Nemophora griseella ( Walsingham, 1880 )

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2023, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) of India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 5300 (1), pp. 1-81 : 22-23

Nemophora griseella ( Walsingham, 1880)

( Figs. 23, 24 , 82 )

Adela griseella: Walsingham 1880: 82 , pl. 11 fig. 9.

Lectotype ♁ (designated by Kozlov 1995): India, Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala (32 o 14’ N, 76 o 24’ E); labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│type’; 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Type’; 8 × 14 mm, print ‘Dharmsala │ PUNJAB │ 1879 │ Hocking’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910–427’; 12 × 12 mm, black ink ‘ Adela │ griseella │ Wlsm. │ P. Z. S. 1880 p. 82 │ pl. XI.9 │ TYPE ♁’; 14 × 24 mm, wide black border, print ‘TYPE’; 13 × 18 mm, print + black ink ‘ Lectotype ♁ │ Adela │ griseella │ Walsingham │ 1880 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotypes. 1 ♀, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│type’; other labels as in lectotype. 5 ♁ 4 ♀, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│ lecto-│type’; 8 × 14 mm, print ‘Dharmsala │ PUNJAB │ 1879 │ Hocking’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910–427’; 10 × 18 mm, black ink ‘ Adela │ griseella │ Wlsm. ♁ [or ♀]’. 1 ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│ type’; 8 × 14 mm, print ‘Dharmsala │ PUNJAB │ 1879 │ Hocking’; 10 × 11.5 mm, black border, black ink: ‘ India │ Lord Walsingham │ 20.12.[18]79’; 8 × 11 mm, print + black ink ‘Stainton Coll. │ 1893–134 │ 401412’. One of paralectotypes bears the label: 8 × 13 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 27801’. All paralectotypes bear the label: 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ Paralectotype ♁ [or ♀] │ Adela griseella │ Walsingham, 1880 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (all in NHM) [examined].

Adela griseella: Cotes & Swinhoe 1887: 707 .

Nemotois griseella: Meyrick 1912a: 7, 1912b: 9 ; Shamsudeen 2018: 953 (with a question mark); Mathew 2021: 77 (with a question mark).

Nemophora griseella: Kozlov 1995: 464–465 , figs. 1–2, 12, 15, 20–24.

Nemotois cyphozona: Meyrick 1922: 537 .

Lectotype ♁ (designated by Kozlov 1995): India, Assam, Sadiya (27 o 49’ N, 95 o 38’ E); labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│ type’; 5.5 × 10 mm, yellowish paper, black ink ‘Sadiya │ Assam │ TBF[letcher]..5.[19]20’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ cyphozona │ Meyr. 1/2 │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ Lectotype ♁ │ Nemotois cyphozona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotype ♀, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│type’; 5.5 × 10 mm, yellowish paper, black ink ‘Sadiya │ Assam │ TBF[letcher]..5.[19]20’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ cyphozona │ Meyr. 2/2 │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 3 × 20 mm, black ink ‘ cyphozona Meyr. ’ 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ Paralectotype ♀ │ Nemotois cyphozona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (NHM) [examined]. Synonymized to N. griseella by Kozlov 1995: 464.

Nemotois cyphozona: Meyrick 1928: 464 ; Clarke 1955: 110.

Nemotois tricrates: Meyrick 1922: 537 .

Holotype ♁: India, Uttarakhand, Bhimtal (29 o 24′ E, 79 o 36′ N); labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Holo-│type’; 5 × 10 mm, black ink ‘Bhin Tal │ Kumaon │ TBF[letcher]. 4500'. 8.[19]18’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ tricrates │ Meyr. 1/1 │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 3 × 20 mm, black ink ‘ tricrates Meyr. ’ (NHM) [examined]. Synonymized to N. griseella by Kozlov 1995: 464.

Nemotois tricrates: Clarke 1955: 316 .

