Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853

Oku, Johei, Sakamaki, Yositaka & Hirowatari, Toshiya, 2021, Taxonomic revision of the genus Lecithocera (Lepidoptera, Lecithoceridae) from Japan, with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 4996 (3), pp. 540-554 : 541

Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853

Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853: 11 . Type species: Carcina luticornella Zeller, 1839 .

See Park et al. (2016a) for detailed synonymic list.

The genus Lecithocera is characterized by the following combination of characters: 2nd palpomere of labial palpus normally thickened; forewing commonly with two black spots, one at middle and another at end of the cell; abdominal tergites without spinous zones in several segments; a specialized plate and a bundle of long hairs between the 7 th and 8 th abdominal segments in male; in male genitalia a well-developed costal bar connecting the tegumen and valva, and reduced uncus. The wing venation is more or less variable, but generally is characterized by the forewing with R3 free or stalked with veins R4 and R5, and M2 and M3 free or stalked; hindwing with M2 present, M3 and CuA1 stalked or coincident.

The great variability in the external morphology and relative uniformity of the genitalia often makes it difficult to identify the genus.