Istrianis myricariella ( Frey, 1870 )

Bidzilya, Oleksiy & Karsholt, Ole, 2015, Revision of the genus Istrianis Meyrick, 1918 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) with special regard to the Palaearctic region, Zootaxa 4059 (3), pp. 401-445 : 408-409

1. Istrianis myricariella ( Frey, 1870)

Gelechia myricariella Frey, 1870: 251 .

Telphusa myricariella ( Frey, 1870) : Meyrick 1925: 70. Istrianis myricariella ( Frey, 1870) : Karsholt & Huemer 1999: 84.

Material examined. Lectotypus, ♂, Gelechia myricariella Frey, Select. : K. Sattler, 1961 | Lectotype | Frey Coll., Brit. Mus., 1890-62 | G. myricariella Reutti, Lagr. (Reutii) | B.M. Genitalia slide No. 7302, ♂ ( BMNH) [Here designated].

Other material. Germany: 1♂, Myricariella , Hein., (Hum. III, 278), Germania merid, 1899 (Hoffmann) (gen. slide 98/13, O. Bidzilya) ( ZMKU); 3♂, 4♀, Baden (MFN);

Italy: 3♂, Bolzano, Prad, Praderfeld, 900 m, 5.viii.1991 (Huemer) (gen. slide 4855 H. Hendriksen); 1♂, Friuli- Venezia Giulia, Amaro, Tagliamento, la. 21.vi.1996 (Lichtenberger), gen. slide 4914 H. Hendriksen; 1♂, Sicily, Nebrodi, San Fratello, Torrente Ingànno, 300 m, 10–11.ix.2002 (Fibiger, Jeppesen & Karsholt) (gen. slide 5482 H. Hendriksen) (all ZMUC).

Spain: 1♂, Prov. Murcia, Bolnuevo by Mazarrón, 15.iv.2001, 10 m (Skou & Skule) (gen. slide 260/14, O. Bidzilya); 1♀, Prov. Huesca, 41°22'N, 0°38'E, El Planeron, at Codo/Belchite, 16.vii. 2003, 250 m (B. Skule) (gen. slide 255/14, O. Bidzilya) (all ZMUC);

Turkey: 1♂, 1♀, Prov. Erzurum, 48 km W Erzurum, on Karasu River, 39°55'N, 40°47'E | Ex. Tamarix sp., 28v. 2006, 1680 m (Willimas) (gen. slide 6112♂, 6113♀, H. Hendriksen); 1♀, Kars., 9 km N Tuzluka, 950 m, 9.ix.1993 (Fibiger) (gen. slide 5546♀, H. Hendriksen); 1♀, Prov. Konya, 5 km. SO Doginar Road, Bozkir-Ba Taurus, 1100 m, 13.vii.1986 (Fibiger) (all ZMUC);

Bulgaria: 3♂, 2♀, Blagoevgrad, 5 km N Sandanski, 130-200 m, 31.vii. –9.viii.2012 (Karsholt) (gen. slide 179/ 14♀, 270/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya) ( ZMUC);

Greece: 1♀, Makedonia, Kavala, Strymon Delta, 27.viii.1989 (Larsen); 1♂, 1♀, Rhodos, Faliraki, e.l. 20.vii.1989 (Klimesch) (gen. slide 5547 H. Hendriksen); 2♂, Rhodos, 5 km S Rhodos, 250 m, 4.–8.vii.2000 (Fibiger) (gen. slide 197/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya) (all ZMUC).

Tunisia, 2♂, 2♀, 20 km S Gabès, 18.-19.3. iii.1986, Zool. Mus. Copenhagen Exp. (gen. slide 271/14♀, 276/ 14♂, O. Bidzilya; GU 99/879 Huemer♂) ( ZMUC).

Adult ( Figs 1–7 ). Wingspan 11–13 mm. Labial palp ringed with black and white; head light grey; thorax and tegula as forewing; antenna black; indistinctly lighter ringed. Forewing blackish grey mottled with white, orange and black; base, two costal blocks and apical area black; dorsal and central area light grey; spots of black, raised scales edged by orange at ¼, 2/3 and 3/4; an interrupted orange subcostal line; fringes grey with black fringe line and pale base. Hindwing grey.

