Coleophora enchitis Meyrick, 1920

Baldizzone, Giorgio & Van Der Wolf, Hugo W., 2015, On the taxonomy of Afrotropical Coleophoridae (II) (Lepidoptera, Coleophoridae), Zootaxa 4000 (3), pp. 335-362 : 359-362

Coleophora enchitis Meyrick, 1920

(= ptilocharis Meyrick, 1938 )

( Fig. 11 )

Material examined. Lectotype ♂, here designated, (GP Bldz 2288), “Afrique or.[ientale] anglaise | M[on]t Kénya | Vers[an]t Ouest | zone des forêts | Alluaud & Jeannel”, “Forêts infér[ieu]res | (Podocarpus) 2400 m | Janv. [ier]— Fév. [rier] 1912 | St. 39”, “Muséum Paris | Ch. Alluaud & R. Jeannel | 1914” “ TYPE ” (red label), coll. MNHN [published by Bldz in 1979].

1 ♂ paralectotype (GP BMNH 27346) “Mt. Kenya, Brit[ish]. Africa, AJ. 8ooo’[19]12”, coll. BMNH .

1 ♂ (GP Bldz 10079) Lectotype of Coleophora ptilocharis Meyrick, 1938 : here designated: “F 208”, “ TYPE C. ptilocharis M.”, “Ex–Typis” (red label), “R. Dét. 4080 B.B.”, “Musée du Congo |Kibati (1900) 10–20-I -1934 | G.F. de Witte | Parc Nat.[ional] Albert”, “ Congo Belge: Kivu | Kibati 1900 m | 10/ 20-i-1934 | G.F. de Witte: 160”, “E. Meyrick det. 1937: Coleophora ptilocharis Meyr. ”, coll. RMCA. [Specimen in good condition]; 2 ♂ ♂ (GP Bldz 10078, 10080), 2 ♀ ♀ (GP Bldz 9971, 10081) paralectotypes of C. ptilocharis , same locality and date as lectotype, coll. RMCA.

1 ♀ (GP BMNH 28410) “ Kenya, Lake Naivasha, Korongo Farm, 6.I.1983, P.C. Barnard, B.M. 1982-83 ”, coll. BMNH; 1 ♀ (GP Bldz 15036) “ Kenya, Mt. Kenya, Headquarter camp, 10.I. 2004, 2442 m, leg. L. Kühne”, coll. Baldizzone; 1 ♂ (GP Wolf 7738) “ Kenya Central Pr., L. Naivasha, 600 ft 21.X.1998 D.J.L. Agassiz”; 1 ♂ “ Kenya, Rift Valley, Gilgil, 2100 m 0° 32’S, 36° 22”E 27.XI.2005 D.J.L. Agassiz”; 1 ♀ (GP Wolf 7739) “ Kenya Rift Valley Prov. Turi, 8000 ft 6.XI.1998 D.J.L. Agassiz”; 2 ♀♀ (GP Wolf 7740), ibidem, 16.X.1998; 1 ♂ “ Kenya Rift Valley Turi, 8000 ft l[arva]. on Trifolium semipilosum em[erged]. 31.X.1999 D.J.L. Agassiz”; 1 ♂ (GP Wolf 8485) “ Tanzania Arusha Ngorogoro 7600 ft 3°14’37” S, 35°30’41” E 8.V.2001 D.J.L. Agassiz”. Colls. BMNH, NHMU, Bldz, Wolf.

Diagnosis. A species with forewing shades of ochreous and a light line along the costa. Judging from the structure of the genitalia it belongs to the Palearctic group of Coleophora vulnerariae Zeller, 1849 (23rd speciesgroup of Toll’s system). The male genitalia resemble those of C. semicinerea Staudinger, 1859 , and the female genitalia those of C. christenseni Baldizzone, 1983 , with obvious differences. This is the only Afrotropical Coleophora species of which we know the foodplant and the larval case.

Description. The original description of the adult as given by Meyrick is correct: “Male and female. 15-16 mm. Head, palpi and thorax whitish, second joint of palpi with moderate rough apical tuft. Antennae white ringed with fuscous, basal joint with moderate tuft of rough projecting scales along anterior edge. Abdomen pale silverygrey, anal tuft whitish. Forewings very narrowly lanceolate, long-pointed, acute; yellow-ochreous, tinged with brown on costal half; a slender white costal streak from base to 4/5, edged beneath with fuscous suffusion continued to apex; submedian fold suffused with whitish towards base; cilia light grey. Hindwings and cilia grey”. ( Meyrick, 1920b: 91).

