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A. L. LVOVSKY' &J.C. KOSTER" ZoologicalInstitute,AcademyofSciences, St. Petersburg 'Callantsoog, TheNetherlands DENISIA CURLETTIISP. N. FROM TUNISIA (LEPIDOPTERA: OECOPHORIDAE) Lvovsky, A.L. &J.C. Koster, 1996. Denisia curlettiispec. nov. from Tunisia (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae). - Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 139: 157-160, figs. 1-7. [issn 0040-7496]. Published 18 December 1996. AnewspeciesofOecophoridae isdescribedfromTunisia: Denisiacurlettiis^. n.Theexternal charactersandgenitaliaarefigured,andthebiologyisbrieflydiscussed. Correspondence: A. L. Lvovsky, Zoological Institute, Academy ofSciences, Universitetskaja N 1, 199034St. Petersburg, Russia. Keywords.-Lepidoptera,Oecophoridae, Denisia,Tunisia, newspecies. In the genus Denisia Hübner, 1825 (Oecopho- ridae), 18 speciesarecurrentlyrecognized. Thegenus 1. Denisiaalhimaculea(Hâwonh, 1828) has its main distribution in Europe, but several 2. Denisiaaragonella{Chrétien, 1903) speciesoccur in the Near-East. Thereare two species 3. Denisiaaugustella{Hühner, 1796) known from North and CentralAsiaandonespecies 4. Denisiacoeruleopicta{Christoph, 1888) from North America. Below we describe the first 5. Denisiacurlettiis^. n. species fromAfrica. 6. Denisiafiduciella(Rehel, 1935) Last year the junior author received three speci- 7. Denisiagraslinella{Staudinger, 1871) mens ofan unknown Microlepidoptera species from 8. Denisialuctuosella{Duponchel, 1840) Mr. Traugott-Olsen, (Marbella, Spain). Mr. 9. Denisialuticiliella{Erschoff, 1877) Traugott-Olsenconcludedonthebasisofwingvena- 10. Denisiamuellerrutzi{Amseì, 1939) tion andgenitaliathatitcould possiblybelongto the 11. Denisianubilosella{Werrich-Sch^i-ïkr, 1854) Momphidae. The scaling ofthe head and the struc- 12. Denisiaosthelderi(Keheì in Osthelder, 1936) tureofthemalegenitaliaincombinationwiththeve- 13. DenisiapyrenaicaLerzut, 1989 nation identify the moths as belonging to the 14. Denisiaragonotella{Constant, 1885) Oecophoridae. Both families belongto the large and 15. Denisiarhaetica(Frey, 1856) verydiversesuperfamilyoftheGelechioidea. 16. Denisiasimilella(Hühner, 1796) Leraut (1984) described the monotypic genus 17. Denisiastipella{hinnaeus, 1758) Bnvatinabased on a single male specimen, Buvatina 18. Denisiasuhaquilea{Stainton, 1849) tineiformis. Buvatinaisdistinguishedfrom Denisiaby the followingcharacters: forewingwithveins R4 and R5 completely merged; the short and porrect labial Denisiacurlettiisp. n. palpaeandthelongSaccus.Thespeciesdescribedhere Type material. - Holotype S Tunisia, Bou : has the upper margin of the valvae concave like in Hedma, 18.v.1990, Curletti leg. Gen. prep. Buvatina, but the venation ofthe forewing (fig. 5) A.23.10.92 E. Traugott-Olsen (rmnh). - Paratypes shows aforked position ofR4 and R5. This in com- 2$: Same date and locality as holotype. Gen. prep. bination with the long and upcurved labial palpae B.21.10.92 and B.23.10.92. E. Traugott-Olsen. andtheshortsaccusledustoplacethenewspeciesin Wing prep. A.26.10.92 E. Traugott-Olsen. (coll. Denisia. Baldizzone). ChecklistofDenisiaHübner, 1825 Diagnosis This is a provisional list compiled from literature, D. curlettiidiffers from all otherspecies in Denisia sincewedid not have theopportunityto examineall bytheshapeofthevalvawhichhas theuppermargin thespecies. concave. In the other species the upper margin is Typespecies: