Sophronia sagittans Meyrick, 1923

Bidzilya, Oleksiy, Karsholt, Ole, Kravchenko, Vasiliy & Šumpich, Jan, 2019, An annotated checklist of Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) of Israel with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4677 (1), pp. 1-68 : 9-12

Sophronia sagittans Meyrick, 1923

Sophronia sagittans Meyrick, 1923 —Exot. Microlep. 3 (1–2): 33.

Sophronia karmeliella Amsel, 1933 —Zoogeograph. 2 (1): 126 (nomen nudum).

Records. Amsel, 1933: 126; Amsel, 1935c: 264, 265; Bodenheimer 1937: 102; Clarke 1969: 376, pl. 188, fig. 3.

Material examined. 2 ♂, 3 ♀, Karmel, Haifa, 7.v.1930 (Amsel) ( SMNK) ; 1 ♀, Kefar Shemuel , 15.iv.1968 ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Latraca , 25, 27.iv.1968 ( TAU) ; 3 ♂, 10 ♀, East bank of Kenneret lake, Mevo Hama, 18.iv.2018 (gen. slide 117/ 18♀, 118/ 18♂, O. Bidzilya) (Bidzilya & Kravchenko) ( TAU, ZMKU) .

Remarks. Sophronia sagittans was described from three specimens (male and female syntypes) collected by P. A. Buxton in Haifa in May. Our material agrees in all details with the photograph of the “Type” of S. sagittans in Clarke (1969: 376) who wrote that both male and female lack abdomen. Amsel (1933) listed the species as Sophronia karmeliella , without giving a description, and later (1935: 297) he stated that it belonged to S. sagittans .

Here we provide the first description of the genitalia of both sexes.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 6 ). Uncus sub-rectangular, longer than broad, weakly rounded posteriorly; gnathos long, stout, sickle-shaped; tegumen elongated, anteromedial emargination extending to 1/3 its length; valva slender, strongly broadened distally, apex rounded, extending to half length of uncus; sacculus absent; juxta lobes projecting to 2/3 length of valva, dorsal surface densely covered with microspines in distal portion; saccus short, rectangular; phallus as long as tegumen and uncus, gradually broadened to mid length then narrowed distally, apex weakly broadened with three short rounded humps.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 7 ). Papillae anales sub-ovate; ovipositor long; apophyses posteriores very long and narrow, extending far beyond the bottom of corpus bursae; segment VIII three times as long as broad, evenly sclerotized, antrum subrectangular, half length of segment VIII, proximal 2/3 laterally sclerotized, with distinct transition to ductus bursae; ductus bursae narrow, gradually broadened towards rounded corpus bursae; signum narrow, straight, pointed, slightly less than half length of ductus bursae, basal plate prolonged.

Distribution. Israel.

Remarks. Sophronia sagittans ( Fig. 5 ) superficially resembles S. sicariellus (Zeller, 1839) but the white pattern in S. sagittans arises nearly from base rather than from middle of costal margin in S. sicariellus . The slender valva in combination with the spindle-shaped phallus distinguish S. sagittans from its congeners (valva of S. sicariellus is thicker, phallus of S. chilonella (Treitschke, 1833) is not narrowed on basal portion). The female genitalia are defined by the long and narrow signum and long, laterally sclerotized antrum.

Figures

FIGS 5–7. Sophronia sagittans Meyr. 5. Adult, ♀. 6. Male genitalia (gen. slide 118/18, O. Bidzilya). 7. Female genitalia (gen. slide 117/19, O. Bidzilya).