Palpita maritima Sullivan & Solis

Male. Head Labial palpi brown scaled above, white scaled below, scaling on inner surface lighter brown. Haustellum white scaled. Frons brown scaled with darker, chocolate-colored patches laterally. Vertex with central white scaling and lateral brown scaling. Maxillary palpi developed, forming mesially directed tufts at occipital angle. Eyes large with well-developed corona. Ocellus present. Antenna brown scaled dorsally to tip and tan ventrally with scape brown, pedicel brown with white shining scales at base; fasciculate with tiny ventral setae. Thorax and abdomen Thorax with fuscous scaling. First two abdominal segments with white scaling dorsally, fuscous and chocolate scaling laterally. Remaining segments chocolate colored dorsally with scattered fuscous scales covering most of segment and a row of white scales distally giving abdomen a ringed appearance. Terminal segment largely fuscous. Underside of abdomen white with scattered fuscous scales. Abdomen extends 1/3 length beyond wing margins. Wings (wing length=12 mm, n=20); span (wing tip to wing tip=29 mm). Forewing with apex slightly rounded. Ground color brown, a mixture of chocolate and fuscous scales. Orbicular and reniform spots well marked. Wing pattern varies depending on condition of wear. Some individuals with well-marked chocolate-colored areas. Hindwing fuscous, less patterned than forewing. Underside of wings white, less patterned, but orbicular and reniform spots visible. Legs Forelegs with alternating brown and white-scaled regions. Middle legs brown dorsally, white ventrally. Hind legs white. A single pair of spurs on mid tibia, two pair on hind tibia with smaller, distal spurs brown, proximal spurs white. Some individuals with all spurs white. Female similar to male, scaling on leg spurs usually white with scattered brown scales. Male Genitalia Tegumen posterodorsally square. Uncus elongate, narrow in middle, wider at both ends. Distal end smoothly rounded with a pad of dorsal setae. Valva broadly rounded with moderately-dense hair patch at apex. Costa sclerotized, slightly narrower than width of apex of uncus and widening slightly at 2/3 from base. Sacculus heavily sclerotized, half width of valva at base, narrowing distally, not extending to costal apex, with three dorsal (toward costa) projections. Most distal projection tapers at tip and extends thumb-like medially, extends toward costa more than ½ distance but shape variable among individuals and between left and right valves. Most basal projection about half distance along length of valva, broadly rounded, extends less than ½ way to costa. Between these two projections, a less-sclerotized thin, ribbon-like projection extends across valva and bends toward costa without touching costa. Medial area of valva unsclerotized, with broadly-spaced setae. Vinculum 2–3× broader than tegumen, parategumen sclerites (=a pair of lateral sclerites located in basal region of tegumen, usually with long pencils or brushes of scales (=coremata) (Clavijo 1990)) present. Saccus pointed, curving dorsad. Juxta large, shield-like with distinct sub-basal invaginations. Posterior juxtal tip broad with two distinct pointed projections. Phallus weakly sclerotized; apex without projection or ornamentation on shaft. Ductus seminalis subbasal. Vesica sac-like, slightly wider than phallus with a dorsal basal sclerotization often looking like a fishing hook. A larger and more distal ventral patch of deciduous cornuti present (in some specimens only sockets remain on a sclerotized patch). Female Genitalia Eighth segment trapezoidal, 5× as wide as high with numerous setae arranged in 4 somewhat irregular rows. Anterior apophyses about 3× as long as posterior apophyses. Anterior and posterior apophyses narrow, rounded at tips. Seventh segment ovoid, lightly sclerotized. Ostium bursae broad, about 4/5 width of segment, flat, and extending dorsally with short sclerotized spines at lateral edges. Ductus bursae short, posteriorly highly sclerotized, anteriorly lightly sclerotized, slightly sclerotized at junction with corpus bursae. Corpus bursae lightly sclerotized anterior to ductus bursae. Two ventrally located, elongated, horn-shaped signa anterior to base of corpus bursae. Corpus bursae membranous, elongate, about half length of genital apparatus.