Stathmopodidae Meyrick, 1913

Shen, Zong-Yu, Terada, Takeshi & Hsu, Yu-Feng, 2022, The Newly Recorded Fern-spore Feeding Moths in the Genus, Meyrick 1889 (Lepidoptera: Stathmopodidae) from Taiwan, with Notes on Life History of Three Species., Zoological Studies 61 (63), pp. 1-12 : 3-6

Family Stathmopodidae Meyrick, 1913 Subfamily Cuprininae Sinev, 2015 Calicotis Meyrick, 1889

Calicotis Meyrick, 1889: 170 . Type species: Calicotis crucifera Meyrick, 1889 , by monotypy.

D i a g n o s i s: According to Meyrick (1889), species of Calicotis can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: Head with smooth scale covering; antenna not ciliated or very shortly ciliated in male, basal antennomere broadly dilated, excavated beneath to form eyecap, rough-scaled on posterior edge, without pecten; labial palp long, curved, ascending, with smooth scales covering; forewing lanceolate; hindwing narrowly lanceolate; mid-tibia with long projecting spines distally; posterior-tibia with dense long bristles; posterior-tarsus with whorls of long projecting bristles at apex of all tarsomeres. Guan and Li (2015) and Terada (2016) emphasized the dilated scape, namely the eye-cap sensu Meyrick (1889), as the diagnostic feature unique to the genus. Calicotis is superficially similar to Pachyrhabda Meyrick, 1897 in appearance, but according to Guan and Li (2015) it can be distinguished by the presence of the eye-cap structure and the orientation of male abdominal tergite spines. In Calicotis species, these spines are arranged in a broad inverted V-shape, whereas in Pachyrhabda such spines are arranged in a broadly arched shape.

Calicotis attiei ( Guillermet, 2011) ( Figs. 2–8 , 23–26 , 35 )

Stathmopoda attiei Guillermet, 2011: 186 , photo. 9, figs. 8–9. Type locality: La Réunion.

Calicotis cuspidata Guan & Li, 2015: 5 , figs. 8, 12, 16. Type locality: China.

Calicotis biserraticola Terada, 2016: 128 , figs. 170–174, pl. VIII-3,4, XVIII-2. Type locality: Japan. Syn. Nov.

Material examined: 4ò, 1ñ, Taiwan: Hualian, Xiulin, Dekalun, ca 300 m, 22 Feb 2018, reared from Nephrolepis biserrata , emg. 11–18 Mar 2018, Y. F. Hsu Coll. ( BRMAS, NTNU). 5ò, 10ñ, Taiwan: Hualian, Xiulin, Gekou, ca 270 m, 9 Jul 2018, reared from N. biserrata , emg. 23–30 Jul 2018. Y. F. Hsu Coll. (1ñ, Gen. Prep. ZYS-0086, NTNU. Gen. Prep. ZYS-0044, NTNU). 11ò, 9ñ, Taiwan: Taipei, Daan, Herbarium of National Taiwan University, 16 Nov 2019, reared from Microsorum scolopendria , emg. 7–26 Dec 2019. Z. Y. Shen, Y. C. Wang Coll. ( BRMAS).

Description: Male ( Figs. 2–3 ). Forewing length 3.02–4.23 mm (n = 9). Head: Frons silvery white. Vertex creamy white. Occiput creamy white, with pale brown streak at anterior margin. Antenna with scape broadly dilated, creamy white, flagellum creamy white. Labial palp slender, long, strongly upcurved, dorsally creamy white, ventrally white. Thorax: Surface covered by creamy white scales. Legs: Fore and middle legs white, foretibia and foretarsus covered by fuscous scales dorsally, mesotibia bearing a pair of spurs distally, with outer spur approximately 1/3 length of inner spur. Hind leg white, metatibia overlaid with creamy white bristles, metatarsus with each tarsomere bearing a whirl of creamy white bristles, fuscous scales appearing at the joints of each tarsomere; metatibia bearing two pairs of white spurs at both proximal and distal joints, proximal spurs with outer one approximately 1/3 length of inner one, distal spurs with outer one approximately the same length as inner one. Forewing: Dorsally ground color creamy white with two ocherous streaks, one stretching from near base to middle of CuP and the other stretching from the discal cell to near apex, cilia white; ventrally silvery grey. Hindwing: Ground color silvery grey, cilia white. Abdomen: White, anal tuft present.

