Montiscola Mi & Cheng, 2025

Mi, Xiaoye, Han, Hongxiang, Pan, Zhao, Zhu, Chaodong & Cheng, Rui, 2025, Montiscola gen. n., a new alpine genus of Gnophini (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) from Xizang, China, with brachypterous females, Zootaxa 5621 (5), pp. 594-600 : 596-598

Montiscola Mi & Cheng , gen. nov. ( Figs 2–15 )

Chinese common name: ṭĸśș

Type species. Montiscola hongfui Mi & Cheng , sp. nov.

Description. Head. Antennae filiform with setae in both male and female. Frons flattened, width similar to diameter of compound eyes. Labial palpus moderately long, extending beyond frons. Proboscis well developed. Vertex roughscaled. Chaetosemata present.

Thorax. Hind tibia with two pairs of spurs in both sexes.

Wing shape. Male. Both, fore- and hind-wings, with costa straight, apex rounded, outer margin smooth and slightly curved. Hind wing with costa elongate, longer than anal margin. Female. Wings brachypterous. Forewing narrow, rectangular; costa gently convex; outer margin truncate; hind margin straight. Hind wing similar to forewing, outer margin straight and oblique, anal margin elongate.

Venation. Frenulum developed. Forewing: Sc shortly fused with R 1 before cell. R 2 diverging before R 5, shortly anastomosing with R 1 then quickly merging with or very close to R 3+4 for a short distance, forming two areoles; sometimes basal part of R 2 reduced or absent, with only one areole present. M 1, M 3, and CuA 1 free. Hind wing: Rs and M 1 separate, M 2 absent, M 3 and CuA 1 separate. Venation of female almost identical to that of male, discal cell elongate, veins Sc to R 3 very weak at distal part.

Abdomen. Tergites with medial sclerotized ridge. Eighth segment of male unmodified.

Male genitalia. Uncus triangular with blunt apex. Socii absent. Gnathos with small median process. Valva long and narrow, apex blunt; costa sclerotized, with two spines. Juxta slender, anterior arms short and rounded; middle part of in even width, posterior part deeply forked into a V-shape. Saccus small. Aedeagus without cornutus.

Female genitalia. Ovipositor lobes stout. Lamella antevaginalis a small process. Lamella postvaginalis unmodified. Ductus bursae with posterior part broad, most of the rest narrow, with lateral sides sclerotized. Corpus bursae round; signum absent.

Etymology. The genus name is derived from the Latin words mons and cola, which means mountain dweller.

Diagnosis. Although Montiscola is clustered with Sciadia + Crocota , it differs distinctly from Crocota in both the wing shape and genitalia. Compared to Psodos ( Müller et al. 2019: male genitalia Figs 35–48), the juxta of Montiscola lacks spines on its posterior arms, and the apex of the valva is broader. Montiscola is very close to Elophos (which is synonymized with Sciadia in Lee et al. 2024: we use Sciadia below and the comparison is mainly with former Elophos species ( Müller et al. 2019)), but it can be distinguished by the following differences: The antennae are filiform in both male and female in Montiscola , while they are bipectinate in males of Sciadia . The significant difference in the female wing shape is that the apex of the forewing is rounded in Montiscola but very pointed in Sciadia ( Müller et al. 2019: plate 8, Figs 56d, 56g, 57c). In the male genitalia ( Fig. 7 ; Müller et al. 2019: male genitalia Figs 56–59), Montiscola possesses a broad and apically round valvae, while the apex of the valva in Sciadia is very narrow; the juxta of Montiscola is much slender and forked at the distal one-third, whereas that of Sciadia is broader and divided basally; a cornutus is absent in Montiscola , but present in Sciadia . In the female genitalia ( Fig. 8 ; Müller et al. 2019: female genitalia Figs 56–59), Montiscola has a long and narrow ductus bursae, while the ductus bursae of Sciadia is stout.

Figures

FIGURES 2–11. Adults and characteristic details of Montiscola hongfui gen. & sp. nov. 2, male, holotype, IZCAS, upperside; 3, ditto, underside; 4, female, paratype, IZCAS, upperside; 5, ditto, underside; 6, female, paratype, upperside. Scale bars in male = 1 cm, in female = 1 mm. 7, male abdomen; 8, head in lateral view (male); 9–11, variation of forewing vein R2 from three male specimens.

FIGURES 12–17.Venation,genitalia and type-localitiesof M.hongfui gen. &sp. nov. 12, female;13, male.14, female, paratype, IZCAS slide no. Geom-7351; 15, male, holotype, IZCAS slide no. Geom-7352. Scale bars = 1 mm. 16–17: Kongtanglam Mountain, Jilong, Xizang. 16, altitude 4600 m; 17, altitude 4400 m.