Nemophora indica ( Walker, 1863 ) Kozlov, 2023

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2023, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) of India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 5300 (1), pp. 1-81 : 32-33

Nemophora indica ( Walker, 1863) , comb. nov.

( Figs. 39 , 91 , 123 , 154 )

Nemotois indica: Walker 1863: 504‒505 .

Lectotype ♁ (here designated): South India, presumably Tamil Nadu; labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│ type’; 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Type │ H. T.’; 7 mm circle, black ink ‘S │ Ind’, reverse side: ‘61 │ 20’; 15 × 25 mm, wide black frame, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ indica Wkr. │ Cat Lep. BM. 28, 504 (1863) │ TYPE ♁’; 5 × 27 mm, print ‘a–c. South Hindostan.’; 5 × 31 mm, print ‘20. Nemotois INDICA. ’; 8 × 20 mm, print ‘ LECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois indica │ Walker, 1863 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotype ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│ lecto-│type’; 7 mm circle, black ink ‘S │ Ind’, reverse side: ‘61 │ 20’; 15 × 25 mm, wide black frame, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ indica Wkr │ PARATYPE’; 8 × 20 mm, print ‘ PARALECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois indica │ Walker, 1863 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’ (NHM) [examined].

Nemotois indica: Hampson 1881: 42 ; Cotes & Swinhoe 1889: 707; Fea 1897: 599; Meyrick 1912a: 7, 1912b: 9.

Nematois [sic!] indica: Walsingham & Durrant 1900: 584 .

Nemotois chrysogona: Meyrick 1922: 536 , syn. nov. Lectotype ♁ (here designated): India, Tamil Nadu, Ooty (=Udhagamandalam; 11° 25' N, 76° 42' E); labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│ type’; 5 × 10 mm, black ink ‘Ootacamund │ S. India │ RM[axwell] 22.10.[19]16’; 13 × 14 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ chrysogona │ 1/2 Meyr. │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 10 × 27 mm, print ‘ LECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chrysogona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotypes. 1 ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│ type’; 9 × 18 mm, black ink ‘Kotagiri 6000' │ Nilgiris │ 26.IX.[19]17 │ T.R.N. Coll.’; 5 × 12 mm, green paper, black ink ‘3904’; 11 × 23 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ chrysogona, Meyr. │ Meyrick det. 1922’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Presented by │ R.L.E.Ford. │ B. M. 1949–487.’; 8 × 20 mm, print ‘ PARALECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chrysogona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’. 1 ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│type’; 7 × 15 mm, black ink ‘Kotagiri 6000' │ Nilgiris │ 24.9.1917.’; 5 × 12 mm, green paper, black ink ‘3903’; 11 × 23 mm, black ink ‘ Nemotois │ chrysogona, Meyr. │ Meyrick det. 1922’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Presented by │ R.L.E.Ford. │ B. M. 1949–487.’; 8 × 20 mm, print ‘ PARALECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chrysogona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’. 1 ♁, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│lecto-│type’; 5 × 10 mm, black ink ‘Ootacamund │ S. India │ RM[axwell]. 22.10.[19]16’; 13 × 14 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ chrysogona │ 2/2 Meyr. │ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 3 × 22 mm, black ink ‘ chrysogona Meyr. ’; 8 × 13 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 29441’; 8 × 20 mm, print ‘ PARALECTOTYPE ♁ │ Nemotois chrysogona │ Meyrick, 1922 │ M. Kozlov design. 1999’ (all in NHM) [examined].

Nemotois chrysogona: Clarke 1955: 89 .

Other material. India. Tamil Nadu. 7 ♁, Ooty (Maxwell); 2 ♁, ibid.; 2 ♁, Nilgiris (all in NHM) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora chrysogona externally resembles N. gemmella ( Figs. 33, 34 ) and N. neurias ( Figs. 35, 36 ), from which it differs by the brown vertex and by the absence of carinae on phallus.

Description. Male ( Fig. 39 ). FWL 5.5‒5.7 mm, WLR 0.33‒0.35. Vertex brown, with appressed brown scales medially and raised dark brown scales laterally, with admixture of light grey piliform scales at margins of compound eyes; frons glossy golden, with tufts of dark brown piliform scales under antennal sockets and a row of bright yellow piliform scales between antennal sockets. PLB 0.90‒1.05 × vertical eye diameter (1.4‒1.7 × length of scape), light brown, ventrolaterally with sparse raised light brown piliform scales, dorsally densely covered with appressed bright yellow scales. Proboscis brown, base with a few yellow scales. Eyes enlarged, but not touching each other; interocular index 1.0‒1.1; occipital distance 0.22‒0.28. Antenna 3.2‒3.6 × FWL. Scape and base of flagellum dark brown with bronze tint; scape ventrally with bright yellow spot; flagellum between 0.2 and 0.6 × FWL with yellow line on outer side; apical part of flagellum brown. Tegulae dark brown, marginally glossy golden; thorax dark brown. Forewing ( Fig. 91 ) glossy golden. Fascia narrow, consists of dark brown internal band, bright yellow medial band and dark brown external line not reaching dorsum; inner margin of yellow band reaches costa at 0.48‒0.50 × FWL. Basal third of forewing (except for narrow glossy golden costal area) from pale yellow near costa to ochreous at dorsum, with narrow diffuse dark brown stripe along RS stem, reaching 0.22‒0.26 × FWL. Apical part of forewing with dark brown spot connected to costa near fascia and suffused with bright yellow scales; colour of this spot varies from yellow to light brown, depending on proportion of yellow scales. Fringe dark brown to brown, apically with golden lustre. Hindwing basally light grey, almost translucent; apical third light brown; costal area white; fringe grey to brown, apically with a row of golden scales along wing margin. Legs bronze. Epiphysis at 0.6, reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen light brown; distal margins of pregenital sternites glossy golden.

