Nemophora kashmirella Kozlov, 2023

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2023, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) of India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 5300 (1), pp. 1-81 : 39-40

Nemophora kashmirella Kozlov , sp. nov.

( Figs. 49 , 98 , 129 , 159 )

LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E1D4F405-565D-4C73-B1A6-5FF7D6791E1B

Holotype ♁: India, Jammu and Kashmir; labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Holo- │ type’; 5 × 10 mm, black ink ‘Kashmir’; 12 × 10 mm, print ‘Felder Coll. │ Rothschild │ 1913–86.’; 9 × 16 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 29970’; 6 × 18 mm, print ‘HOLOTYPE ♁ │ Nemophora │ kashmirella Kozlov’ ( NHM).

Diagnosis. Nemophora kashmirella resembles N. tancrei ( Sauber, 1899) and N. indica ( Fig. 39 ) in the forewing pattern; it differs from these species by the pale yellow forewing fascia suffused with dark brown scales and not bordered internally by the distinct dark band. Additionally, N. kashmirella differs from N. tancrei by the glossy golden frons and the glossy golden costal spot at the forewing base, and it differs from N. indica by the tornal spot restricted to the posterior part of the forewing. In male genitalia N. kashmirella differs from all Nemophora species recorded in India and Sri Lanka (except for N. chrysidias and N. angustialata ) by the trifurcate tip of phallus.

Description. Male ( Fig. 49 ). FWL 5.8 mm, WLR 0.30. Vertex between compound eyes naked, with sparse dark brown piliform scales along occipital margin; piliform scales above antennal sockets grey to dark brown; frons light bronze. PLB 0.65 × vertical eye diameter (1.15 × length of scape), dorsally covered with appressed pale yellow scales, ventrally with sparse, raised dark brown piliform scales. Proboscis dark brown, base laterally with bronze to grey scales. Eyes enlarged, but occipitally not touching each other; interocular index 1.1; occipital distance 0.15. Length of antenna unknown (antenna broken at 0.4 × FWL). Scape ventrally bronze, dorsally coppery brown; base of flagellum coppery brown to brown. Tegulae dark bronze; colour of thorax unknown. Forewing ( Fig. 98 ) bronze; base of costa with glossy golden longitudinal stripe reaching 0.25–0.30 × FWL, and with dark brown diffuse stripe adjacent to dorsal margin of this golden stripe. Fascia wide, 0.18–0.22 × FWL, pale yellow, suffused with dark brown scales; internal margin of fascia unsharp, oblique, reaches costa at 0.45 × FWL; external margin of fascia with diffuse dark brown band. Tornal spot large, pale yellow, suffused with dark brown scales. Fringe bronze. Hindwing light brown basally, brown with slight bronze iridescence apically; costal area grey; fringe brown. Legs (except hind tibia) dorsally coppery brown to bronze, ventrally yellow; hind tibia light yellow proximally and light bronze distally; yellow scales cover 0.8 of internal side and 0.5 of external side of hind tibia. Epiphysis at 0.6, not reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen coppery brown.

Female unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 129 , 159 ). Tegumen narrow, dome-shaped, with small medial ridge. Socii oval, 1.6 × diameter of phallus. Vinculum exceptionally long, 4.0 × length of valva, V-shaped, with straight lateral margins; distal margin gently W-shaped. Ventral margin of valva sinuate; dorsal margin slightly concave; tip of valva narrowly rounded. Valvae fused basally up to 0.15 × total length; their internal margins indistinct. Anellus 0.4 × length of valva. Transtilla with moderately long medial process. Juxta 0.45 × length of phallus; arrow head very narrow (WLR 0.35), with pointed tip and short pointed lateral arms. Phallus of about same length as vinculum; basal 0.8 of phallus almost straight; apical part trifurcate, formed by two narrow processes: right process shorter, bent, with tip directed ventrally; left process longer, bifurcate, with hook-shaped apices directed dorsally and laterally. Basal 0.2 of phallus narrowly funnel-shaped.

Distribution. India (Jammu and Kashmir).

Etymology. The species is named after the type locality (Kashmir).

Figures

FIGURES 49–56. Adults of Nemophora spp. 49, N. kashmirella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, holotype, from Kashmir, India; 50, N. solstitiella (Walsingham in Walsingham & Durrant, 1900), male, holotype, from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India; 51, ditto, female, Mukteshwar Kumaon Hills, Uttarakhand, India; 52, N. fuscomaculella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, paratype, from Godawari, Nepal; 53, ditto, male, paratype, from Mao, Manipur, India; 54, ditto, female, paratype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 55, N. nitidulella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, paratype, from Kathmandu, Nepal; 56, ditto, female, paratype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India. Scale: 2 mm.

FIGURES 93–108. Forewing pattern of Nemophora spp. 93, N. scitulella (Walker, 1864); 94, N. chrysocrossa (Meyrick, 1922); 95, N. amphimetalla (Meyrick, 1912); 96, N. ferruginea Kozlov, sp. nov.; 97, N. pyrotechna (Meyrick, 1912); 98, N. kashmirella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 99, N. solstitiella (Walsingham in Walsingham & Durrant, 1900), typical form; 100, N. fuscomaculella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 101, N. nitidulella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 102, N. fletcherella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 103, N. angustialata Kozlov, sp. nov.; 104, N. pyrites (Meyrick, 1907); 105, N. smaragdaspis (Meyrick, 1924); 106, N. chrysidias (Meyrick, 1928); 107, N. athlophora (Meyrick, 1912), typical form; 108, N. costimaculella Kozlov, sp. nov. Scale: 2 mm.

FIGURES 128–133. Male genitalia of Nemophora spp. 128, N. ferruginea Kozlov, sp. nov.; 129, N. kashmirella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 130, N. solstitiella (Walsingham in Walsingham & Durrant, 1900); 131, N. fuscomaculella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 132, N. nitidulella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 133, N. fletcherella Kozlov, sp. nov.; a: genital complex, ventral view (right valva not shown); b: genital complex, lateral view; c: juxta; d: phallus, ventral view; e: phallus, lateral view. Scale: 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 156–159. Male genitalia of Nemophora spp. 156, N. chrysocrossa (Meyrick, 1922), paralectotype, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India, gen. prep. 30658 (NHM); 157, N. amphimetalla (Meyrick, 1912), lectotype, from Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu, India, gen. prep. 31272 (NHM); 158, N. ferruginea Kozlov, sp. nov., holotype, Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, gen. prep. 29976 (NHM); 159, N. kashmirella Kozlov, sp. nov., holotype, Kashmir, India, gen. prep. 29970 (NHM); a: genital complex, ventral view; b: phallus; c: apex of phallus. Scale: 0.2 mm (valid for a and b only).

FIGURES 33–40. Adults of Nemophora spp. 33, N. gemmella (Walsingham, 1880), male, lectotype, from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India; 34, ditto, female, from Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, India; 35, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922), male, from Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India; 36, ditto, female, from Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India; 37, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907), male, lectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 38, ditto, female, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 39, N. indica (Walker, 1863), male, lectotype of Nemotois chrysogona Meyrick, 1922, from Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India; 40, Nemophora ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, holotype, from Mahiyangana, Sri Lanka. Scale 2 mm.