Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933, Cosmopterigidae incertae sedis

Fig. 74

Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933. Exotic Microlepidoptera, vol. 4 (part 14): 428.

Scythris neocompsa (Meyrick, 1933). Transferred from Cosmopterigidae to Scythrididae: Scythris, but without evidence to support the transfer (Hodges 1997).

Material examined.

Holotype. Argentina • ♀; Alta Grazia; CB..32; C. Bruch leg.; [genitalia slide] JFGC No. 6153; NHMUK ID 010922354; NHMUK slide ID 010316673; coll. NHMUK.

Diagnosis.

Unmistakeable both externally (wings, thorax and head brownish-grey with white streaks) and by a characteristic ring-shaped sterigma in the female genitalia.

Description.

The original description is quoted: "Wingspan 17 mm ♂. Head light brownish-grey, white lateral streaks. Palpi white, second joint with grey subapical ring, terminal joint with grey lateral line. Thorax light brownish-grey, five light lines. Forewings narrow-lanceolate; grey-brownish; markings white; a short very oblique streak from base of costa; a fine line on dorsal edge towards base; an oblique streak from costa at 0.2 to fold; an oblique streak from costa at 0.4 in an even curve through middle of disc to costa at 0.8; a line running from fold at 0.4 to dorsum in middle of wing, thence to disc at 0.66, and returning to termen beyond tornus; a streak from disc at 0.75 to apex: cilia light brownish-grey, a white bar at apex and finer one above tornus. Hindwings and cilia grey."

Female genitalia. The genitalia are partly destroyed by museum pests. Sterigma thick ring-shaped. Ostium round, situated approximately at middle of sterigma, lateral margins reinforced by semi-circular and arched sclerotisations. Apophyses anteriores 0.8 × length of apophyses posteriores.

Distribution.

Argentina.

Remarks.

Male unknown. Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933 is transferred from Scythrididae (Hodges 1997) to Cosmopterigidae incertae sedis, following a consultation with Jean-François Landry (pers. comm.): "An examination of the type, shown in Fig. 74, strongly suggests that it is not a Scythrididae . The long, sickle-shaped labial palps are not found in scythridids; some spatulate scales are discernible on the head (vertex), and such scales are not found in scythridids but in other gelechioid families such as Cosmopterigidae, Momphidae, and Gelechiidae . The forewing pattern is atypical of scythridids (not trustworthy by itself but significant combined with the other characters). The female genitalia (Fig. 74B) shows a sterigma that is reminiscent of some Cosmopterigidae (e.g. Triclonella Busck, 1901, Hyposmocoma Butler, 1881, Asymphorodes Meyrick, 1929). These features suggest that this is likely a Cosmopterigidae . The original genus Syntetrernis was transferred to Parametriotinae (now in Elachistidae) by Hodges (1997), however, the taxon Syntetrernis neocompsa doubtfully matches that subfamily." The male is unknown.