Lunakia Klimesch, 1941

Baraniak, Edward & Huemer, Peter, 2024, Taxonomic status of the genus Lunakia, including a redescription of the male and female genitalia of Lunakia alyssella (Klimesch, 1941) (Lepidoptera, Plutellidae), Zootaxa 5501 (3), pp. 467-475 : 468-473

Genus Lunakia Klimesch, 1941

Type species: Eidophasia alyssella Klimesch, 1941

Diagnosis. Klimesch (1941) established Lunakia as a subgenus of Eidophasia Stephens, 1842 based on characters of the venation of the forewings and hindwings ( Table 1 ). The key distinguishing features of L. alyssella from species of the genus Eidophasia include, in males, the long, curved appendages of the tegumen/gnathos complex ( Fig. 5a ) and the short, strongly curved, and sclerotized aedeagus ( Fig. 3b , 4a–b ). In the female genitalia, the apophyses posteriores are slender and very long, whereas the apophyses anteriores are slender and short ( Fig. 6a ). The antrum is cup-shaped ( Fig. 7 ), and the ductus bursae is strongly bent and reinforced, membranous throughout its course and broadened only near the bursa copulatrix ( Fig. 6a–c ). The genital plate surrounding the antrum is very large ( Fig. 7 ). The bursa copulatrix is oval and membranous ( Fig. 6a ).

These unique features are not observed in other known species within the Plutellidae family.

Types. Klimesch (1941) described the new species without indicating the holotype, and information on the total number of specimens examined was not provided. Therefore, a least specimens preserved in the Klimesch collection at the Zoologische Staatssammlung in Munich, Germany, should be considered as syntypes. Since Klimesch specifically mentioned material discovered by Lunak, this should also potentially be included in the syntype series.

Lunakia alyssella ( Klimesch, 1941) .

Syntype locality: Preg a[n der] Mur, Gulsen, ca 700m npm., host plant - Alyssum montanum L.

Material examined. 33 males, 25 females [all specimens dating from 1940 are potential syntypes]:

NMW: 24 males, 19 females, Austria, Preg a[n der] Mur, Gulsen, ca 700m exp. ( Alyssum montanum ), V. 1940 , imago emerged 13.V. 1940.

SDEI: Austria, 1 male, Styria, Preg a[n der] Mur, Gulsen , ca 700 m ex. ovo, 7.V.1940, J. Klimesch leg. , prep. gen. 463 G. Friese, 1 female, ditto, 15.V.1940 .

ISZP: 2 males, Austria, Styria, Preg, Murtal , 8.V.1940, Lunak leg. , 1 female Preg a Mur., Gulsen , ca 700m, 13.V.1940, J. Klimesch leg.

TLMF: 1 female, Austria] Styria, Preg, Murtal, e.l. 19.V.[19]40, Lunak [leg.] ; 1 male, [ Austria], Styria sup., Gulsenberg / Preg , 700 m, 10.V.1953, Meier [leg.]

ZSM: 3 males, 2 females , Austria, Preg a[n der] Mur, Gulsen, ca 700m npm., ( A. montanum ), imago emerged 13.V.1940, examined, preserved in ZSM.

ZIN: 1 male, 1 female, Austria, Styria, Preg, a[n der] Mur , Gulsen. ca 700, ex pupa, 13.V. 1940 J. Klimesch leg, larva on A. montanum

EB: 1 male, Austria, Styria, Preg a[n der] Mur, Gulsen , ca 700 m ex. ovo, VII. 1940, J. Klimesch leg. ( Figs. 1–2 ) .