Variation. There is some variation in the distinctness of ochreous dots on the forewing

Male genitalia ( Figs 53, 55 , 57–59 ). Distal portion of tergite VIII tongue-shaped, two times longer than broad, tapered in distal half, apex rounded, anteromedial emargination short, subtriangular, its distal portion quadrate or rounded, clearly separated from basal portion; sternite VIII about 1.5 times broader than long, posteriolateral projections very short; uncus prolonged, slightly longer than gnathos, about half as broad as gnathos in its basal third; gnathos gradually narrowed towards strongly sclerotized rounded apex, apical hook very small; tegumen subtriangular, lateral lobes broad; cucullus very slender, straight, slightly shorter than phallus; phallus tubular, apex weakly tapered.

Female genitalia ( Figs 81–83 , 108–110 ). Segment VIII longer than broad; anterior margin weakly emarginated anteriorly; posterior margin with deep medial incision; posterior subostial sclerite sub-pentagonal, about as long as broad; subostial folds strongly edged; anterior sclerite narrow, digitate; ostium opening rounded; antrum funnel-shaped; ductus bursae long, gradually widened towards globular corpus bursae; signum subhexagonal, longer than broad, finely serrated, medial ridge comparatively broad.

Diagnosis. I. myricariella is very similar externally to I. arenicolella , but can be separated by the well developed ochreous spots that are normally more weakly expressed in the latter species. The male genitalia are also very similar to those of I. arenicolella but gnathos is narrower at the base and the apex is usually rounded rather than pointed; moreover the sternite VIII of I. arenicolella is about 2 times broader than long, whereas sternite of I. myricariella is about 1.5 times broader than long; there are also small differences is the shape of the anteromedial emargination of tergite VIII: its distal portion is quadrate in I. arenicolella and rounded in I. myricariella , although there seems to be some variation in these characters. For the differences from I. nilssoni see under that species; the comparatively long sternite VIII (width exceeds length by 1.5 rather than by 2 times in the rest of Istrianis -species except for I. wachtlii ) may be considered as an additional diagnostic character of I. myricariella . The female genitalia can be recognized by the posterior sclerite that is sub-pentagonal, rather than than drop-shaped as in I. arenicolella ; I. pseudomyricariella is also similar but differs in distinctly prolonged lateral corners of the posterior sclerite.

Biology. Host plants are Myricaria germanica (L.) Desv. in the Alps, and probably Tamarix spp. ( Tamaricaceae ) in the Mediterranean. Larvae have been observed feeding in May–June in the terminal shoots and young twigs of M. germanica (as ” Tamarix germanica ”) ( Frey 1870). It can be found by searching for the borehole at the base of the twigs ( Huemer & Karsholt 1999). Adults occur from June to July in the Alps and from June to September further towards south and east.

Distribution. Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany (old records), Switzerland, Greece, North Africa ( Huemer & Karsholt 1999).

Notes. Gelechia myricariella was described from an unstated number of specimens, bred from larvae found by Reutti in southern Germany (“Rheininseln in der Nähe von Lahr”) ( Frey 1870). The lectotype of G. myricariella was selected by K. Sattler but this has not formally been published, therefore we do it here.

Our study of extensive material shows that specimens of I. myricariella from Central Europe ( Germany (type locality), North Italy) and specimens from South Europe ( Spain, S. France, Greece, Bulgaria), Turkey, Central Asia ( Kyrgyzstan) and North Africa ( Algeria, Tunisia) are rather similar externally and in the male genitalia, but their female genitalia differ considerably. Taking into consideration these differences we treat the populations from North Africa, S. France, Greece and Kyrgyzstan as separate species: I. arenicolella sp. rev. (N. Africa, S. France), I. nilssoni , I. pseudomyricariella ( Kyrgyzstan, Greece) (see below).

