Teulisna (Poikilothosia) robusta Volynkin, Černý, 2025

Volynkin, Anton V., Černý, Karel & Huang, Si-Yao, 2025, On the generic assignment of the taxa placed in the Oriental footman-moth genus Teulisna with the description of three new genera, one subgenus and eighteen new species, Ecologica Montenegrina 88, pp. 104-163 : 122

Teulisna (Poikilothosia) robusta Volynkin, Černý & Huang, sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3A733D98-C227-4A1E-B1D9-D1369E6FC523

( Figs 64, 65 , 131 , 169 )

Type material. Holotype ( Figs 64 , 131 ): male, [NE India, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills ] “Khasis | Nov. 1894 | Nat. Coll” / “Slide | AV7571 ♂ | A. Volynkin ” ( OUMNH).

Paratype. INDIA: female, [Meghalaya, Khasi Hills] Khasis, Nat. Coll. / Doncaster private coll., Purch. 1927, gen. slide No.: AV7106 ♀ ( OUMNH) .

Diagnosis. The forewing length is 13.5 mm in the male holotype and 14.5 mm in the female paratype. Teulisna robusta sp. n. is externally reminiscent of T. pilcheri sp. n. and differs in the smaller black discal marking in the male and the somewhat more prominent costal protrusion in the female. In the male genitalia, T. robusta sp. n. is most similar to T. variabilis sp. n. but distinguished by the longer and medially narrower uncus, the shorter pseudoampulla, and the narrower distal saccular process. The phalli of the two species are similar. In the vesica of T. robusta sp. n., the dorsal diverticulum is straight conical, membranous and bears a small spike-shaped terminal cornutus whereas in T. variabilis sp. n., it is curved, heavily granulose, lacks the cornutus but has a dorsal subdiverticulum. The distal (ventral) section of the vesica of T. robusta sp. n. is longer than in T. variabilis sp. n., has a markedly smaller conical medial diverticulum (it is massive and C-like curved in T. variabilis sp. n.), and a broader distal diverticulum bearing a straighter but considerably thicker terminal cornutus. The female genitalia of T. robusta sp. n. differ clearly from T. variabilis sp. n. in the posterior section of the corpus bursae lacking the irregular sclerotised plate, the more elongate and narrower anterior section of the corpus bursae bearing a long and broad area of sclerotisation but lacking the signum, and the more weakly gelatinous right lateral protrusion of the corpus bursae.

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from Khasi Hills in Northeast India (Meghalaya).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the robust cornutus in the new species’ vesica. The name is an adjetive in apposition to the generic name.

Figures

Figures 64–77. Adults of Teulisna (Poikilothosia) spp. Depositories of the specimens: 64, 65 and 69 in OUMNH; 66, 67 and 70–77 in MWM/ZSM; 68 in NHMUK.

Figures 129–131. Male genitalia of Teulisna (Poikilothosia) spp. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 129 and 130 in CKC; 131 in OUMNH.

Figures 166–169. Female genitalia of Teulisna (Poikilothosia) spp. Depositories of the specimens dissected: 166 in MWM/ZSM; 167 and 169 in OUMNH; 168 in CKC.