Paradoxecia gravis (Walker, 1865)

Gorbunov, O. G., 2021, A new species of the genus Paradoxecia Hampson, 1919 (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) from West Malaysia with a catalogue of the genus, Russian Entomological Journal 30 (3), pp. 328-335 : 332

Paradoxecia gravis ( Walker, 1865 *)

“ Aegeria gravis .” — Walker, 1865 [“1864”]: 12). Type locality: “... North China.” [= China: environs of Shanghai (?)]. Holotype ♀ ( BMNH).

= “ Paradoxecia pieli n. sp. ” — Lieu, 1935: 185, pls I–V. Type locality: “... Kashing; ... Kon-Zen-Chiao, Hang-hsien, Hai-ning, and, Chang-an.” [= China: Zhejiang province, Hangzhou, Jiaving, Haining ]. Holotype ♂ (probably lost). Syn.n.

LITERATURE. Hampson, 1919:114 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Dalla Torre, Strand, 1925: 180 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Gaede, 1933: 797 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Naumann, 1971: 55, figs 18, 57, 172 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Heppner, Duckworth, 1981: 22 ( Paradoxecia gravis , Paradoxecia pieli ); Špatenka et al., 1993: 85 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Gorbunov, Arita, 1997: 61, figs 1, 2 ( Paradoxecia gravis ), 61 (key), 62, fig. 3 ( Paradoxecia pieli ); Špatenka et al., 1999: 50, pl. 2, fig. 15, text-fig. 285 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Pühringer, Kallies, 2004: 7 ( Paradoxecia gravis , Paradoxecia pieli ); Arita et al., 2018: 8, pl. 1, fig. 12 ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Yu et al., 2019: 267 (key) ( Paradoxecia pieli ), 268 (key) ( Paradoxecia gravis ); Xu et al., 2019: 35 (key), 36 ( Paradoxecia gravis , Paradoxecia pieli ); Pühringer, Kallies, 2021 ( Paradoxecia gravis , Paradoxecia pieli ); Arita et al., 2021b: 8, figs 22a–b ( Aegeria gravis ), 8, figs 24a–d ( Paradoxecia pieli ).

FLIGHT PERIOD. The holotype of P gravis was caught in August [“54.8.”], but the specimens of the type series of P. pieli were emerged from pupae between June 20 th and July 12 th.

HOST PLANT. Larvae of P. pieli live inside twigs of Morus sp. , Moraceae .

DISTRIBUTION. It is known from the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Guizhou, Fujian, Guangdong and, possible, environs of Shanghai, China .

REMARKS. 1. The holotype of P. gravis was described from “North China ”, which in the middle of the 19th century for the British, during the Opium Wars, could not have been located north of the Shanghai region. 2. P. pieli was described on the basis of 17 males (holotype and 16 paratypes) and 11 females (allotype and 10 paratypes) bred from larvae collected inside the twigs of cultivated mulberry trees ( Morus sp. , Moraceae ) from at least five localities in Zhejiang province. Unfortunately, the author did not indicate from which particular locality the holotype originated, and its very probable loss does not allow establishing the exact type locality. 3. Unfortunately, the genitalia of the holotype of P. gravis are not studied, but at least the genitalia of two females, which are attributed to this species, were studied [ Naumann, 1971: fig. 172; Špatenka et al., 1999: fig. 285] and I consider these images to be completely consistent with the images presented in the original description of P. pieli [ Lieu, 1935: pl. III, figs 18–20]. The original descriptions, as well as photographs of the types of these two taxa, allow me to conclude that Paradoxecia pieli Lieu, 1935 is a junior synonym of Aegeria gravis Walker, 1865 , syn.n.