''Telosphrantis'' is a 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 family

Choreutidae Choreutidae, or metalmark moths, are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily Yponomeutoidea in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioide ...

, containing only one species, ''Telosphrantis aethiopica'', which is known from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. The length of the forewings is about 7 mm. The head is brown with some buff scales mixed in. The thorax is brown and the forewings are unicolorous dark brown or fuscous, with one narrow buff mark on the costal margin. The hindwings are unicolorous fuscous.

Taxonomy

The genus was described and placed in the family

Yponomeutidae : ''Certain members of the unrelated snout moths (Pyralidae) are also known as "ermine moths." Spilosoma lubricipeda is an unrelated moth with the common name "white ermine."'' The family Yponomeutidae are known as the ermine moths, with several ...

by Edward Meyrickin 1932. The genus and species was not studied again until Clarke examined specimens at the British Museum in 1965 and selected a

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

. Clarke retained the species in Yponomeutidae. Study of the type and

syntype In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part of ...

s led to a transfer to the family Choreutidae.

References

Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Choreutidae Insects of Ethiopia Moths of Africa {{choreutidae-stub