Covellana niomalan Martinez, Homziak, Plotkin & Castillo-Argaez 2026, sp. nov.

Covellana niomalan Martinez, Homziak, Plotkin & Castillo-Argaez sp. nov. Figs 4, 16, 17, 21 Type material. Holotype: • ♂, PANAMA., CANAL ZONE, Dump 9., 29 - IX 1982, D. H. Habeck, MV and Black light / DNA Voucher LEP-94957. deposited in MGCL. Paratypes (4 ♂ MGCL): Panama: • Same collecting data as holotype / DNA Voucher LEP-94958 (1 ♂); PANAMA., Middle Chagras, 21 - IX- 1982, D. H. Habeck, MV and Black light (1 ♂). Peru: • Peru, Dep. Madre de Dios, Salvacion, Rio Alto de Madre de Dios, Manu Park, 500 m, X – XI. 1996, local people leg. Colln. EMEM / W. McGuire colln. MGCL Accession # 2008-43 / FLMNH- MGCL Specimen 168181 / DNA Voucher LEP-94955 (2 ♂). Diagnosis. Covellana niomalan can be superficially confused with species of Sosxetra due to their similar external appearance and body coloration. However, it can be distinguished by several key features. Unlike Sosxetra, C. niomalan lacks the terminal dashes on the wings. The forewing of C. niomalan bears a dark reniform spot, whereas Sosxetra species typically have white reniform spots. The hindwing of C. niomalan presents three yellow lumps along the costal margin, in contrast to the single white lump found in Sosxetra. The male genitalia are also diagnostic, with the aedeagus exhibiting a narrow diverticulum, a feature unique to this species. Description. Head. Palpus brown, tips whitish-brown; frons orangish-brown; antenna pale brown; scape with small pale pinkish-brown tufts. Thorax. Dorsum orangish-brown, darker medially; ventrum whitish-brown with black shading. Leg. Foreleg with orangish-brown tufts; mid- and hindlegs concolorous with thorax ventrally. Wing. Forewing length, male 33–35 mm; ground color dark reddish-brown; diffuse black lines; basal to medial area orange; postmedial line curved at wide C-shaped black reniform spot; inner margin paler; outer margin with thin bright yellow fringe; no terminal dashes; hindwing darker, similar to forewing; posterior area much darker; transverse lines well-defined; postmedial line curved, spiky; subterminal line faint; discal shade wide, reddish-purple; costal fringe with three yellow lumps bearing long pale yellow hair-like scales; outer fringe bright yellow; pointed terminal dashes at vein ends; posterior fringe pale reddish-brown. Abdomen. Dorsum pale reddish-brown, ventrum pale brown; A 1 tuft broad, divided orangish-brown area ² / 3 × larger than white area. Male genitalia. Valva Dutch clog-like, apex wide and rounded; saccular process smoothly angled; juxta with single lower swollen spot; uncus scorpion-sting shaped, swollen basally; saccus V-shaped; phallus with aedeagus 2 ½ × longer than wide, narrow diverticulum; vesica ¼ × longer than aedeagus. Female genitalia. Unknown. Immature stages. Life cycle and host plant association remain unknown. Genetic characterization. The DNA barcode obtained for C. niomalan exhibits a genetic affinity to Desmoloma modesta, compared to other Desmoloma species, with an approximate divergence of 6.1 % (GenBank accession number: PV 077143) (Fig. 1). Etymology. The species epithet is derived from the Guaymí word niö, which means fire and malan meaning butterfly or moth (Alphonse 1956). Distribution. This species is currently known only from two populations, one in Panama and the other in Peru (Fig. 25). Remarks. Although the Panamanian (Fig. 16) and Peruvian (Fig. 17) populations exhibited some morphological differences, we were unable to obtain DNA barcodes of the Peruvian population for comparison. Therefore, we have chosen to treat both populations as a single species. The holotype and paratypes were in excellent condition, although one of the paratypes had a detached abdomen, which was used for genitalia preparation. While Desmoloma modesta is the species most closely related to Covellana niomalan, only a few Desmoloma species are available in the Barcode of Life Data System v 4 (https://v4.boldsystems.org/), indicating the need for further investigation.