Pseudopostega sectila Davis & Stonis 2007

Pseudopostega sectila

ADULT. Figure 206. Length of forewing 3.0–3.7 mm. Small, mostly white moth with white forewings usually marked by a small, gray dorsal spot near basal third, a small, triangular, fuscous spot on distal third of costa, a fuscous apical spot, and a single, brown to fuscous, terminal costal strigulae. Male with anterior margin of vinculum deeply concave, broadly V-shaped; gnathos tapering to moderately slender, truncate caudal lobe; basal fold mostly transverse, narrow (Figure 362). Female with papillae anales consisting of a pair of extremely divergent, slender lobes (Figure 473).

Head: Vestiture white. Scape white; flagellum pale brown, ~65–70-segmented. Maxillary palpus cream. Labial palpus white to cream, suffused with dark brown laterally.

Thorax: White; anterior margin of tegula faintly tinged with gray. Forewing almost entirely white, usually marked by a small, gray dorsal spot near basal third, a triangular, obliquely outward slanted, dark fuscous spot on distal third of costa, a small fuscous subapical spot, and a single, prominent brown to fuscous strigula extending across terminal cilia from costa to wing apex beyond subapical spot; terminal cilia mostly white, pale brown beyond terminal strigula and along outer dorsal margin; venter of forewing fuscous except white at base and terminal cilia. Hindwing and cilia brown dorsally and ventrally except for white suffusion at base. Legs mostly cream; foreleg with lateral and dorsal surfaces gray to fuscous; mid- and hindlegs light brown dorsally with lateral (shorter) tibial spines and terminal tarsal segments pale to dark gray; inner hindtibial spur unusually long.

Abdomen: Light brown dorsally, cream ventrally.

Male Genitalia: Figures 362, 363. Socii a pair of moderately large rounded, setose lobes, widely separated by a distance ~0.5× length of cucullar lobe; caudal rim of uncus shallowly concave. Vinculum broad; anterior margin deeply concave, broadly V-shaped. Gnathos complex, with

Map 14. Distribution of New World Pseudopostega tenuifurcata species group.

a broad base that constricts to form a moderately broad plate which constricts again to a moderately slender, blunt apical lobe; dorsal margin of lobe with a spinose median ridge (Figure 363); anterior margin slightly sinuate; basal fold relatively narrow but prominent, well separated from base of gnathos. Valva with an elongate cucullar lobe ~0.4× length of genital capsule, bearing a pectinifer consisting of 39–42 blunt spines; terminal apex of cucullar lobe extended as a setose, rounded lobe; pedicel broad, width ~0.5× length of cucullar lobe; valva short, length along sacculus ~0.45× length of genital capsule; saccular lobe stout, tapering, extending almost to base of pedicel; basal process of valva relatively stout, approximately equaling length of slender costal process. Juxta consisting of a slender, elongate, sclerotized, median rod from vinculum.

Female Genitalia: Figures 472, 473. Abdomen tapering to a narrowly rounded, minutely cleft apex. Each posterior apophysis elongate, fused for most of its length. Papillae anales consisting of a pair of moderately elongate, extremely divergent lobes bearing 5–6 long, apical setae; length of lobe ~2.5× width (Figure 473). Vestibulum moderately narrow, membranous. Ductus bursae elongate, approximately same diameter as corpus bursae; a small, dense concentration of minute, solitary spicules along inner wall anterior to juncture with ductus spermathecae. Corpus bursae moderately short, oval; a narrow, elliptical, faint band of minute, external tubercles extending most the length of bursa. Ductus spermathecae greatly elongate, ~1.7× length of bursa copulatrix; membranous outer canal short, saccate, arising immediately caudad of anterior enlargement of corpus bursae; inner canal mostly straight to curved, without terminal convolutions; vesicle divided into a small irregular sac and a short, stout, lateral lagena.

LARVA AND PUPA. Unknown.

HOLOTYPE. ♂; BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: Tortola Island, Mt. Sage National Park, 480 m, 22–24 Jul 1986, S. E. Miller & M. G. Pogue, black light trap in “aridulate” rainforest, slide: USNM 31844 (USNM).

PARATYPES. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS: Tortola Island, Mt. Sage National Park, 460 m: 1 ♂, 7–8 Jul 1985, S. E. Miller et al. (USNM); 2 ♂, 13–15 Jul 1987, V. O. Becker & S. E. Miller, slides USNM 31846, 32756 (USNM); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 22–24 Jul 1986, S. E. Miller & M. Pogue, slide USNM 32474 (USNM). PUERTO RICO: Maricao Lt.: 1 ♂, Jul 1960, J. Maldonado, slide USNM 32743 (USNM).

HOST. Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD. July.

DISTRIBUTION. (Map 14) West Indies: known only from Puerto Rico and Tortola Island in the British Virgin Islands.

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is derived from the Latin sectilis (cleft, cut, divided) in reference to the diagnostic, deeply divided, or cleft condition of the male vinculum.

DISCUSSION. The forewing of this species has the subapical costal spot lacking in its sister species, P. tenuifurcata. The inner hindtibial spur is also unusually long. The male genitalia of P. sectila is among the most highly modified and distinct within Pseudopostega. Of particular significance are the relatively robust, complex form of the caudal lobe of the gnathos (viewed laterally) and deeply concave anterior margin of the vinculum. The papillae anales are similar to those in female P. duplicata in being slender and widely divergent, but with stouter bases. The inner canal of the ductus spermathecae of P. sectila is the longest of any member of Pseudopostega (~1.7× length of bursa copulatrix) and lacks the terminal convolutions typically present within the genus.

The divaricata group

The principal characteristic defining this group is the variable development of a furcate apex on the caudal lobe of the gnathos. Only one Old World species, Pseudopostega epactaea from southeast Asia, exhibits this characteristic, but only in a very reduced state.The caudal lobe within the members of the divaricata group varies from minutely furcate to prominently divided. The base of the gnathos is typically broadly triangular, with moderate to no development of a basal fold. The length of the sacculus ranges from 0.5 to 0.75× the length of the genital capsule. The vinculum is usually broadly U- to V-shaped, with usually some vestige of a rod-like juxta present. The females of six species in this group have been associated with their corresponding males. All possessed shortly divided to bilobed papillae anales except for the completely fused, simple lobe in P. acrodicra. A faint, irregular U-shaped to elliptical band of numerous, blunt, external tubercles partially encircled most the length of the corpus bursae in all six species.

Sequence data for CO1 has been amplified by Paul Hebert’s lab for four members of the divaricata group. Pseudopostega brevifurcata (438 bp) and brevivalva (518 bp) were closely associated in the same clade but were not associated with P. divaricata (261 bp). Amplification of CO1 for the latter is currently too poor to assess its relationships with much confidence. The CO1 data for P. quadristrigella (513 bp) indicated a closer relationship with albogaleriella, recognized herein as a member of the spatulata species group, than with any of the other three species of the divaricata group for which sequence data were available.

Pseudopostega sectila is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis and Jonas R. Stonis, 2007. It is known from Puerto Rico and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

The length of the forewings is 3–3.7 mm. Adults have been recorded in July.