Other material. India. Himachal Pradesh. 1 ♁, Kangra valley , 1500 m, viii.1899 (Dudgeon) . Meghalaya. 3 ♁ 3 ♀, Cherrapunji , 1700 m, 21‒31.vii.1923 (Fletcher) . Myanmar. 1 ♁, Momiek , 700 m, vi.1890 (Doherty) (all in NHM) . Nepal. 5 ♁, Narayani, Tarai forest, Pathraia , 300 m, 9‒10.ix.1987 (Kumata) ( SEHU) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora griseella belongs to the askoldella species-group ( Kozlov 1995); it differs from N. chionites ( Figs. 19, 20 ) by short PLB (slightly shorter than the vertical eye diameter) and from N. cassiterites ( Figs. 21, 22 ) and N. ischnodesma ( Figs. 25, 26 ) by the dark base of the hindwing and by the forewing fascia consisting of three straight bands.An unique trait of N. griseella is the extent of the dark proximal region of the male antenna over the level of the white transverse band on the forewing. In male genitalia, N. griseella differs from all other species of the askoldella species-group by the long vinculum (3.0 × length of valva) and long apical bands of phallus (0.3 × its total length).

Description ( Figs. 23, 24 , 82 ): see Kozlov (1995).

Distribution. India (Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand), Myanmar, Nepal.

Comments. Nemophora griseella had been erroneously synonymized with N. askoldella ( Millière, 1879) by Rebel (1901), and this synonymy has been uncritically cited by several authors ( Caradja 1920; Inoue 1954; Moriuti 1982; Park & Kim 1986; Heppner 1992). Diagnostic features of both species were reported by Kozlov (1995); nevertheless, Das & Singh (2022) erroneously considered N. askoldella (attributed to Meyrick 1912a) as a junior synonym of N. griseella . Recent reports of N. griseella from India ( Shamsudeen 2018; Mathew 2021) should be viewed with caution: not only these identifications are labelled with a question mark by the cited authors, but also Mathew (2021) placed this species in an incorrect family ( Gelechiidae ).

Figures

FIGURES 17–24. Adults of Nemophora spp. 17, N. augantha (Meyrick, 1907), male, lectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 18, ditto, female, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 19, N. chionites (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 20, ditto, female, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 21, N. cassiterites (Meyrick, 1907), male, paralectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 22, ditto, female, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 23, N. griseella (Walsingham, 1880), male, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 24, ditto, female, holotype of Nemotois tricrates Meyrick, 1922, from Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India. Scale: 2 mm.

FIGURES 69–92. Forewing pattern of Nemophora spp. 69, N. sporodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 70, N. phryganeella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 71, N. seraphias (Meyrick, 1907); 72, N. engraptes (Meyrick, 1907), typical form; 73, N. ornamentella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 74, N. fluorites (Meyrick, 1907); 75, N. manipurella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 76, N. mediseorsa Sun et Li, 2023; 77, N. tenuitella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 78, N. assamensis Kozlov, 1997; 79, N. augantha (Meyrick, 1907); 80, N. chionites (Meyrick, 1907); 81, N. cassiterites (Meyrick, 1907); 82, N. griseella (Walsingham, 1880); 83, N. ischnodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 84, N. asterodoxa (Meyrick, 1928); 85, N. chalcomis (Meyrick, 1907); 86, N. phoenicites (Meyrick, 1907); 87, N. atkinsonii (Moore, 1887); 88, N. gemmella (Walsingham, 1880); 89, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922); 90, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907); 91, N. indica (Walker, 1863); 92, N. ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov. Scale 2 mm.

FIGURES 25–32. Adults of Nemophora spp. 25, N. ischnodesma (Meyrick, 1928), male, from Pidaung, Myanmar; 26, ditto, female, holotype, from Guwahati,Assam, India; 27, N. asterodoxa (Meyrick, 1928), male, holotype, from Somwarpet, Karnataka, India; 28, N. chalcomis (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Yala, Sri Lanka; 29, ditto, female, from Hambantota, Sri Lanka; 30, N. phoenicites (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Pune, Maharashtra, India; 31, ditto, female, from Pune, Maharashtra, India; 32, N. atkinsonii (Moore, 1887), male, holotype, from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Scale: 2 mm.