Phalaena TineastipellaLinmeus, 1758 straight or convex (Leraut, 1989). Externally the 157 TijdschriftVOOREntomologie,volume139,1996 speciesresemblesDenisiaosthelderi(Rebel, 1936),but most parallel-sided, dorso-basal incision with sclero- it differs from it by the white basal fascia on the tized rims; gnathos broad, slightly tapering distally forewingthatdoesnotreach thecostal marginofthe withasharpdownwards bent, hook-likeapex; saccus wing. In D. osthelderithis fascia is complete. Further rounded;juxtabroad,juxtalobeslong,narrow,taper- bythe dorsal andsubcostal spot in the middle, in D. ing distally into a sharp, upwards bent, apex. Valva osthelderi these two spots are united into one large short, broad at base, tapering into a rounded, up- spot. The light yellow hindwing with the greyish- wardsbentandstronglysetosecucuUus,costaconvex, brownapicalthird,iscompletelygreyish-browninD. ampulla warty. Aedeagus tubular, both ends bent osthelderi. The light yellow hindwing of the new downwards laterally, dorso-distally broadened sub- species distinguishes it from all other species in the apically,withoutcornuti. genus. Unfortunately the holotype of D. osthelderi, Female (fig. 2). - Scape dorsally shining dark theonlyspecimenknownofthisspecies,lackstheab- brownwithwhiteapical spot, antennaeshiningdark domen, thus making a comparison of the genitalia brown, annulated white ventrally. Forewing with impossible. some scattered yellow scales, strongest in the basal half, the triangularwhitespoton dorsum atone-half Description and the smaller subcostal white spotjust beyond the Male (fig. 1). - Wingspan 8,5-9,5 mm. Head: dorsalspotsmallerandlesspronounced. frons white; vertex shining brown, irrorated white; Female genitalia (fig. 4).- Apophyses posteriores collar shining dark brown; palpae first segment one- almost twice as longas apophyses anteriores. Tergite third of the length of the second, white, ventrally VIIIalmostsquare,slightlynarrowingbasally,weakly with apical dark brown spot, second segment one- sclerotized. Antrum upper part bowl-shaped, lower fifiih longer than third, white, ventrallymottleddark part funnel-shaped, gradually tapering into coUicu- brown and somewhat rough-scaled beneath, third lum,ventralmarginalmoststraight,distalpartsclero- segment dark brown with white irroration dorsally; tized, dorsal wall ofostium bursae strongly spined. Scape irroratedwhitedorsally; ventrallyshininglight Corpus bursaenotvisible. grey; antennae with distinct white annulations, cili- ate. Thorax and tegulae shining dark brown. Legs: Biology shining dark brown, tibiae with a white medial and The three specimens have been collected 18 May apical ring, tarsi white at joints. Forewing dark 1990 byMrG. CurlettiduringhisvisittoTunisiain brown,denselyirroratedbyyellowscales, an irrigular order to collect larvae and adults of Buprestidae white fascia before one-third, perpendicular on dor- (Coleoptera). Unfortunately Mr Curletti cannot re- sum,narrowingtowardscostaandnotreachingit,on memberhowhecollectedthespecimens.Thatdayhe dorsum, between base and fascia, awhite spot, a tri- searched for larvae ofBuprestidae, which live under angular white spot on dorsum at halfway, a smaller the bark ofdead trees and shrubs. Perhaps he acci- subcostal white spot just beyond the dorsal spot, al- dentelyrearedthemothsfromthesesamplesofwood. most formingan interrupted outward oblique fascia, However he also collected at light (u.v. lamp) that