Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata Davis 1969

Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata Davis

Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata Davis, 1969:140.

ADULT (Figure 180).—Wing Expanse: , 14.5–16 mm; , 15 mm.

Head: Vestiture consisting of a scattered mixture of white and fuscous hairlike scales. Antennae with 47–50 segments, banded along proximal half of flagellum, with scales of each segment brownish fuscous at base, white at apex; distal half of flagellum mostly fuscous; scape mostly whitish with pale suffusion of brown. Palpi sparsely covered with pale brown and whitish scales.

Thorax: Dorsum clothed with a scattered mixture of white and pale brownish scales; bristlelike scale tufts on tegulae and rear portion of mesonotum fuscous; venter mostly whitish. Legs fuscous. Forewings mostly white, with a somewhat irregular suffusion of pale brown to fuscous; two irregularly shaped but very distinct spots of fuscous located along hind margin near proximal third and distal third of wing; fringe whitish along outer margin, becoming pale brown along hind margin. Hind wings thinly scaled; scales very slender, hairlike, less than one-fourth the width of those in primaries, pale brownish; fringe unicolorous, brownish.

MAP 6.—Distribution of Acanthopteroctetes.

Abdomen: Pale fuscous.

Male Genitalia (Figures 285–288): Uncus rather deeply bilobed; lower margins with approximately 5 pair of minute serrations. Tegumen relatively long, exceeding length of uncus. Caudal margin of vinculum less deeply excavated than in A. tripunctata. Median process of transtilla with 3–4 pair of ventral serrations. Juxta elongate, nearly equaling the length of valvae; basal 0.2 constricted with caudal 0.8 relatively broad and spatulate, and terminating in a broadly rounded apex; a pair of oval, hyaline spots slightly confluent at midline, present near basal one-third. Valvae with ventral membranous fringe prominent; sacculus less expanded than in A. tripunctata. Armature of aedeagus complex, with a single, large apical spine and two rows of approximately 10–12 stout cornuti at middle.

Female Genitalia (Figures 69–70, 329–330, 344): Apex of ovipositor with approximately 10 minute serrations along ventral margin. Caudal margin of 8th segment with a series of about 9 pair of stout, elongate, sensory setae encircling abdomen; the longest setae originating dorsally with series gradually decreasing in length toward venter and arising from rather large well-defined sockets. Vestibulum with thickened, heavily folded walls; common oviduct apparently arising from a large lateral lobe of vestibulum. Spermathecal papilla darkly sclerotized, funnel shaped. Corpus bursae relatively reduced in size, walls completely membranous; ductus bursae membranous, increasing in diameter toward vestibulum.

TYPE.—Holotype , USNM 69929, in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

TYPE-LOCALITY.—Spring Creek, Baker, Baker County, Oregon.

HOST.—Unknown.

FLIGHT PERIOD.—May to mid-July; univoltine.

DISTRIBUTION (Map 6).—Known only from the Blue Mountains-Wallowa Mountains section of the Columbia Plateau in northeastern Oregon and the southern Sierra Nevada of east-central California.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—2 males and 2 females. CALIFORNIA: Tulare Co: Monache (mispelled on label as Monacbee) Meadows, 8000 ft [2439 m]: 1 (paratype), 8–14 July (USNM). OREGON: Baker Co: Baker, Spring Cr: 1 (paratype), 7 May; 1 (holotype), 17 May (USNM); Spring Cr, Blue Mts, 4000 ft [1220 m]: 1 , 13 May (USNM).

Acanthopteroctetes bimaculata is a moth of the family Acanthopteroctetidae. It was described by Davis in 1969. It is found in north-eastern Oregon and east-central California.

The wingspan is 14.5–16 mm for males and 15 mm for males. The forewings are mostly white, with a somewhat irregular suffusion of pale brown to fuscous and two irregularly shaped distinct spots of fuscous. The hindwings are thinly scaled and pale brownish. Adults are on wing from May to mid July in one generation per year.