Pseudopostega plicatella Davis & Stonis 2007

Pseudopostega plicatella

ADULT. Figure 168. Length of forewing 2.5–3.2 mm. Small, mostly white moth with white forewings marked with 3 brown to dark brown, subapical costal strigulae, a short, faint, brown tornal strigula, and a small, dark brown apical spot. Male gnathos with apex of caudal lobe slender, elongate, subacute; basal fold narrow, steeply arched (Figure 314). Female unknown.

Head: Vestiture white. Scape white; flagellum light golden brown, 50–57-segmented. Palpi cream to white; labial palpus with dark brown suffusion laterally.

Thorax: White; tegula white. Forewing white with 3 subapical costal strigulae; strigula 1 the broadest, half the length of 2; strigula 2 fading to elongate, dark brown apical spot; strigula 3 faint, extending distally around apical spot to short, faint, brown tornal strigula; terminal cilia white between strigulae, mostly brown beyond strigula 3 and white 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; foreleg with dorsal surfaces suffused with dark brown; tarsomeres of all legs with dark brown suffusion dorsally over apical segments.

Abdomen: Brown dorsally, white ventrally.

Male Genitalia: Figure 314. Socii a pair of relatively large, rounded, setose lobes, widely separated by a distance ~ equal to length of cucullar lobe; caudal rim of uncus smoothly concave. Vinculum moderately broad; anterior margin rounded to subtruncate. Base of gnathos broadly triangular, gradually narrowing posteriorly to a moderately long, slender, caudal lobe; apex of lobe simple, rounded, slightly curved dorsally; anterior margin of gnathos with median indentation and a narrow, short, steeply arched basal fold. Valva with an elongate cucullar lobe ~0.5× length of genital capsule, bearing a pectinifer consisting of ~47–49 blunt spines; terminal apex of cucullar lobe evenly rounded; pedicel broad, over one-third the length of cucullar lobe; valva elongate, length along sacculus ~0.75× length of genital capsule; saccular lobe elongate, moderately slender, tapering to an irregularly rounded, setose apex; basal process of valva tapering to acute apex, exceeding length of moderately short costal process. Juxta a slender, filamentous, caudal extension from vinculum.

FEMALE, LARVA AND PUPA. Unknown.

HOLOTYPE. ♂; BRAZIL: PARá: Capitao Poco: 25–31 Jan 1984, V. O. Becker, slide DRD 4348 (VOB).

PARATYPES. BRAZIL: PARá: Capitao Poco: 1 ♀, 25–31 Jan 1984, V. O. Becker, slide USNM 31797 (USNM). ECUADOR: Napo: SE Tena, near Rio Napo, Jatun Sacha and Misahualli, 400–500 m: 2 ♂, 26–31 Jan 2000, R. Puplesis, slides AD 0357, 0443 (VPU).

HOST. Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD. January.

DISTRIBUTION. (Map 7) Known from two disjunct localities in northeastern Brazil (Pará) and east-central Ecuador (Napo).

ETYMOLOGY. The species name is derived from the Latin plico (fold) added to the diminutive suffix ella (little) in reference to the small, median fold at the anterior margin of the male gnathos.

DISCUSSION. The gnathos of this species is diagnostic in possessing an extremely reduced, caudally arched basal fold restricted to the median area of the anterior margin. It is further distinguished from the related species, paraplicatella, in possessing a more rounded vinculum with a vestigial juxta and longer saccular lobes.

Pseudopostega plicatella is a moth of the family Opostegidae. It was described by Donald R. Davis and Jonas R. Stonis, 2007. It is known from Pará in north-eastern Brazil and east-central Ecuador.

The length of the forewings is 2.5–3.2 mm. Adults have been recorded in January.