Male genitalia ( Figs. 83–86 ): Gnathos knob ovular. Tegumen stretched. Pedunculus rounded. Transtilla small, curved. Valvula large, rounded, indistinct. Cucullus long, slender, slightly wider at apex than at base, apex rounded. Sacculus rounded, with curved fold at inner margin; a small sclerotized turned-down tooth at dorso-caudal angle. Phallotheca conical, tapering into an acute sclerotized apex. Cornuti: some tiny spines.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 88–90 ): Papillae anales ovular. Apophysis posterioris about 1.5 times longer than anterioris. Sterigma subtrapezoid, longer than wide, deeply excavated towards ostium bursae. Ostium bursae square. Colliculum cup-shaped, with medial line, gradually narrowing into ductus bursae. First segment of ductus rather straight, with sclerotized medial band enveloped in a sleeve speckled with tiny spikes, about 5 times longer than sterigma; second segment transparent, gradually merging with sack-like corpus bursae. Signum small, leaflike.

Abdominal apodemes ( Fig. 87 ): No posterior lateral struts. Transverse strut with convex distal margin, medially thinner, proximal margin convex, medially thickened. Tergal disk about 2.5 times longer than wide, covered with about 30 tiny spikes.

Bionomy. Several larvae were collected on the seedheads of Trifolium semipilosum Fresen.The plant belongs to the family Fabaceae and is widespread in Eritrea, Ethiopa, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Yemen. There is no information on how the larva feeds or how the case is constructed, but it is probable that the larva feeds on the seeds and constructs a case out of a flower and silk. The case of the specimen mentioned above was collected on 16.X.1998 and the adult emerged on 31.X.1999.The larval case ( Figs. 12, 13 ): 7 mm., red-brown, cylindrical, roughly covered with fragments of the foodplant. Anal opening tri-valved. Oral opening at about 30° to 45° to length axis.

Distribution. Kenya, Tanzania and eastern Congo.

Figures

FIGURES 8 – 13. Adults of Coleophora spp. 8, C. hirsutella Baldizzone & van der Wolf, sp. nov. — Holotype ♀. 9, C. niphocrossa Meyrick, ♂ (GP Bldz 14989) “ South Africa, Franschhoek, Theewaters Nat. R., 16. X. 2009 LF [Lichtfang], leg. W. Mey ”. 10, C. textoria Meyrick, ♂ (GP Bldz 15302) “ Botswana, Maun, 957 m, 1 - 2. XII. 2010, lux, leg. G. Bassi ”. 11, C. enchitis Meyrick, ♀ (GP Bldz 15036) “ Kenya, Mt. Kenya, Hadquarter camp, 10. I. 2004, 2442 m, leg. L. Kühne ”. 12 – 13, C. enchitis Meyrick, larval cases, “ Kenya, Rift Valley, Turi, 8000 ft., larva on Trifolium semipilosum, em. 31. X. 1999, D. J. L. Agassiz ”.

FIGURES 83 – 87. Male genitalia of C. enchitis Meyrick. 83, GP Bldz 10078, “ Congo Belge: Kivu Kibati 1900 m, 10 / 20 — i— 1934, G. F. de Witte: 160 ” [paralectotype of C. ptilocharis Meyrick]. 84, enlarged detail of valva, sacculus and phallotheca, GP Bldz 10079, lectotype of C. ptilocharis Meyrick. 85, much enlarged cornuti, GP Bldz 10079. 86, much enlarged cornuti, GP Bldz 10078. 87, abdominal segments 1 – 4, GP Bldz 10080, paralectotype of C. ptilocharis Meyrick.

FIGURES 88 – 90. Female genitalia of C. enchitis Meyrick. 88, GP Bldz 9971, paralectotype of C. ptilocharis Meyrick. 89, Idem, detail of sterigma and colliculum. 90, detail of sterigma and colliculum, GP Bldz 10081, paralectotype of C. ptilocharis Meyrick.