Nemophora chionites ( Meyrick, 1907 )

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 : 21

Nemophora chionites ( Meyrick, 1907)

( Figs. 19, 20 , 80 )

Nemotois chionites: Meyrick 1907: 990 .

Lectotype ♁ (designated by Kozlov 1995): India, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills (approx. 25 o 35′ N, 91 o 36′ E); labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│type’; 5 × 10 mm, print + black ink ‘Khasi Hills │ Assam. │D. 1906’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ chionites │ Meyr. 3/4 │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ LECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chionites │ Meyrick, 1907 │ teste M. Kozlov 1995 ’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotypes. 1 ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│type’; 5 × 10 mm, print + black ink ‘Khasi Hills │ Assam. │D. 1906’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ chionites │ Meyr. x/4 │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’ [x = 4]; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ PARALECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chionites │ Meyrick, 1907 │ teste M. Kozlov 1995 ’. 2 ♁, all labels as in previous paralectotype, except the date ‘.10.1906’ [x=1, 2]. One of these paralectotypes bears the label: 8 × 13 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 27805’ (all in NHM) [examined].

Nemotois chionites: Meyrick 1912a: 7, 1912b: 9 ; Clarke 1955: 84.

Nemophora chionites: Kozlov 1995: 471‒472 , figs. 9, 10, 13, 19, 40‒44; Das & Singh 2022: 264 .

Other material. India. Meghalaya. 13 ♁ 3 ♀, Cherrapunji, x.1894 (Doncaster); 4 ♁, Khasi Hills, 1898‒1899 (Doncaster); 2 ♁ 2 ♀, Shillong, ix‒x.1918 (Fletcher) . Thailand. 1 ♁, 40 km SW Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon NP, 1700 m, 25‒27.viii.1987 (Allen) (all in NHM) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora chionites differs from all other species of the askoldella species-group ( Kozlov 1995) recorded in India ( N. cassionites , N. griseella and N. ischnodesma ; Figs. 21‒26 ) by very long PLB (2 × vertical eye diameter) covered with long dense piliform scales, white costal spot in the apical part of the forewing and almost completely white hindwing.

Description ( Figs. 19, 20 , 80 ): see Kozlov (1995).

Distribution. India (Meghalaya), Thailand.

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.