Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) Xu & Dai & Liu & Bai & Diškus & Stonis, 2017

Xu, Jiasheng, Dai, Xiaohua, Liu, Peng, Bai, Haiyan, Diškus, Arūnas & Stonis, Jonas R., 2017, First report on Paratischeria from Asia (Lepidoptera: Tischeriidae), Zootaxa 4350 (2), pp. 331-344 : 336-337

Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) comb. nov.

( Figs 14–39 )

Tischeria hestias Meyrick, 1915a: 354 .

Material examined. VIETNAM: 1 ♂, 2 ♀, 140 km SW Hanoi, Mai Châu, 20°38'23"N, 105°05'25"E, elevation 200–700 m, pupae and feeding larvae in leaf-mines on Helicteres viscida Blume , 15–17.i.2017, field card no. 5235, J. R. Stonis, genitalia slide nos AD 880♂, AD 884♀ (LEU).

INDIA: 1 ♀ (holotype), Karwar, Kanara, pupa in leaf-mine on Helicteres isora , 12.viii.1913, R. Maxwell, genitalia slide no. 28682 ( BMNH).

Diagnosis. In male genitalia, the combination of a specific anellus ( Fig. 24 ) and a basally rounded phallus distinguishes Paratischeria hestias from all other Tischeriidae species. In the female genitalia, the ductus spermathecae with 15–16 large coils and strongly narrowed abdominal apex ( Fig. 33 ) distinguish P. hestias from other studied congeneric species as well as all other representatives of the family. The host-plant genus Helicteres L. also makes this species distinctive.

Male ( Figs 22, 23 ). Forewing length about 2.8 mm; wingspan about 6.2 mm. Head: face cream to brownish cream; palpi distinctly cream, with some dark brown scales laterally; frontal tuft comprised of wide lamellar scales, pale grey, distally cream; collar glossy, comprised of slender lamellar or almost piliform scales; most of the scales cream, some pale grey; antenna longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum with about 35 segments, pale grey with little purple iridescence; hair-like sensillae trichodea very fine, pale, rather indistinctive; pecten long, very distinctive, comprised of mostly dark brown scales. Thorax, tegula and forewing pale ochre with numerous black scales forming an irregular pattern ( Fig. 23 ); fringe pale ochre to grey; underside of forewing grey, without androconia or spots except small, irregular scaleless patches at the base. Hindwing very slender, pale grey to grey, with very little purple iridescence; underside of hindwing grey, without androconia or spots; fringe pale grey to grey. Legs brownish cream on underside, densely covered with black scales on upper side. Abdomen glossy, metallic grey on upper side and underside; genital segments grey on underside, brownish cream on upper side; anal tufts indistinctive.

Female ( Figs 29, 30 ). Forewing length: 2.3 mm (holotype from India), 3.1 mm (specimen AD884 from Vietnam); wingspan 5.7 mm (holotype), 6.8 mm (specimen AD884). Head: face glossy, grey to pale brown; palpi distinctly cream; frontal tuft comprised of wide lamellar scales, pale grey to grey laterally, cream grey medially; collar comprised of cream grey and grey scales; antenna longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum with about 36–38 segments, grey and glossy; sensillae trichodea indistinctive (hardly visible); pecten long, very distinctive, comprised of dark brown scales. Thorax, tegula and forewing densely speckled with blackish grey and ochre brown scales; the latter mostly distributed in two longitudinal patches of the forewing ( Fig. 30 ); fringe greyish cream to pale grey; underside of forewing pale grey, without spots except small, irregular scaleless patches at the base. Hindwing very slender, pale grey, with little purple iridescence; underside of hindwing pale grey, without spots; fringe pale grey. Legs ochre cream on underside, densely covered with grey brown to dark greybrown scales on upper side.

Male genitalia ( Figs 24–28 ). Capsule about 345 µm long, 165 µm wide. Uncus with two slender and long lateral lobes; basally, uncus with a pair of distinctive setae ( Fig. 27 ). Valva about 280–285 µm long; transtilla absent. Anellus ( Fig. 24 ) elaborated. Vinculum triangular, widely rounded distally. Phallus ( Figs 24, 26 ) about 220 µm long; in apical half, distinctly bifurcated, at the base, very wide and rounded.

Female genitalia ( Figs 31–34 ). Abdominal apex and ovipositor narrow; ovipositor clothed with short, stout and dark modified setae which we refer to as ‘peg setae’ ( Fig. 31 ); second pair of ovipositor lobes three times smaller, bearing long setae. Anterior and posterior apophyses slender ( Figs 32, 33 ), 400–435 µm long. Additionally, there are three pairs of rod-like projections (collectively referred to as the prela by Braun 1972). Vestibulum membranous, without thickened sclerite or hardened plate (i.e. without antrum). Corpus bursae membranous, relatively very small and slender, without spines or signum. Ductus spermathaecae with 15–16 very large coils ( Fig. 34 ).

