Gargela minuta Song 2009

Gargela minuta Song et al., 2009 Figs. 27, 86, 145. Gargela minuta Song et al., 2009, p. 55, figs. 12, 24. Type locality: Taiwan, Lanyu Island, 270 m. MATERIAL 7 ♂, 8 ♀, 2 unsexed (detailed information in Table S1; https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.b8gtht7mh). SIMILAR SPECIES Gargela distigma Song et al., 2009, Gargela polyacantha Li, 2019, Gargela bidentella sp. n. DIAGNOSIS Among Gargela species of the Philippines, Gargela minuta can be separated on the forewing by the dark brown spots and the ocher coloration of the fringes (Fig. 27). Gargela minuta shows a nearly identical forewing pattern to G. bidentella sp. n., but the fringe spots are more pronounced in G. minuta than G. bidentella sp. n. Both species are unambiguously separated by examination of male genitalia (Fig. 86); the bulky costal process with dorsal bump, the narrowed distal part of the valva, and the tiny cornuti of the vesica separates G. minuta from other Gargela species. This species has similar male genitalia as in G. distigma; however, in the latter species, the valva has a notched apex, and the vesica lacks the tiny cornuti. In female genitalia (Fig. 145), the following characters separate G. minuta from other Gargela species: the papillae anales are ventrally produced posterad, the posterior apophyses are bent upwards at basal 1/3, the basal half of ductus is covered with tiny spines, and the corpus bursae is pear-shaped with two thorn-shaped signa. DISTRIBUTION PHILIPPINES: Luzon (Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales, Laguna), Mindanao (Davao Oriental), Mindoro; Negros. TAIWAN. Collected at altitudes between 150 and 1150 m. DNA BARCODING The species delimitation analysis recovered two MOTUs, one for the specimens from Luzon (North Luzon, Zambales, Laguna) and Mindoro and one for the unique female specimen from Mindanao (Davao Oriental). The highest intraspecific divergence observed is of 3.97% between samples MFNLEP-PYRALPHIL07-A08 from Mindanao (Davao) and MFNLEP-PYRALPHIL09-F09 from Luzon (Laguna). Haplotype from the specimen from Taiwan (DNA voucher MFNLEP995) differs by 0.16% from the haplotype from Luzon and Mindoro (see Fig. 179h). REMARKS This is the first record of this species from the Philippines.