Female ( Figs. 4–5 ): Forewing length 3.37– 3.94 mm (n = 11). Similar to male but lacking anal tuft in abdomen.

Male genitalia (Gen. Prep. ZYS-0044, NTNU, Figs. 6–7 ): Uncus elongate triangular, apex slightly down-curved, acute, laterally setose. Gnathos elongate triangular, approximately the same length as uncus, with more sharply angled apex than uncus. Valva nearly pediform, pointed apically; costa broad at base, slightly narrow to apex, costal ring developed, heavily sclerotized; sacculus S-shaped; cucullus longer than uncus, with numerous setae on inner surface. Saccus approximately 3/4 length of uncus. Phallus stout, approximately 2x as long as uncus, with weakly sclerotized wrinkles on vesica, cornutus absent.

Female genitalia (Gen. Prep. ZYS-0086, NTNU, Fig. 8 ): Papillae anales slightly longer than wide. Apophyses posteriores approximately 1.3x as long as apophyses anteriores. Ostium bursae funnel-shaped, with prominent sublateral fold. Corpus bursae with large signum, broadly V-shaped, situated at 1/4 of corpus bursae; bulla with ductus seminalis, a number of small spines present at apex of ductus seminalis.

Diagnosis: This species can be distinguished from congeners by the presence of two ocherous streaks on the forewing, one stretching from near the base to middle of CuP and the other from the discal cell to apex; and in male genitalia by the nearly pediform valva with a pointed apex, which is unique among Calicotis .

Host plants: Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott., 1834 ( Nephrolepidaceae ), Christella acuminata (Houtt.) H. Lév. ( Thelypteridaceae ) ( Terada 2016), and Microsorum scolopendria (Burm. f.) Pic. Serm., 1973 ( Polypodiaceae ) ( Bippus 2020).

Biology: The eggs ( Fig. 35 ) are laid in the sporangiospores of the hostplant, and they are easily confused with the surrounding sporangia. They are ellipsoid with a pentagonal pattern on the surface. Larvae ( Fig. 24 ) were found in February, July and November. The larvae fed on N. biserrata and P. scolopendria in Taiwan. They constructed silken galleries ( Fig. 23 ) mixed with fern spores and frass on the underside of the host plant. The larvae lived inside a shelter and fed on the spores until pupation. The cocoons ( Fig. 25 ) were oval in shape. Adult moths ( Fig. 26 ) emerged about half to one month after pupation without diapause, suggesting that this species may be multivoltine.

Distribution: Réunion ( Guillermet 2011), China ( Guan and Li 2015), Japan ( Terada 2016), and Taiwan.

Figures

Figs. 2–8. Adult specimens and genitalia of Calicotis attiei. 2–3, Male specimen, TAIWAN: Hualian, Shioulin, Gekou; 4–5, Female specimen, TAIWAN: Hualian, Shioulin, Gekou; 6–7, Male genitalia; 8, Female genitalia. Scale bars: 2–5 = 5 mm; 6–7 = 1 mm; 8 = 1 mm.

Figs. 23–34. Immatures and adults of Calicotis species from Taiwan. 23, Immature artifacts of C. attiei on Nephrolepis biserrata. 24, Larva of C. attiei. 25, Cocoon of C. attiei. 26, Adult resting, photo of C. attiei. 27, Immature artifacts of C. rotundinidus on Asplenium austalasicum. 28, Larva of C. rotundinidus. 29, Cocoon of C. rotundinidus. 30, Adult resting, photo of C. rotundinidus. 31, Immature artifacts of C. exclamationis on Neolepisorus fortune. 32, Larva of C. exclamationis. 33, Cocoon of C. excalamationis. 34, Adult resting, photo of C. excalamationis.

Fig. 35. Eggs of Calicotis attiei (blue arrows) on the sporangiospores of Microsorum scolopendria. Image by Masahiko Tanahashi. Scale bar = 1 mm