However there are some questionable specimens: the male (gen. slide 260/14) from Spain (Murcia) is characterized by a very broad uncus, the female from Huesca (gen. slide 255/14) resembles I. myricariella , but the posterior sclerite is more prolonged. The male from Tunisia differs from other specimens of I. myricariella in the gnathos that is as long as uncus (not shorter), and the female differs in the more prolonged posterior sclerite. In spite of these differences we hesitate to introduce new names for these specimens until DNA data are available.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 21. Adults of Istrianis species. 1 — I. myricariella, ♂, LT, Germany (B. M. gen. slide 7302); 2 — I. myricariella, ♂, Germany (gen. slide 98 / 13, O. Bidzilya); 3 — I. myricariella, ♂, Bulgaria (gen. slide 270 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 4 — I. myricariella, ♂, Greece (gen. slide 197 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 5 — I. myricariella, ♀, Spain (gen. slide 255 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 6 — I. myricariella, ♂, Spain (gen. slide 260 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 7 — I. myricariella, ♀, Tunisia (gen. slide 271 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 8 — I. arenicolella, ♂, PLT, Algeria (gen. slide 99 / 13, O. Bidzilya); 9 — I. arenicolella, ♀, Algeria; 10 — I. arenicolella, ♀, France; 11 — I. arenicolella, ♀, Spain (gen. slide 263 / 12); 12 — I. arenicolella, ♂, Spain (gen. slide 268 / 12, O. Bidzilya); 13 — I. arenicolella, ♂ (amilcarella, HT), Tunisia (gen. slide 374 c, K. Sattler); 14 — I. arenicolella, ♂, Tunisia (gen. slide 276 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 15 — I. arenicolella, ♀, Spain (gen. slide 269 / 14); 16 — I. pseudomyricariella, ♀, HT, Kyrgyzstan (gen. slide 70 / 11, O. Bidzilya); 17 — I. pseudomyricariella, ♀, PT, Kyrgyzstan (gen. slide 11 / 13, O. Bidzilya); 18 — I. pseudomyricariella, ♂, Greece (gen. slide 96 / 592, P. Huemer); 19 — I. nilssoni, ♀, HT, Greece (gen. slide 5519, H. Hendriksen); 20 — I. nilssoni, ♂, PT, Greece (gen. slide 254 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 21 — I. nilssoni, ♂, PT, Greece (gen. slide 5543, H. Hendriksen).

FIGURES 53 – 56. Male genitalia of Istrianis species. 53 — I. myricariella, Germany, LT (B. M. gen. slide 7302); 54 — I. arenicolella, France (gen. slide B. M. 23291); 55 — I. myricariella, Bulgaria (gen. slide 270 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 56 — I. arenicolella, PLT, Biskra (gen. slide 99 / 13, O. Bidzilya).

FIGURES 57 – 62. Male genitalia of Istrianis species. 57 — I. myricariella, Tunisia (gen. slide 276 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 58 — I. myricariella, Turkey (gen. slide 6112, H. Hendriksen); 59 — I. myricariella, Spain (gen. slide 260 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 60 — I. arenicolella, Spain (gen. slide 268 / 12, O. Bidzilya); 61 — I. pseudomyricariella, Greece (gen. slide 96 / 592, P. Huemer); 62 — I. nilssoni, Greece (gen. slide 5543, H. Hendriksen).

FIGURES 81 – 83. Female genitalia of Istrianis species. 81 — I. myricariella, Germany (B. M. gen. slide 6255); 82 — I. myricariella, Bulgaria (gen. slide 179 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 83 — I. myricariella, Tunisia (gen. slide 271 / 14, O. Bidzilya).

FIGURES 108 – 125. Female genitalia of Istrianis species, sternite VIII. 108 — I. myricariella, Germany (B. M. gen. slide 6255); 109 — I. myricariella, Bulgaria (gen. slide 179 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 110 — I. myricariella, Tunisia (gen. slide 271 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 111 — I. arenicolella, PLT, Algeria (gen. slide 64 / 13, O. Bidzilya); 112 — I. arenicolella, Spain (gen. slide 263 / 12, O. Bidzilya); 113 — I. arenicolella, Spain (gen. slide 269 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 114 — I. pseudomyricariella, PT, Kyrgyzstan (gen. slide 11 / 13, O. Bidzilya); 115 — I. pseudomyricariella, HT, Kyrgyzstan (gen. slide 70 / 11, O. Bidzilya); 116 — I. pseudomyricariella, PT, Tadzhikistan (gen. slide 351 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 117 — I. nilssoni, HT, Greece (gen. slide 5519, H. Hendriksen); 118 — I. nilssoni, PT, Greece (gen. slide 6147, H. Hendriksen); 119 — I. kravchenkoi, PT, Greece (gen. slide 5947, H. Hendriksen); 120 — I. wachtlii, Egypt (gen. slide 62 / 10, O. Bidzilya); 121 — I. brucinella, Egypt (gen. slide 266 / 12, O. Bidzilya); 122 — I. brucinella, Pakistan (gen. slide 185 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 123 — I. sattleri, PT, Pakistan (B. M. gen. slide 14359); 124 — I. armatus, PT, Pakistan (gen. slide 568 / 14, O. Bidzilya); 125 — I. femoralis, Kyrgyzstan (gen. slide 100 / 13, O. Bidzilya);