Agonopterix anticella (Erschoff, 1877)

Buchner, Peter & Šumpich, Jan, 2020, Depressariidae (Lepidoptera) of the Russian Altai Mountains: new species, new records and updated checklist, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 60 (1), pp. 201-244 : 210

Agonopterix anticella (Erschoff, 1877) ( Figs 30–34 )

= Agonopterix abjectella Christoph, 1882

= Agonopterix japonicella Saito, 1980

Material examined. RUSSIA: ALTAI REPUBLIC: Aktash vill., 50°19′12″N, 87°36′00″E, grassy steppe, rocks, 1400 m, 21.vi.2015, 1 Ƌ (Barcode NMPC-Lep-0153), J. Šumpich leg. ( NMPC); Chulyshman valley, 45 km N of Ulagan vill., 51°01′03″N, 88°00′39″E, grassy steppe, rocks, 600 m, 27.–28.vi.2015, 3 ♀♀ (Barcode TLMF Lep 23278), 26.–27. vi.2019, 14 ƋƋ, 4.–5.vii.2019, 1 ♀, J. Šumpich leg. ( NMPC).

Molecular data. BIN BOLD: ADC2511 (n = 6; 2 public, 2 from Altai). The average intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is 0.93% (maximum 2.46%).

Distribution. Russia (eastern regions), China, Tibet (LVOV- SKY 2006). Presented records are the westernmost within its distribution area. The first record for the Altai Republic.

Remarks. In these days it is better known under the name A. abjectella (Christoph, 1882) . However, the type series of Christoph’s species consists of two species: A. propinquella (Treitschke, 1835) and the species which was subsequently published under A. abjectella (including genitalia) by HANNEMANN (1953) and LVOVSKY (2001). Hannemann had used for his studies a specimen collected by Hugo Theodor Christoph, but not from the type locality and clearly not part of the type series. The only museum, as far as we know, where true syntypes of A. abjectella (Christoph, 1882) are present, is the Natural History Museum in London, with two specimens. One had no abdomen, and the second, a male with abdomen, was used by B. V. Ridout in 1974 to fix a lectotype. But unfortunately, this specimen is A. propinquella . Although the designation of this lectotype was never published, it was a pending problem for this taxon. Later, A. Lvovsky found A. anticella to be an older name for A. abjectella and subsequently published it (LVOVSKY 2018). The description of this taxon is based on a single male, and it is stored in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.

Figures

Figs 30–34. Agonopterix anticella (Erschoff, 1877). 30–32 – habitus: 30–31 – Russia, Altai Mts., Chulyshman, 4.–5.vii.2019, J. Šumpich leg. (NMPC); 32 – Russia, Amur region, Radde, without date, ex coll. C. S. Larsen (ZMUC). 33 – male genitalia, Russia, Primorsky krai, Gornotayozhnoe, 3.vi.2015, K. Nupponen & R. Haverinen leg. (RCKN); 34 – female genitalia, data as fig. 32.