Eidophasia syenitella Herrich-Schäffer

Baraniak, Edward & Sohn, Jae-Cheon, 2015, Redescription of Eidophasia syenitella (Herrich-Schaffer, [1854]) (Lepidoptera, Plutellidae), Zootaxa 4057 (4), pp. 585-589 : 585-586

Eidophasia syenitella Herrich-Schäffer , [1854] ( Figs. 1 –15)

Eudophasia [sic] syenitella Herrich-Schäffer , [1854]: 84, fig. 343.

Diagnosis. This species is similar to another European congener, Eidophasia hufnageli (Zeller) , but differs from the latter in having the dorsal bar not merged to the postmedian line on the forewing. The genital features further support their distinctiveness as summarized in Table 1 .

Redescription. Head—Vertex dark grey, sparsely intermixed with white scales. Labial palpus with 2nd segment longer than 1st; outer surface of 1st and 2nd segments dark grey, with a small proportion of white and grey scales; inner surfaces of 1st and 2nd segments white and grey, except for terminal part of middle segment dark grey; tuft on 2nd segment elongate, longer than 2nd segment, with innermost scales white and grey, other scales dark grey; 3rd segment slightly curved, pointed apically, with a large proportion of white and grey scales. Maxillary palpus small, dark grey. Antenna with scape and pedicel dark grey; in female, most flagellomeres dilated with scales, dark grey, but last a few flagellomeres filiform, pale grey, with white basal bands; in males, flagellum filiform, dark grey up to 1/3 of its length, pale grey with white bands in distal 2/3.

Thorax—Mesonotum white, intermixed with grey scales; tegula dark brown. Forewing span 11–15 mm, elongate, lanceolate apically, dark brown, intermixed with dark grey scales in basal 1/3 of costal area and distal 1/3 wing length; white bar along basal 1/3 of dorsum, straight, then bent obliquely and narrower to costa; postmedian line as white bar with dark brown dot in costal 1/3, as white triangular patch with dark brown dot in dorsal 1/3, as slender line intermixed with dark grey scales in medial 1/3; two white bars near apex, followed by slender white lines, intermixed with dark brown scales posteriorly; terminal line dark brown, juxtaposed with narrow white line; fringe white in basal half, dark brown in distal half. Hindwing and fringe dark grey. Abdomen pale brownish grey.

Male genitalia—Saccus short, narrow, apically constricted and rounded, half as long as valva. Valva elongate, rectangular in outline, apex gently rounded. Ventral margin of valva dilated at half its length, forming a sacculus, strongly sclerotized. Sacculus club-shaped, margins conspicuously denticulate, sparsely setose. Dorsal margin of valva with numerous hair-like bristles, ampulla small, with narrow spinules on apex. Aedeagus long and narrow, 1/3 longer than valva, evenly sclerotized along its whole length; vesica without cornuti (spines), slightly tapered towards apex. Female genitalia—Papillae anales short and wide, covered with thin setae. Apophyses posteriores and anteriores short and slender. Antrum narrow, cup-shaped, only slightly wider than ductus bursae, markedly sclerotized. Ductus bursae short and wide, slightly dilated near inception of bursa copulatrix. Ductus seminalis membranous, emergent from bursa copulatrix close to ductus bursae. Bursa copulatrix oval, membranous only near ductus bursae entrance and ductus seminalis opening, in other parts considerably sclerotized, surface strengthened with numerous thorns. Signum absent.

Type. Not found and presumed lost.

Material examined. Bulgaria: Pirin Mts.: Res. Sandanski: Lilianowo: 1♂, 16♀, 1–30 June 1984 (F. Eichler), DEI. Croatia: Fiume: 1♂, [no date] 1879, ZSM; Split-Dalmatia: Spalato: 1 ex., May 1850 ( Mann), ZISP. Germany: Thuringia: Rothe: 1 ex., 26 July 1865 (Wocke), genitalia slide no. A 200, ZISP. Italy: Brussa: 1♂, [no date] 1864 ( Mann), ZSM; Sicily: Galia, Nice/La Turbie (ca. 750 m): 1♂, 31 May–3 June 1959 (W. Glasser), ZSM; Mistretta Mercoure (700 m): 1♀, 21–30 June 1952 (J. Klimesch), ZSM. Romania: Domogled: 2♂, [no data], ZSM; Herkulesbad: 2♂, 3♀, [no date] (Rebel), ZSM. Spain: Andalusia: Cádiz Prov.: Chiclana de la Frontera: 1♀, 19 April (Staudinger), genitalia slide no. Friese-1134, DEI; Malaga Prov.: Camino de Ojen (150 m): 1♂, 6 June1996 (E. Traugott-Olsen), ZMC; 1♀, 21 August 1980, ZMC; Gevona Montaseny by Coll de Rabell (800 m): 1♀, 13 July 1988 (M. Fibiger), ZMC; Jaen Albanchez (1250 m): 1♀, 4 August 1994 (F. Schapler), ZMC; Sierra d’Espuna: 1♂, [no date] 1909, ZSM; Sierra de Marbella: El. Mirandor (700 m): 2♀, 13 July 1990 (E. Traugott-Olsen), ZMC; Sierra Nevada: Camino de Vaeta (2050 m): 4 August 1956 (E. Traugott-Olsen), ZMC; 1♂, 25 April 1977, ZMC.

Distribution. Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain.

Host plants. Arabis hirsuta , A. planisiliqua , A. sagittata ( Brabant 1899; Pathpiva 2015).

Notes. Herrich-Schäffer (1853 –1855) did not state anything about the type series of Eidophasia syenitella . We have searched for the specimens but to no avail. The type specimens of E. syenitella seem to be lost like those of many other species described by Herrich-Schäffer. Rebel & Zerny (1934) stated that the type locality “Banat” is the same as “Herkulesbad (= Băile Herculane)”, a town in Romanian Banat. There are five specimens of E. syenitella collected from Herkulesbad by Rebel in the ZSM collection.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Adults of Eidophasia. 1. E. syenitella, male. 2. E. syenitella, female. 3. Labial palpi of E. syenitella, male. 4. E. hufnageli, female.

Tables

TABLE 1. A summary of the genital character differences between Eidophasia syenitella and E. hufnageli.

Characters	syenitella	hufnageli
sacculus (male)	Sacculus club-shaped, margins conspicuously denticulate (Fig. 5c)	small, membranous (Fig. 7c)
aedeagus (male)	slightly tapered towards apex, 1/3 length of valva (Fig. 5b)	evenly broad, 2 times longer than valva (Fig. 7a)
antrum (female)	narrow, cup-shaped, only slightly wider than ductus bursae (Fig. 6e)	distinctly wider than ductus bursae (Fig. 8a)
signum (female)	absent (Fig. 6a)	present (Fig. 8b)
bulla seminalis (female)	oval, small, membranous (Fig. 6a)	irregular, large, partly with tiny denticules (Fig. 8c)