.