Ecebalia zolotuhini, Yuen & Chen & Yuen & Liu & Leung & Ko & Chan & Somani & Herrmann & Jung & Tokas & Croghan & Traxer & Chiu & Chew & Teoh & Gauhar & Li & Ng, 2022

Yuen, Steffi Kar Kei, Chen, Zixiao, Yuen, Skyler, Liu, Alex Qinyang, Leung, Chi-Ho, Ko, Ivan Ching Ho, Chan, Chi Kwok, Somani, Bhaskar, Herrmann, Thomas, Jung, Helene, Tokas, Theodoros, Croghan, Stefanie, Traxer, Olivier, Chiu, Peter Ka Fung, Chew, Ben, Teoh, Jeremy Yuen Chun, Gauhar, Vineet, Li, Zheng & Ng, Chi Fai, 2022, Novel non-invasive intrarenal pressure monitoring devices in flexible ureteroscopy: an in-vitro comparative study., Zoosystematica Rossica (China) 31 (1), pp. 130-133 : 131-133

Ecebalia zolotuhini sp. nov.

( Figs 1–11)

Holotype. Male , “Rossiya, Ts. Kavkaz, Kabardino- Balkariya, Priel’brus’e, r. Adyrsu, h=2400, okr. a/l Ulu-Tau, subalpiyskie luga, dnem 8.08.2003 [in Russian], V. Anikin col.” [ Russia, Central Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, area of Elbrus Mt., River Adyrsu, 2400 m, nr. Ulu-Tau alpine camp, subalpine meadows, at daytime, 8.VIII.2003, V. Anikin leg.] ( ZIN).

Paratypes. 9 females, same locality and date as for holotype (4 paratypes in ZIN, 5 paratypes in SarSU) .

Description. Wingspan 11–13 mm. Head beige-coloured with light grey scales around eyes. Labial palp greyish-coloured, lower side of middle segment whitish grey. Antenna grey-white, basally ringed with light brown; thorax beige. Abdomen grey. Forewing grey-ochreous, with costa creamy grey-white in basal twothirds, grey-white lines along veins, and dark brown scales in distal part of forewing. Hind wing grey; cilia greyish. Sexual dimorphism not expressed.

Male genitalia ( Figs 3–5). Knob of gnathos globular-oval. Distal part of tegumen narrow, broadening into a long pedunculus. Transtilla broad. Valvula as broad as cucullus, distinct. Cucullus large and broad, ear-shaped, not tapered basally. Sacculus broad, its dorsocaudal angle with three teeth: inner tooth the longest, medial and outer teeth smaller; ventrocaudal angle point- ed, with apex almost rectangular-shaped, with a tooth. Phallotheca with two strongly sclerotised, slightly arched rods of equal length; upper rod with two triangular apical teeth, lower rod with pointed apex ( Fig. 4). Vesica with one short cornutus ( Fig. 5).

Male abdominal tergites ( Fig. 6). Tergal disc twice as long as wide. First abdominal tergite elongate, with 12–14 spinelets on each plate. Subsequent tergites with patches of 23–26 spinelets on each tergite.

Female genitalia ( Figs 7–10). Papillae anales long, narrow. Apophysis posterioris about 2.3 times as long as apophysis anterioris; apophysis anterioris curved at apex. Subgenital plate triangular-shaped, with width almost equal to length. Distal margin rounded, medially with a deep slit, bordered with subapical fold. Ostium bursae V-shaped; antrum elongate, asymmetrical, in anterior part on both sides without or only with small rounded swellings ( Fig. 7). Ductus bursae long; first spinulate section slightly longer than apophyses anteriores; central rod with wellsclerotised second section with several coils; oral section evenly membranous; all sections of ductus elongate. Corpus bursae spherical ( Fig. 8), with one curved rasp-like signum ( Fig. 9) and one small thorn-like signum ( Fig. 10).

Female abdominal tergites ( Fig. 11). Tergal disc about twice as long as wide. First abdominal tergite with 13–16 spinelets on each plate. Subsequent tergites with patches of 27–30 spinelets on each tergite.

Taxonomic position and comparison. A combination of characters, namely, the wing coloration with dark grey veins on a brown background, the shape of the labial palps, the abdominal tergites and the structure of the genitalia, indicates that the new species belongs to the genus Ecebalia . The new species belongs to the E. virgaurea species–complex and is similar to E. obscenella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855) in the male characters and to E. proterella (Wikström et Tabell, 2016) in the female characters.

In contrast to E. obscenella whose male genitalia have a sacculus with a dorsocaudal process with two short straight teeth, in E. zolotuhini sp. nov. the sacculus is rectangular-shaped with three teeth, of which the third (outer) tooth is smaller. Ecebalia obscenella has a phallotheca with two strongly sclerotised, slightly arched rods of equal length: the upper rod with one triangular apical tooth and the lower rod with a blunt apex; E. zolotuhini sp. nov. has the upper rod with two triangular apical teeth and the low- er rod with pointed apex. In E. obscenella , the vesica bears 5–6 cornuti tightly compacted into a curved bundle, which is distally longer, whereas in E. zolotuhini sp. nov. the vesica has one short cornutus.

In female E. proterella , the antrum is elongate, with a rounded swelling in anterior part on both sides, whereas in E. zolotuhini sp. nov. the swellings on both sides are not pronounced. The anterior apophyses of E. zolotuhini sp. nov. are shorter and not straight as in E. proterella . Corpus bursae of E. proterella has a large thorn-like signum and a long straight rasp-like signum, while in E. zolotuhini sp.nov. it has a small thorn-like signum and a curved rasp-like signum.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to the Russian entomologist Prof. Vadim V. Zolotuhin in acknowledgement of his activities on and devotion to the study of Lepidoptera during all of his life.

Distribution. Central Caucasus. The type locality is situated in the area of the Elbrus Mountain (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia).

Bionomics. The adult moths of E. zolotuhini sp. nov. were collected on a subalpine meadow in the valley of the mountain River Adyrsu (Electronic supplementary material; see Addenda) in early August, when feeding on the flowers of Solidago . Apparently, the larva of E. zolotuhini sp.nov. is carpophagous as in other species of E. virgaurea species–group and feeds on seeds of Solidago in late August and September.