Pseudopostega concava Davis & Stonis 2007

Pseudopostega concava

ADULT. Figure 211. Length of forewing 2.8–3.7 mm. Small, mostly white moth with white forewings marked with 3 brown, subapical costal strigulae, a small, dark brown apical spot, and a faint vestige of a light brown tornal strigula. Male with caudal lobe of gnathos furcate, with short, stout arms; basal fold very slender, slightly arched (Figure 371). Papillae anales of female a pair of small, moderately elongate, rounded to conical, setose lobes (Figure 479).

Head: Vestiture white. Scape white; flagellum light golden brown dorsally, cream ventrally, 58–60-segmented. Palpi white; labial palpus with sparse suffusion of light brown dorsally.

Thorax: White; tegula all white. Forewing almost entirely white with 3 brown, subapical costal strigulae; first strigula fading to a pale yellowish brown suffusion midway to small, dark brown apical spot; strigula 2 fading before spot; strigula 3 sinuate, curving around apical spot to tornus; a faint, brown tornal stigula extending down from apical spot; terminal cilia mostly white, with brownish tipped scales beyond strigula 3, becoming mostly cream to light brown along dorsal margin; venter of forewing light brown except for basal, subhumeral white area. Hindwing and cilia light brown dorsally and ventrally except for white suffusion at base. Legs mostly white to cream; foreleg with dorsal surfaces lightly suffused with brown, paler on tarsomeres; midleg with light brown suffusion dorsally on tarsomeres 3 and 4; very faint brownish tarsal suffusion on tarsomeres 3 and 4 of hindleg.

Abdomen: Light golden brown dorsally, white ventrally.

Male Genitalia: Figure 371. Socii a pair of relatively large, rounded, setose, lobes, variable in width and length, and widely separated by a distance ~0.65× length of cucullar lobe; caudal rim of uncus smoothly concave. Vinculum broad; anterior margin slightly concave. Base of gnathos broad, abruptly narrowing posteriorly to short, stout, furcate apex, which may be curved dorsally in some specimens; terminal furcations variable in degree of divergence; anterior margin of gnathos slightly concave to cleft, with very slender, slightly arched basal fold (Figure 371). Valva with an elongate cucullar lobe ~0.45× length of entire genital capsule, bearing a pectinifer consisting of a single row of 42–44 blunt spines; distal apex of cucullar lobe extended as a rough, setose, rounded lobe; pedicel broad, width ~0.5× length of cucullar lobe; valva elongate, length along sacculus ~0.8× length of entire genital capsule, saccular lobe moderately slender, tapering, extending to apex of pedicel; basal process of valva slender, attenuated, exceeding length of costal lobe. Juxta consisting of a relatively short, slender, sclerotized, median rod from vinculum.

Female Genitalia: Figures 478, 479. Apex of abdomen subacute, with moderately long setae. Posterior apophyses fused ~0.33× their length, moderately long and slender. Papillae anales a pair of small, moderately elongate, rounded to conical, setose lobes; length of lobes ~1.44× width. Vestibulum moderately broad, membranous. Ductus bursae very elongate, moderately slender, gradually enlarging anteriorly to corpus bursae; a dense concentration of mostly transverse pectinations at caudal end of ductus consisting of rows of ~4–6 minute spicules; anterior region of ductus with smaller, more scattered rows of 2–3 spicules continuing into indefinite caudal region of corpus bursae. Corpus bursae relatively slender, elongate, with a faint, U-shaped band of numerous, external, irregularly shaped tubercles extending most the length of corpus. Ductus spermathecae nearly as long as bursa copulatrix; membranous outer canal moderately slender, particularly at junction with ductus bursae; inner canal long, sinuous for ~ half its length, terminating in ~16–19 small convolutions; vesicle an elongate, slender, sinuate tube partially enclosed by relatively large, membranous utriculus.

LARVA AND PUPA. Unknown.

HOLOTYPE. ♂; MEXICO: TAMAULIPAS: 6 mi [9.7 km] S. Ciudad Victoria, 1050 ft [320 m]: 6 Aug 1963, Duckworth & Davis, slide USNM 32827 (USNM).

PARATYPES. MEXICO: TAMAULIPAS: 4 mi [6.4 km] SW Ciudad Victoria, 1200 ft [366 m]: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 5 Aug 1963, Duckworth & Davis, slide USNM 32828 (USNM). 6 mi [9.7 km] S Ciudad Victoria, 1050 ft [320 m]: 27 ♂, 5 ♀, 3 UNK, 6 Aug 1963, Duckworth & Davis, slides: USNM 28654, 31839, 32799, 32829 (UNAM, USNM).

HOST. Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD. August.

DISTRIBUTION. (Map 15) Known only from the type locality, a seasonally dry forest area in northeastern Mexico.

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is derived from the Latin concavus (arched inward, concave) in reference to the broadly concave anterior margin of the male vinculum.

DISCUSSION. The adults of P. concava and turquinoensis are essentially inseparable in wing pattern. The male genitalia of concava are distinct in possessing stouter socii, a broadly concave vinculum, and a much stouter saccular lobe of the valva. The female genitalia are characterized by the relatively long, slender bursa copulatrix and very convoluted inner canal of the ductus spermathecae.

Pseudopostega concava is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis and Jonas R. Stonis, 2007. It is known from a seasonally dry forest area in northeastern Mexico.

The length of the forewings is 2.8–3.7 mm. Adults have been recorded in August.