Nemophora paradisea ( Butler, 1881 )

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2024, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, Zootaxa 5423 (1), pp. 1-66 : 31-32

Nemophora paradisea ( Butler, 1881)

( Figs. 32 , 33 )

Nemotois paradisea : Butler 1881: 592. Holotype ♂: Japan, Honshu , Tokyo (approx. 35° 40’ N, 139° 46’ E); labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘ Type’; 5.5 × 10 mm, black ink ‘ Tokei [18]80–97 [Fenton]’, reverse side ‘ Nemotois paradiseus │ Butler. Type’; 14 × 24 mm, wide black border, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ paradisea │ Btlr. │ Tr. Ent. Soc. Lond. 592 (1881) │ TYPE ♂ descr.’ ( NHM) [examined].

Other material (in addition to specimens reported by Kozlov & Robinson 1996a). China. 1 ♀, Zhoushan Island , ix.1892 (Walker) ( NHM) . Taiwan. 1 ♂, Hualien County, Pilushenmu , 2150 m, 27.vi.1996 (Yen) ( NMNST) ; 2 ♀, Kaoshiung County, Tengir Forest Research Station (23 o 07' N, 120 o 47' E), 1600 m, 6.–10.vii.2000 (Schacht) ( ZSM) . Thailand. 1 ♂, Nakhon Nayok Province, Khao Yai National Park , 700 m, 29.ix.–6.x.1984 (Karsholt et al.) ( ZMUC) ; 1 ♂, ibid., 18.viii.1987 (Allen) ; 1 ♂, ibid., 31.viii.–6.ix.1986 (Robinson) ; 1 ♂, Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep-Pui National Park , 1460 m, 26.iv.–10.v.1989 (Cotton) ; 1 ♂, Uthai Thani District, Khao Nang Rum , 400 m, 6.–8.vi.1986 (Allen) (all in NHM) . Laos. 1 ♀, Vientiane Province, Nam-Lik Eco-Village , 19.v.2016 (Omelko) ( MZH) . Vietnam. 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Ninh Bình Province, Nho Quan District, Bong-Cúc Phuong Village , 360 m, 6.‒9.x.2006 (Zolotukhin) ( ZMB) . Japan. 1 ♀, Honshu, Kanzanji, Yogo-cho , Shiga Prefecture, 28.viii.1993 (Hirowatari) ( UOP) ; 1 ♂, Akita Prefecture, Mizubayashi, Honjo, Yuri-Honjo shi, 4.viii.2010 (Umetsu) ( APM) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora paradisea is so similar to N. decisella that it was previously considered as its junior synonym ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a). Although I failed to find any external character that allows to clearly discriminate between these two species, now I accept the opinion of Hirowatari & Nagaike (1998) and consider N. paradisea and N. decisella as different species with partly overlapping distribution ranges. Nemophora paradisea differs from N. decisella in the coppery brown (vs greyish brown) forewing colour, nearly straight (vs strongly S-shaped) apical third of carinae, nearly straight (vs strongly C-shaped) phallus and inner valvar margins steadily approaching each other (vs almost parallel to each other).

Distribution. Continental China ( Caradja & Meyrick 1935), Taiwan ( Issiki 1922), Thailand (this study), Laos (this study), Cambodia (this study; photograph-based record: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/82119944), Vietnam (this study), South Korea ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a), Russia ( Rebel 1901, as Adela imperialis ), Japan ( Butler 1881).

Comments. A colour photograph of the holotype (erroneously referred to as a syntype) was published by Liao et al. (2023, pl. 10 fig. 6). For the combined description of N. paradisea and N. decisella and for geographic variation in diagnostically important traits see Kozlov & Robinson (1996a). The individual descriptions of both N. paradisea and N. decisella , their extended differential diagnoses and synonymy will be provided elsewhere simultaneously with the revision of several species closely related to N. decisella that have been described by Diakonoff (1951).

Figures

FIGURES 25–32. Adults of Nemophora spp. 25, N. punctifasciella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, paratype, from Sam Ngao, Thailand; 26, N. satrapodes (Meyrick, 1894), female, lectotype, from Nyaungshwe, Myanmar; 27, N. thailandensis Kozlov, sp. nov., female, holotype, from Khao Yai Mt., Thailand; 28, N. melichlorias (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand; 29, ditto, female, from the same locality; 30, N. nigripunctella Kozlov, sp. nov., female, holotype, from Phou Pane Mt., Laos; 31, N. chalcoptera Kozlov, sp. nov., female, holotype, from Phou Pane Mt., Laos; 32, N. paradisea (Butler, 1881), male, from Kanzanji, Yogo-cho, Shiga Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. Scale: 2 mm.

FIGURES 33–40. Adults of Nemophora spp. 33, N.paradisea (Butler, 1881), female, from Kanzanji,Yogo-cho, Shiga Prefecture, Honshu, Japan; 34, N. decisella (Walker, 1863), male, from Rampayoh River, Brunei; 35, ditto, female, lectotype of Adela sythoffi Snellen, 1901, from Preanger, Java, Indonesia; 36, N. caeruliantenna Liao, Hirowatari & Huang in Liao et al., 2023, male, from Changwat Nan, Thailand; 37, N. sakaii (Matsumura, 1931), male, from Khao Yai National Park, Thailand; 38, ditto, female, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 39, N. auricapitella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, holotype, from Myeik, Myanmar; 40, ditto, female, paratype, from the same locality. Scale: 2 mm.