Palumbina grandiunca, Ga-Eun Lee 1, Houhun Li, Taeman Han & Haechul Park, 2018

Ga-Eun Lee 1, Houhun Li, Taeman Han & Haechul Park, 2018, A taxonomic review of the genus Palumbina Rondani, 1876 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of twelve new species, Zootaxa 4414 (1), pp. 1-73 : 14-15

The grandiunca -group

Diagnostic characters. This group has an antemedian fascia and distal streaks on the forewing, which is similar to the guerinii -group. But the coloration of this group is much paler and varies: grey to dark fuscous ( P. grandiunca sp. nov. and P. glaucitis ), creamy to brown ( P. melanotricha sp. nov.), and white shaded with tilleul-buff ( P. longipalpis ) ( Bradley 1961). In the male genitalia, the large uncus with long ventral hairs, the thick gnathos, the long and slender sacculus and the anellus lobe bearing a long bristle are characteristic. The aedeagus is very similar to that of the guerinii -group in shape. The female genitalia have only been examined for P. grandiunca sp. nov. in this group, and are characterized by the tergum VIII that is twice as long as sternum VIII and deeply incised posteriorly. The signum has a hook-shaped process that is similar to the guerinii -group, the macrodelta -group and the nesoclera -group.

Remarks. Palumbina glaucitis ( Meyrick, 1907) and P. longipalpis ( Bradley, 1961) are assigned to this group based on the adult and genital illustrations by Clarke (1969) and Bradley (1961), respectively. Externally, two species show typical wing markings such as an inward-oblique antemedian fascia and distal streaks as the members of the guerinii -group and the grandiunca -group. The male genitalia are very similar to those of P. grandiunca sp.

nov. and P. melanotricha sp. nov. in terms of having a broad and hairy uncus, a thick gnathos, an apically blunt sacculus, and a long apical bristle on the anellus lobe. Therefore, P. glaucitis and P. longipalpis are included in the grandiunca -group although the specimens were not examined in this study.