Pseudopostega mignonae Davis & Stonis 2007

Pseudopostega mignonae

ADULT. Figure 173. Length of forewing 3.8–4.3 mm. Small, mostly white moth with almost immaculate forewings except for broadly triangular, dark fuscous costal spot at distal third, fuscous to black discal spot, a prominent, brown to black, terminal costal strigula, and a second, usually faint, short, light brown costal strigula slightly distal to costal spot. Male with apex of gnathos slender, acute; basal fold transverse, moderately broad, constricted at middle (Figure 319). Female unknown.

Head: Vestiture white. Scape white. Flagellum light golden brown, ~58–65-segmented. Maxillary palpus cream. Labial palpus white to cream, with brownish suffusion laterally and dorsally.

Thorax: White; anterior margin of tegula dark brown. Forewing almost entirely white, with a broadly triangular, dark fuscous costal spot at distal third, a fuscous to black apical spot, a prominent brown to black, nearly straight, terminal costal strigula, curving slightly from apex of costal margin through terminal cilia around apical spot to tornus, and a second, usually faint, short, light brown costal strigula slightly distal to costal spot; terminal cilia variable, white between strigulae and then brown apically, white along termen, then becoming light brown along dorsal margin;venter of forewing light brown to gray, with white patch over base of wing. Hindwing and cilia pale brown to gray both dorsally and ventrally. Foreleg cream ventrally, dark brown to fuscous dorsally and laterally; midleg cream with light brownish suffusion dorsally; hindleg paler cream with brown banding sometimes dorsally on tarsal segments.

Abdomen: Brown dorsally, white to cream ventrally.

Male Genitalia: Figures 44, 45, 319, 320. Socii a pair of relatively small, rounded, setose lobes, widely separated by a distance ~0.6× length of cucullar lobe; caudal margin of uncus shallowly concave. Vinculum broad, consisting of a narrow ventral ring; anterior margin broadly rounded. Gnathos broadly conical; apex abruptly constricted to form a moderately short, approximately 0.3× length of entire gnathos, slender, dorsally upturned caudal lobe; anterior margin deeply notched; basal fold moderately narrow, approximately 0.2× length of entire gnathos and slightly separated from larger posterior section. Valva with an elongate cucullar lobe ~0.75× length of genital capsule, bearing a pectinifer consisting of 52–54 blunt spines; length of cucullar lobe almost equal to that of main body of valva; pedicel broad, width nearly 0.4× length of cucullar lobe; valva elongate, length along sacculus ~0.95× length of genital capsule; saccular lobe moderately stout, elongate, ~0.4× length of cucullar lobe, rounded, with numerous, elongate setae; basal process of valva attenuate, approximately equal in length to costal process. Juxta undeveloped.

FEMALE, LARVA AND PUPA. Unknown.

HOLOTYPE. ♂; JAMAICA: ST. CATHERINE PARISH: Hollymount, Mt. Diablo, 2754 ft [840 m], 21–24 Apr 1973, D. & M. Davis, UV light trap, slide USNM 32749 (USNM).

PARATYPES. CUBA: PINAR DEL RIO: Sierra Rosario, 1 ♀, 5–15 Jun 1990, V. O. Becker, slide DRD 4156 (VOB). JAMAICA: ST. CATHERINE PARISH: Hollymount, Mt. Diablo, 2754 ft [840 m], 2 ♂, 1 UNK, 21–24 Apr 1973, D. & M. Davis, UV light trap, slides USNM 32747, 32748, 32749 (USNM).

HOST. Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD. Adults have been collected in April and June.

DISTRIBUTION. (Map 7) West Indies (Cuba and Jamaica).

ETYMOLOGY. This species is named in honor of the senior author’s wife, Mignon Marie Davis, who helped to collect the type series and who has assisted him with nearly all his fieldwork for more than 30 years.

DISCUSSION. The male of this West Indian species is similar to P. trinidadensis in possessing a broadly triangular gnathos, moderately well-developed basal fold, vestigial juxta, and elongate cucullar lobes. Pseudopostega mignonae differs in possessing a dark forewing costal spot, more slender apical lobe, basal fold with a concave anterior margin, distally rounded cucullar lobes, and more slender costal processes on the valvae.

Pseudopostega mignonae is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis and Jonas R. Stonis, 2007. It is known from Cuba and Jamaica.

The length of the forewings is 3.8–4.3 mm. Adults have been recorded in April and June.