''Geraldocossus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s in the

Politzariellinae The Politzariellinae are a subfamily of the family Cossidae (carpenter or goat moths). Genera * ''Holcoceroides'' Strand, 913 __NOTOC__ Year 913 ( CMXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the J ...

subfamily of the carpenter miller moths. Its sole species, ''Geraldocossus durrelli'', is found in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. It is solely known from two male specimens.

Description

''Geraldocossus durrelli'' is of medium size, with a forewing length of 15 mm. Its short and wide forewings are darkly coloured with a faint pattern and have rounded

apices The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

and mottled black and brown fringes. The hindwings are an unpatterned dark grey with a uniformly grey fringe. The underside of the forewings is black, that of the hindwings is grey; both hold no patterns. The thorax and abdomen are covered with dark scales, brown in case of the thorax and black on the abdomen. Antennae are simple. ''G. durrelli'' can be distinguished from other species in the Politzariellinae

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

based on male genitalia, from which it differs by the presence of needle-like spines at the apices of the gnathos branches and by the complicated

juxta In insect anatomy, the juxta is an organ in the males of most Lepidoptera (i.e. moths and butterflies) that supports the aedeagus, the organ used for reproduction in insects. The juxta is located between the two valvae. Juxta has also been ...

-structure which includes three pairs of lateral processes.

Distribution

''G. durrelli'' is known solely from Mount Cameroon, where both known specimens were collected on the south-western slope at an altitude of 1100 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, in the

submontane zone Altitudinal zonation (or elevational zonation) in mountainous regions describes the natural layering of ecosystems that occurs at distinct elevations due to varying environmental conditions. Temperature, humidity, soil composition, and solar radi ...

Etymology

Both the

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

and

specific Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fina ...

name are in honour of Gerald Durrell.

References

Politzariellinae Monotypic moth genera Cossidae genera Moths described in 2016 Moths of Africa {{Cossoidea-stub