Female unknown.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 123 , 154 ). Tegumen almost triangular. Socii elongate, 1.4 × diameter of phallus. Vinculum 1.8‒1.9 × length of valva, with almost straight lateral margins; distal margin medially with two small protuberances. Tips of valvae not reaching tip of tegumen. Valvae not fused to each other; internal valvar margin bent at approximately 0.6 × valvar length; dorsal valvar margin almost straight; tip of valva rounded. Anellus 0.2 × length of valva. Transtilla with extremely long medial process. Juxta 0.55 × length of phallus; arrow head wide (WLR 0.65), with pointed tip and short pointed lateral arms. Phallus 1.15 × length of vinculum, shallowly S-shaped; tip flat, wide, hook-shaped; base funnel-shaped.

Distribution. India (Tamil Nadu).

Comments. Walker (1863) wrote that the syntypes of N. indica were donated by M. J. Walhouse, who collected Lepidoptera in Tamil Nadu ( Fletcher 1914), presumably in Nilgiri Hills (www.britishmuseum.org/collection; accessed 20 December 2022). The type locality of N. indica is reported based on this information. Walker (1863) described also ‘var. β’ of this species; however, the whereabouts of the type specimen of this variation is presently unknown.

Meyrick (1922) reported that syntypes of N. chrysogona have been collected by Maxwell and Fletcher. However, the initials written on the label of one syntype indicate that it has possibly been caught by a native collector.

I consider the published record of N. indica from Myanmar ( Fea 1897) as uncertain due to obvious problems with species identification. Unfortunately , this specimen collected by Fea in Myanmar was lost in a fire on 7 November 1942 (M. Tavano, pers. comm.), and its identity cannot therefore be clarified

Figures

FIGURES 33–40. Adults of Nemophora spp. 33, N. gemmella (Walsingham, 1880), male, lectotype, from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India; 34, ditto, female, from Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, India; 35, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922), male, from Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India; 36, ditto, female, from Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India; 37, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907), male, lectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 38, ditto, female, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 39, N. indica (Walker, 1863), male, lectotype of Nemotois chrysogona Meyrick, 1922, from Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India; 40, Nemophora ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, holotype, from Mahiyangana, Sri Lanka. Scale 2 mm.

FIGURES 69–92. Forewing pattern of Nemophora spp. 69, N. sporodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 70, N. phryganeella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 71, N. seraphias (Meyrick, 1907); 72, N. engraptes (Meyrick, 1907), typical form; 73, N. ornamentella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 74, N. fluorites (Meyrick, 1907); 75, N. manipurella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 76, N. mediseorsa Sun et Li, 2023; 77, N. tenuitella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 78, N. assamensis Kozlov, 1997; 79, N. augantha (Meyrick, 1907); 80, N. chionites (Meyrick, 1907); 81, N. cassiterites (Meyrick, 1907); 82, N. griseella (Walsingham, 1880); 83, N. ischnodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 84, N. asterodoxa (Meyrick, 1928); 85, N. chalcomis (Meyrick, 1907); 86, N. phoenicites (Meyrick, 1907); 87, N. atkinsonii (Moore, 1887); 88, N. gemmella (Walsingham, 1880); 89, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922); 90, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907); 91, N. indica (Walker, 1863); 92, N. ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov. Scale 2 mm.

FIGURES 122–127. Male genitalia of Nemophora spp. 122, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907); 123, N. indica (Walker, 1863); 124, N. ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 125, N. scitulella (Walker, 1864); 126, N. chrysocrossa (Meyrick, 1922); 127, N. amphimetalla (Meyrick, 1912); a: genital complex, ventral view (right valva not shown); b: genital complex, lateral view; c: juxta; d: phallus, ventral view; e: phallus, lateral view. Scale: 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 152–155. Male genitalia of Nemophora spp. 152, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922), paralectotype, from Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu, India, gen. prep. 29440 (NHM); 153, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907), from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, gen. prep. 27822 (NHM); 154, N. indica (Walker, 1863), from Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India, gen. prep. 30649 (NHM); 155, N. scitulella (Walker, 1864), from Coorg, Karnataka, India, gen. prep. 31280 (NHM); a: genital complex, ventral view; b: phallus; c: apex of phallus. Scale: 0.2 mm (valid for a and b only).