Description of genitalia. Male genitalia ( Fig. 3a ), (prep. gen. no. YPO13/2015)—The anal tube wide, long, and membranous ( Fig. 5c ). The socii are covered with tiny, sparsely spaced thorns ( Fig. 5b ). Two appendages of the tegumen/gnathos complex are long, strongly curved, and pointed, measuring twice the length of the socii ( Fig. 5a ). The valva has a rectangular outline with a clearly elongated, sickle-shaped apex in the costal area. On the outer side (ventral margin) in the middle of its length, a clearly visible group of long, strong thorns reaching the posterior apex. The thorns are fewer in number and finer along the trailing edge. At the curved apex, there is a group of long, narrow thorns. From the costal side, the valva is distinctly sickle-shaped and more sclerotized. On the basal side, the valva is pointed on the costal side with a clearly visible pulvinus process and rounded on the ventral margin. At one third of the valva length from the base, a sacculus is visible adjacent to the ventral margin. The processus basalis is short and straight, with a bent tip ( Fig. 3a, c ). The aedeagus is strongly sclerotized and curved, noticably narrower at the apex, and only slightly shorter than the valva ( Fig. 3b ). Extended at the base is a characteristic triangular sclerite. The bulbous ejaculatorius is membranous and large, rectangular in outline. The ductus ejaculatorius is thin and membranous ( Fig. 4a–b ).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 6 ), (prep. gen. no. YPO14/2016)—The papillae anales are small and membranous, covered with very tiny, sparsely distributed hair-like bristles. The apophyses posteriores are long and thin, while the apophyses anteriores are notably shorter. The antrum ( Fig. 7 ) is strongly sclerotized with a complex shape. Initially, the walls of the antrum are narrow, then gently widened. The antrum is widest halfway along its length and then narrowed down to the width of the ductus bursae. The genital plate surrounding the antrum is very large and partly strongly sclerotized ( Fig. 7 ). The ductus bursae, just anterior of the antrum, is strongly bent and reinforced ( Fig. 8a ), becoming uniformly membranous throughout the remainder of its course. The bursa copulatrix is oval and membranous, with a few small spines on the walls ( Fig. 8b ). The signum is absent. The ductus seminalis is narrow and membranous, branching off from the ductus bursae one-third of its length from the antrum.

Biology. The biology and phenology of the species are given by Klimesch (1941), including descriptions of the preimaginal stages from egg to pupa. Host plant: Alyssum montanum L. ( Brassicaceae ).

Distribution. The species is presently known only from the type locality in the Austrian Alps ( Agassiz & Friese 1996; Agassiz 2013).

Remarks. Examination of the genitalia of L. alyssella revealed a few structural features that are entirely distinct from those observed in other known species of the genus Eidophasia . The genital structures of males and females within the genus Eidophasia , as supported by molecular analyses ( Huemer & Sohn 2020), distinguish two species groups. Upon comparing the genital characteristics of E. messingiella and E. syenitella , which exibit two distinct types of genital structures ( Table 1 ), with the genital features of L. alyssella , the differences are significant enough to warrant Lunakia being recognized as a genus distinct from Eidophasia and from other plutellid genera.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Male genitalia L. alyssella: a—general view, b—aedeagus, c—separated valva.

FIGURE 4. Male genitalia L. alyssella: a—apex of aedeagus, b—end of aedeagus.

FIGURE 5. Male genitalia L. alyssella: a—tegumen appendages, b—socci, c—tuba analis.

FIGURE 6. Female genitalia L. alyssella: a—general view, b—ductus bursae near inception to antrum, c—bursa copulatrix.

FIGURE 7. Female genitalia L. alyssella: antrum with subgenital plate.

FIGURE 8. Eidophasia messingiella: a (habitus of the male)—Siemianice, 9 July 1980, E. Baraniak leg.; male genitalia: b—general view, c—aedeagus, d—separated valva, e—apex of aedeagus, f—end of aedeagus, g—sacculus.

FIGURE 1–2. 1. Lunakia alyssella—habitus of the male, Styria Preg a. Mur. Gulsen, ca 700 m ex. ovo, 7.1940, J. Klimesch leg. 2. Labial palpus of L. alyssella, Styria Preg a. Mur. Gulsen, ca 700 m ex. ovo, 7.1940, J. Klimesch leg.