Parastenolechia Kanazawa

Lee, Sangmi & Brown, Richard L., 2008, Revision of Holarctic Teleiodini (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), Zootaxa 1818, pp. 1-55 : 28-29

Parastenolechia Kanazawa

Parastenolechia Kanazawa, 1985: 6 .

Type species: Parastenolechia asymmetrica Kanazawa, 1985 . Origo Omelko, 1988: 156 .

Type species: Telphusa argobathra Meyrick, 1935 , by original designation. Laris Omelko, 1988: 152 . New Synonymy

Type species: Laris collucata Omelko, 1988 .

Description. Imago. Labial palpus with third and second segments subequal in length. Clypeus with ventral margin sinuate mesially. Antenna almost filiform but slightly serrate distally, about 3/5 forewing length, shorter and thicker in male than female. Ocellus absent. Posterior area of sitophore with four campaniform sensilla in line except one offset on right side; anterior area with four campaniform sensilla. Forewing (length/ width ratio 4.0) with raised scale tufts, R5 and M1 separate, M2 and M3 connate, CuA1 absent, CuA2 almost vestigial ( Fig. 12 ); median fascia directed from apex of costa toward posterior margin. Hindwing (length/width ratio 5.0) with M1 absent, M2, M3, and CuA1 separate. Male abdomen with tergum VIII considerably reduced; sternum VIII well developed, without posterior or anterolateral hair pencils.

Male genitalia: uncus flattened, slightly concave at middle of apex; gnathos almost as long as uncus, with small, cushionlike, mesially projected apex; tegumen narrower mesially than basally, strongly widened anteriorly; valva asymmetrical, divided into flagelliform costa, longer than length of tegumen, and broad sacculus; tegumen basal width/length ratio 0.9; vinculum absent; saccus fused with ventrobasal part of slender phallus; phallus slightly shorter than tegumen, fulcrum well developed; no cornuti.

Female genitalia: apophyses anteriores thick and slightly curved dorsally; apophyses posteriores elongate, 2.0–2.6 x as long as apophyses anteriores; ostium bursae on intersegmental membrane posterior to sternum VII; antrum membranous; signum a semiovate plate with pair of anterolateral lobes.

Larva. 5.5–6.5 x 1.2–1.5 mm, head width 0.67 mm; body compact, reddish brown, with posterior areas of abdominal segments bluish gray, giving a transversely banded appearance; pinnacula inconspicuous; head brownish black, with broadly incised labrum, antenna longer than in Stenolechia gemmella ; prothoracic shield brownish black, pale on anterior and ventral margins, narrowly divided into two plates anteriorly, widely divided posteriorly; anal shields and plates of anal prolegs brownish black; abdominal prolegs short, crochets uniordinal; anal comb reduced to small spines; prothorax with only L1 and L2 present; all setae on meso- and metathorax on isolated pinacula; Abdomen with microscopic, conical granulations dorsally; L1 and L2 horizontal on A1–8, transverse on A9; A9 and A10 with enlarged pinacula, all setae isolated except L group ( Patoèka 1977).

Pupa. Maxillary palpi separated from genae; contiguous boundary between maxillary palpi and mesothoracic legs short; frons lacking a tubercle; frontoclypeal suture almost straight; prothoracic legs adjacent to oculi; abdominal segment VII not edged caudally by setae ( Patoèka and Turcáni 2005).

Diagnosis. Parastenolechia species are similar to those of Stenolechiodes in the wing pattern and male genitalia, but differ by having M1 vein absent in hindwing and a signum present in female genitalia.

Hosts. Fagaceae : Quercus pubescens Willd. ( P. nigrinotella ). ( Patoèka 1977).

Diversity and distribution. The twelve species of Parastenolechia occur in Europe and eastern Asia, with highest diversity in the latter region ( Elsner 1995 [1996]; Huemer and Karsholt 1999; Kanazawa 1991; Okada 1961; Omelko 1988; Park 1993, 2000b; Park and Ponomarenko 2006).

Notes. Laris was described to include two species in two subgenera and was differentiated from other genera by a strongly differentiated sacculus ( Omelko 1988). Park (1993) synonymized subgenus Origo with Parastenolechia and differentiated the nominal subgenus, including L. collucata , from Parastenolechia based on the venation of forewing with CuA2 present (absent in Parastenolechia ), R4 and R5 with a long stalk, and male genitalia with lobate distal portion of the valval sacculus. However, the forewing has CuA2 present in both genera, although it is almost vestigial in Parastenolechia ( Kanazawa 1985) , and the length of R4+5 varies among species in other genera of Teleiodini. The valval sacculus is distally lobate in both L. collucata and species of Parastenolechia , as illustrated by Kanazawa (1985). Species of Parastenolechia and L. collucata are the only taxa of Teleiodini with a forewing lacking CuA1. In addition they have an uncus with a truncate apex and a gnathos with the ventral part being cushionlike with a median projection, which are synapomorphic for the polytomy of Parastenolechia , Stenolechia , and Chorivalva ( Lee 2007) . Therefore, Laris is regared as a junior synonym of Parastenolechia .

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 18. Wing venation. 7 – 14, Forewing. 7, Sinoe robiniella. ps = pterostigma. 8, Carpatolechia sp. 1. 9, Arogalea cristifasciella. 10, Agnippe sp. 1. 11, Stenolechia gemmella. 12, Parastenolechia nigrinotella. 13, Parachronistis albiceps. 14, Arcutelphusa talladega, sp. nov., 15 – 18, Hindwing. 15, Agnippe sp. 1. 16, Sinoe robiniella. 17, Arogalea cristifasciella. 18, Arcutelphusa talladega, sp. nov.