Paratischeria jingdongensis Xu & Dai, 2017

Xu, Jiasheng, Dai, Xiaohua, Liu, Peng, Bai, Haiyan, Diškus, Arūnas & Stonis, Jonas R., 2017, First report on Paratischeria from Asia (Lepidoptera: Tischeriidae), Zootaxa 4350 (2), pp. 331-344 : 332-336

Paratischeria jingdongensis Xu & Dai , sp. nov.

(Figs 2–13, 38, 39)

Type material. ♂, CHINA: Taizhong Town, Jingdong Yi Autonomous County, Pu'er City , Yunnan Province, 24.495 N, 100.936 E, elevation 1478 m, feeding larvae in leaf-mines on Dalbergia assamica Benth. , adults emerged 26.viii.2016, Jiasheng Xu, genitalia slide no. BX16008 ♂. Paratypes : 1 ♂, 2 ♀, same label data as holotype, genitalia slide nos BX16009♀ (allotype), BX16020♂, BX16027♀.

Diagnosis. In the male genitalia, the combination of a slender valva, specific anellus, very short vinculum and spiny phallus distinguishes new species from all other known Tischeriidae . In the female genitalia, the combination of very large ovipositor lobes, and a specific prela ( Fig. 10 ) distinguishes P. jingdongensis from other congeneric Tischeriidae . The Fabaceae host plant Dalbergia assamica also makes this species distinctive.

Male ( Fig. 7 ). Forewing length: 2.8–3.1 mm; wingspan: 6.7–7.2 mm. Head: face and palpi unicolorous, cream ochre; face smoothly scaled, glossy; frontal tuft ochre; antenna slightly longer than 2/3 of the length of forewing; flagellum ochre on upper side (darker distally), pale brown to ochre grey on underside; sensillae very fine, weakly visible. Thorax bright ochre, without dark scales. Forewing ochre, with blackish brown scales along costal margin and on apex; some blackish brown scales also along dorsum; all blackish brown scales are distinctly pale-tipped; underside of forewing fuscous; fringe blackish brown, distally pale brown. Hindwing very narrow, grey on upper side and underside, without spots or androconia; fringe blackish brown to grey brown. Legs ochre, except forelegs which densely covered with blackish brown scales on upper side. Abdomen glossy, ochre to dark brown on upper side, ochre to fuscous on underside; anal plates fuscous, large.

Female ( Fig. 8 ). Forewing length: 2.9–3.4 mm; wingspan: 7.1–7.6 mm. Flagellum without visible sensillae. Forewing dark ochre, with blackish brown scales along costal margin and on apex; there are fewer blackish brown scales on tornus than in male; all blackish brown scales are distinctly pale-tipped; fringe blackish brown, pale distally. Hindwing grey. Abdomen blackish grey on upper side; anal tufts dark grey. Otherwise as in male.

Male genitalia ( Figs 12, 13 ). Capsule 340–425 µm long, 180–335 µm wide. Uncus with two very large lateral lobes. Valva slender, without lobes, about 330–375 µm long, 40–55 µm wide. Transtilla absent. Anellus long, bifurcated caudally, mostly membranous but with two thickened, semi-rounded lobes laterally. Vinculum very short. Phallus about 395–410 µm long, distally with lateral lobes possessing tiny spines ( Figs 11, 13 ).

Female genitalia ( Figs 9, 10 ). Total length 1550–1800 µm. Abdominal apex widely rounded. Ovipositor with very large lobes clothed with short, stout and dark modified setae which we refer to as ‘peg setae’ ( Fig. 10 ); second pair of ovipositor lobes two or three times smaller, bearing long setae. Anterior and posterior apophyses stout. Additionally, there are three pairs of rod-like projections (collectively referred to as prela by Braun 1972): two pairs of very slender processes and one pair of wide, stout processes. Vestibulum without antrum, fully membranous. Ductus bursae very long and slender, slightly wrinkled, without spines. Corpus bursae membranous, very small, about 480 µm long, 150 µm wide, without spines or signum. Ductus spermathaecae probably lost in the dissection ( Fig. 9 ).

Bionomics (Figs 2–6). Host plant: Dalbergia assamica Benth. , Fabaceae (Leguminosae) (Fig. 4). Larvae mine leaves from late June to mid-August. Leaf-mine may locate in any part of the leaf; it is an irregular blotch with almost no frass, cream white to pale brown at the early stage of development (Figs 5, 6), but ochre or orange brown at the stage of pupa, with inconspicuous concentric dark brown arcs (Fig. 6). Nidus not apparent at the early stage but distinctive at the final stage of the mining. Pupation inside the leaf-mine without cocoon. Exit slit on upper side of the leaf. Adults known from August.

Distribution ( Figs 38, 39 ). Known from a single locality in the Ailaoshan Mountains ( China: Yunnan Province) at elevation about 1500 m, mostly along roadsides in the montane subtropical broadleaf evergreen forest (Figs 2, 3).

Etymology. The species is named after the region (Jingdong County, Yunnan Province) in reference to the species distribution.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 13. Paratischeria jingdongensis Xu & Dai, sp. nov., Yunnan Province, China. 7, adult, male, holotype; 8, same, female, paratype (allotype); 9, female genitalia, paratype (allotype), slide no. BH 16009; 10, same, ovipositor lobes, apophyses and prela; 11, male genitalia, paratype, slide no. BX 16020, phallus; 12, same, capsule; 13, same, holotype, slide no. BH 16008 (GNU).

FIGURES 38 – 40. Distribution maps. 38, 39, new findings of Paratischeria spp. from Southeast and East Asia based on our material from China (Yunnan) and northern Vietnam (the natural range of the host plant Dalbergia assamica follows Chadburn 2012; the range of Helicteres viscida and H. isora follows Brink et al. 2016); 40, global distribution of the Paratischeria genus based on the following data: from USA, Texas: P. heteroterae (Frey & Boll, 1878) (comb. nov.); from Belize and Guatemala: P. neotropicana Diškus & Stonis, 2015, and some five dissected but still unpublished new species (Diškus & Stonis, pers. comm.); from Ecuador and Peru: P. capnota (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.), P. neotropicana Diškus & Stonis, 2015, P. ferruginea Diškus & Stonis, 2017, and several dissected but still unpublished new species (Diškus & Stonis, pers. comm.); from Bolivia: P. fasciata Diškus & Stonis, 2017; from Congo: P. urticicolella (Ghesquière, 1940) (new combination provided in Stonis et al. 2017); from India and northern Vietnam: P. hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.); from southern China (Yunnan): P. jingdongensis Xu & Dai, sp. nov. * P. hestias is also known from Karwar, western India (Meyrick 2015 b), not shown in Figs 38, 39.