Gonionota gaiophanes Clarke 1971

Gonionota gaiophanes

Alar expanse 21 mm.

Labial palpus buff mixed with gray; second segment brownish posteriorly. Antenna brown; scape buff with some brown scaling anteriorly. Head buff suffused clay color. Thorax clay color, scales buff tipped. Forewing ground color clay color, strongly overlaid sayal brown and weakly mottled with fuscuous; in tornal area an ill-defined fuscous blotch; on termen from apex to tornus, six fuscous transverse dashes; from basal third to apical third costa narrowly yellowish; cilia concolorous with wing; underside of costal area strongly buff scaled, irrorate with fuscuous and with two fuscous spots at two fifths and middle. Hindwing pale clay color with conspicuous fuscous shade between 2nd and 3rd anals. Foreleg buff shaded clay color on outer side; midleg similar to foreleg but more lightly shaded; hindleg similar to midleg. Abdomen buff suffused clay color ventrally.

Female genitalia slide JFGC 12082. Ostium transverse, crescentic. Genital plate subrectangular; lamella antevaginalis very finely scobinate. Antrum sclerotized. Inception of ductus seminalis slightly anterior to antrum. Ductus bursae membranous. Bursa copulatrix membranous. Signum small, cruciform, each lateral element with 4 or 5 teeth.

HOLOTYPE.—USNM 71091.

TYPE LOCALITY.—Brazil, New Bremen.

DISTRIBUTION.—Brazil.

Described from the unique holotype (7. II. 1936, Fritz Plaumann).

In superficial appearance gaiophanes is similar to aethoptera but lacks the dark dorsal band of the latter species. The small but conspicuous white spot at the end of cell in aethoptera is absent in gaiophanes.

Gonionota gaiophanes is a moth in the family Depressariidae. It was described by John Frederick Gates Clarke in 1971. It is found in Brazil.

The wingspan is about 21 mm. The forewings are clay color, strongly overlaid with sayal brown and weakly mottled with fuscous. In the tornal area is an ill-defined fuscous blotch and on the termen from the apex to the tornus, are six fuscous transverse dashes. The basal third to the apical third of the costa is narrowly yellowish. The hindwings are pale clay color with a conspicuous fuscous shade between the 2nd and 3rd anals.