Pseudopostega brevivalva Davis & Stonis 2007

Pseudopostega brevivalva

ADULT. Figure 213. Length of forewing 2.0–2.8 mm. Small, mostly white moth with white forewings marked with 3 brown, subapical costal strigulae, a very short, faint brown tornal strigula, and a dark brown to fuscous apical spot. Male with shortened valva, length ~0.6× that of genital capsule; caudal lobe of gnathos triangular with short, acute, divergent lobes; basal fold well developed, triangular (Figure 374). Female unknown.

Head: Vestiture white. Scape white; flagellum light brown, ~43–45-segmented. Palpi cream; labial palpus with light brown suffusion laterally.

Thorax: White; anterior margin of tegula light brown. Forewing almost entirely white with 3 brown, subapical costal strigulae, a very short, faint brown tornal strigula, and a dark brown to fuscous apical spot; first costal strigula at base of cilia; strigulae 2 and 3 progressively further distad across cilia with third greatest in length and curving around apical spot to terminate near tornal area; costal strigulae 1 and 2 converging at apical spot; a small, faint brown dorsal spot at basal third of dorsal margin; terminal cilia mostly white, with brownish suffusion apically and along dorsal margin; venter of forewing light brown except for basal white area. Hindwing and cilia light brown dorsally and ventrally except for white suffusion at base. Legs mostly white; foreleg with dorsal surfaces suffused with light brown, paler on tarsomeres; midleg with light brown bands dorsally on tarsomeres 3 and 4; tarsal banding absent on hindleg.

Abdomen: Light golden brown dorsally, white ventrally.

Male Genitalia: Figures 374–376. Socii a pair of relatively small, rounded, setose lobes, widely separated by a distance ~ equal to length of cucullar lobe; caudal rim of tegumen smoothly, shallowly concave. Vinculum V-shaped; anterior margin subacute, narrowly rounded. Gnathos complex, with a broad base that constricts to form an elongate, stout caudal lobe; apex of lobe short, furcate with acute apices; anterior margin of gnathos strongly convex, with prominent, triangular, basal fold (Figure 374). Valva relatively short, length along sacculus ~0.55× length of genital capsule, with an elongate cucullar lobe ~0.3× length of entire genital capsule, bearing a pectinifer consisting of 30–32 blunt spines; terminal apex of cucullar lobe slightly produced, acute; pedicel broad, width ~0.5 length of cucullar lobe; saccular lobe extended as a moderately broad (at base), tapering, triangular, apically setose lobe, extending almost to apex of cucullar lobe; basal process of valva relatively stout, tapering to acute base, approximately equaling length of slender costal lobe. Juxta undeveloped.

FEMALE, LARVA AND PUPA. Unknown.

HOLOTYPE. ♂; COSTA RICA: HEREDIA: Estación Biológica La Selva (OET), 50–150 m, 10°26'N, 84°01'W, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, 29 Apr 1996, Biblioteca, L/04/228, slide DRD 4209 (INBio).

PARATYPES. COSTA RICA: HEREDIA: Estación Biológica La Selva, 50–150 m, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, L/08/323: 1 ♂, 25 Feb 1998, INBio-OEL, slide USNM 32781 (USNM). SAN JOSé: San Pedro de Montes de Oca, UCR [University of Costa Rica], Reserva Ecológica Leonel Oviedo, 1150 m: 1 ♂, 9 Jul 1999, K. Nishida, slide USNM 32792 (USNM).

HOST. Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD. Adults have been collected in February, April, and July.

DISTRIBUTION. (Map 15) Known only from Costa Rica at elevations from 50 to 1150 m.

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is derived from the Latin brevis (short) and valva (leaf of a folding door), in reference to the unusually short length of the male valvae.

DISCUSSION. Pseudopostega brevivalva is similar to P. brevifurcata in general forewing pattern and in the form of the caudal lobe of the male gnathos, but differs in several other features of the male genitalia. The gnathos is more elongate, the basal fold more developed and triangular in form, and the sacculus relatively shorter in brevivalva. The reduced sacculus of this species resembles that of members in the tenuifurcata group, but the apical lobe of the gnathos is much more stoutly furcate than in the latter group.

Pseudopostega brevivalva is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis and Jonas R. Stonis, 2007. It is known from Costa Rica.

The length of the forewings is about 2–2.8 mm. Adults have been recorded in February, April and July.