alargewhitecostalspotatthree-fourth,asmallwhite night. ThemothswerecollectedatthefootofDjebel spoton tornus, inwardlyofthe costal spot, on costa, BouHedma(Djebel=hill).Thishill,withanaltitude dorsumandinthefold,alsoassomeedgingofthefas- of 790 meter, is situated south of the road P 14, ciaandthespots;ciliadarkgrey,mixedochreous,yel- halfway between the cities Gafsa and Sfax, several lowish at tornai spot. Hindwingshininglight yellow kilometresWestofMaknassy. with some greyish-brown irroration, especially at The collecting site has a desert-like or steppe-like base, the apical third shining greyish-brown, cilia vegetation, characterized by the absence oftrees and greyish-brownaroundapex, lightyellowfrom tornus thepresenceofsmallshrubsofLimoniastrumsp. and to base. Underside: forewing shininggreyish-brown, Tamarixsp. (fig.6).Thesmallerherbs,however,con- shining yellowish on dorsum; hindwing shining yel- sist of many species and are difficult to identify, lowish,irroratedgreyish-brownatbaseandalongcos- mainly belonging to the Chenopodiaceae (Salso- ta, apical thirdshininggreyish-brown.Abdomen not laceae), but also some Graminaceae are found (e.g. examined. Aristida pungens). These plants belong to the salty Malegenitalia(fig.3).—Uncustriangular,elongat- habitatofa'chott',adepressioninthelandscapewith ed distally, apex flat, slightly indented; tegumen al- asaltsoil. Figs3-4.GenitaliaoïDenisiacurlettii.—3,malegenitalia,ventro-caudalaspect,valvaespread,aedaeagusseparated,topdor- salaspect,bottomlateralaspect.Scalebar0.25 mm;4,femalegenitalia,ventralaspect,corpusbursaeomitted. Scalebar0.5 158 LvovsKY&Koster: Denisiacurlettii Fig. 1 (left). Denisiacurlettii, male.-Fig. 2 (right). Denisia curlettii,female. 159 TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume139,1996 History, Leiden, TheNetherlands (rmnh); Mr. E.G. Traugott-Olsen, Marbella, Spain, who brought this species underthe attentionofthejuniorauthor; Mr. G. Gurletti,Carmagnola,Italy,whoprovideduswith extensiveinformationonthecollectionsite;Dr.S.Yu. Sinev,St. Petersburg, Russia, forexaminingtheholo- typeofDenisiaosthelderi. TheUyttenboogaart-Eliasen Foundationmadethe publicationofthecolourplatespossible. References Fig. 5.WingvenationofDenisiacurlettii. Leraut, P., 1984. Buvatinatineiformis, espèceetgenrenou- veauxpourlascience découverts en France (Lep. Oeco- phoridae, Oecophorinae). - Entomologica gallica, 1(3): 151-153. First stages unknown. Larvae possibly under the Leraut, P., 1989. Contributionàl'étudedesOecophoridae barkofLimoniastrumsp. or Tamarixsp. The species (s.L). L Révision de quelques types d'espèces tradi- ofthegenus Denisiaarereportedto feedondecaying tionellementassociéesauxgenres BorhauseniaHübneret woodunderdeadbarkofvarioustreesandshrubs. SchiffermuelleriaHübner, et description d'une espèce et dedeuxgenresnouveaux.—Alexanor 16: 95-113. Distribution Rebel, 1936. In: L. Osthelder, Lepidopteren-Fauna von Marasch in Türkisch Nordsyrien. - Mitteilungen Onlyknownfrom thetypelocality. MünchnerEntomologischenGesellschaft25 (3):67-90. Etymology The species is named after its collector Mr. G. Received: 1 March 1996 Curletti, Carmagnola, Italy. Accepted: 1 April 1996 Acknowledgements Wewouldliketoexpressourthankstothefollow- ing persons: Dr. G. Baldizzone, Asti, Italy, for the loanofthematerialandthepermissiontodepositthe holotype in the National Museum of Natural Fig. 6. Habitat of Denisia curlettii. Tunisia: Bou Hedma. 160