inexpectata
Inexpectata is a species of moth in the family Gelechiidae. The binomial name is Inexpectata novus. It was first described in 2020 by entomologists K. H. Lee and M. Rodríguez in the Journal of Lepidopterology after the collection of specimens in the high-altitude cloud forests of the Peruvian Andes. The species is distinguished from close relatives by its unique wing pattern, which features a series of irregular pale bands intersecting the dark brown forewings, and by the presence of a pronounced tufts of setae on the hindlegs, a trait unusual for the genus.
The species epithet “inexpectata” reflects the unexpected discovery of the organism during a routine survey of
The distribution of Inexpectata appears to be limited to the montane cloud forest zones between 3,200 and