Bionomics ( Figs 14–21 ). Host plants: Helicteres viscida Blume ( Figs 16, 17 ) and H. isora L., Malvaceae (former Sterculiaceae ). Larvae detected in January (northern Vietnam) and August (western India); however, it is possible that the mining season is much longer, with probably overlapping generations. In northern Vietnam during mid-January, about 20% of the observed leaf-mines of Paratischeria hestias were with feeding larvae, 20% with pupae and about 60% were empty (vacant), about 1–2 months old. Leaf-mine reminds an irregular blotch ( Figs 18, 19 ), almost without frass. Larva grey-green ( Fig. 21 ), with dark grey-brown intestine. Pupation inside the leaf-mine without cocoon; pupa black-brown ( Fig. 20 ). Exit slit on upper side of the leaf. Adults known from February and August.

Distribution. Currently this species is known from two localities: western India (Meyrick’s holotype) and northern Vietnam ( Figs 38, 39 ) from highly disturbed subtropical evergreen premontane forests ( Figs 14, 15 ) at altitudes about 200– 700 m. After the “Formula of determining of abundance and occurrence of leaf-miners” (see Diškus & Stonis 2012: 52–54), P. hestias is a very common species in Mai Châu, 140 km SW Hanoi; the distribution range of the host plants Helicteres viscida and H. isora ( Fig. 38 ) allows us to assume that P. hestias may occurr at least in many localities of northern Vietnam and north-eastern Laos.

Remarks. Formerly Paratischeria hestias was a very little known species, the original description of which ( Meyrick 1915a) was based on a single female specimen reared by R. Maxwell from a pupa within a leaf-mine on Helicteres isora in Kanara , western India (currently also known as Canara, Karavali or Coastal Karnataka, the southern part of the Konkan Coast). We compared the female holotype to our female specimen from northern Vietnam and no obvious differences were found. Despite the slightly larger size of the Vietnamese specimen, both compared females were very similar in other characters, e.g. the same distinctly cream palpi, similarly scaled face and frontal fuft, the same color of antenna and similar forewing pattern. Unfortunately, some parts of the female genitalia of the holotype (slide 28682 BMNH) have been lost during the process of dissection. However, judging from the fact that both compared female specimens possess very narrow abdominal apex, long apophyses ( Figs 35, 36 ) and about 15–16 very large coils of ductus spermathecae (lost in the slide 28682 BMNH but sketched out in Fig. 37 ), we conclude that the female specimen from northern Vietnam and female holotype of P. hestias belong to the same species. In addition, the fact that both host plants are from the Helicteres genus allows us to assume that the compared specimens can be attributed to a single species.

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 21. Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.), northern Vietnam. 14, 15, habitat, Mai Châu, 140 km SW Hanoi, elevation 200 – 700 m; 16, 17, host plant Helicteres viscida Blume, Malvaceae (former Sterculiaceae); 18 – 21, leafmines.

FIGURES 22 – 28. Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.), northern Vietnam. 22, 23, adult, male; 24, male genitalia, slide AD 880, anellus and phallus; 25, 26, same, general view; 27, same, uncus; 28, same, uncus and socii (LEU).

FIGURES 29 – 34. Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.), northern Vietnam. 29, 30, adult, female; 31, female genitalia, slide no. AD 884, abdominal apex; 32, 33, same, general view; 34, same, coils of ductus spermathecae (LEU).

FIGURES 35 – 37. Female genitalia of Paratischeria hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.). 35, northern Vietnam, female genitalia, apophyses and ovipositor lobes, slide AD 884 (LEU); 36, Karwar, western India, Meyrick‘s holotype, slide no. 28682 (BMNH); 37, coils of ductus spermathecae, holotype, slide no. 28682 (BMNH), reconstruction (working sketch) because bursa and accessory sac have been lost at the final stage of the dissection; therefore, no scale available.

FIGURES 38 – 40. Distribution maps. 38, 39, new findings of Paratischeria spp. from Southeast and East Asia based on our material from China (Yunnan) and northern Vietnam (the natural range of the host plant Dalbergia assamica follows Chadburn 2012; the range of Helicteres viscida and H. isora follows Brink et al. 2016); 40, global distribution of the Paratischeria genus based on the following data: from USA, Texas: P. heteroterae (Frey & Boll, 1878) (comb. nov.); from Belize and Guatemala: P. neotropicana Diškus & Stonis, 2015, and some five dissected but still unpublished new species (Diškus & Stonis, pers. comm.); from Ecuador and Peru: P. capnota (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.), P. neotropicana Diškus & Stonis, 2015, P. ferruginea Diškus & Stonis, 2017, and several dissected but still unpublished new species (Diškus & Stonis, pers. comm.); from Bolivia: P. fasciata Diškus & Stonis, 2017; from Congo: P. urticicolella (Ghesquière, 1940) (new combination provided in Stonis et al. 2017); from India and northern Vietnam: P. hestias (Meyrick, 1915) (comb. nov.); from southern China (Yunnan): P. jingdongensis Xu & Dai, sp. nov. * P. hestias is also known from Karwar, western India (Meyrick 2015 b), not shown in Figs 38, 39.