identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
51C9955DC7D451E98D96B95C95FD3731.text	51C9955DC7D451E98D96B95C95FD3731.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Rhodophaea madaricola Slagsvold, Berggren & Voith 2026	<div><p>Rhodophaea madaricola Slagsvold, Berggren &amp; Voith sp. nov.</p><p>Holotype.</p><p>Greece • ♂; Crete, Chania Province, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=23.914568&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=35.31695" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 23.914568/lat 35.31695)">Omalos S</a>; 35.31695°N, 23.914567°E ± 50 m; 8–9. v. 2025; leg. P. K. Slagsvold, K. Berggren &amp; R. Voith; gen. slide NHMO 5257; BOLD process ID LEPEM 009-25; NHMO .</p><p>Paratypes.</p><p>Greece • 1 ♀; Crete, Chania Province, Omalos hotel; 1060 m a. s. l.; 12. v. 2000; leg. W. Ruckdeschel; BOLD process ID PYRCR 038-11; ZSM • 7 ♂, 9 ♀; Crete, Chania Province, Omalos; 1200 m a. s. l.; 25–30. vi. 2000; leg. M. Fibiger, A. Madsen, D. Nilsson &amp; P. Svendsen; ZMUC • 1 ♂; same data except 28. vii – 2. viii. 2001; ZMUC • 10 ♂, 5 ♀; Crete, Chania Province, at pass N of Omalos Plateau; 1150 m a. s. l.; 7. vi. 2004; leg. B. Skule, C. Hviid &amp; E. Vesterhede; gen. slide NHMO 5256; ZMUC (9 ♂, 5 ♀), NHMO (1 ♂) • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same data except 11. vi. 2004; ZMUC • 4 ♂, 6 ♀; Crete, Chania Province, Omalos Plateau; 1040 m a. s. l.; 14–20. vi. 2014; leg. C. Hviid, O. Karsholt &amp; F. Vilhelmsen; ZMUC • 4 ♂, 4 ♀; Crete, Chania Province, Road to Kallergi, Omalos Plateau; 1225 m a. s. l.; 15–20. vi. 2014; leg. C. Hviid, O. Karsholt &amp; F. Vilhelmsen; ZMUC • 1 ♂, 3 ♀; same data as holotype, 7. v. 2025; gen. slide NHMO 5258 (♀), RVO 4248 (♂); NHMO (1 ♀), RVO (1 ♂, 2 ♀) • 3 ♀; same data as holotype; gen. slide KBE 16879; BOLD process ID LEPEM 361-25; KBE • 1 ♂; Crete, Chania Province, Omalos, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=23.884167&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=35.334442" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 23.884167/lat 35.334442)">Mikes House</a>; 1075 m a. s. l; 35°20’04”N 23°53’03”E; 18. vi. 2025; leg. P. Huemer; gen. slide TLMF 2026-004; TLMF .</p><p>Morphological diagnosis.</p><p>Rhodophaea madaricola sp. nov. largely resembles the closely related R. formosa . However, distinguishing characteristics are present in external morphology and genital structures in both sexes. The most prominent external difference is in the colour of the tarsi (Figs 9, 10). In R. madaricola sp. nov., they are black with contrasting off-white ringed margins (Fig. 10 a) whereas in R. formosa, they are less contrasting brownish with less evident light rings (Fig. 10 b). This difference is consistent across all specimens checked. The forewing differences are subtle but present (Figs 1, 2, 3, 4); the black shading on the apical side of the of the ante-median line is less developed in R. madaricola sp. nov. The discal spot is positioned more centrally between the ante-median and post-median lines in R. madaricola sp. nov., whereas in R. formosa it is closer to the ante-median line. The central placement of the discal spot separate from the reduced black shading makes the forewing of R. madaricola sp. nov. appear slightly more patterned than in R. formosa . The ante-median and post-median lines are slightly less dentate in R. madaricola sp. nov. R. madaricola sp. nov. appears slightly lighter than R. formosa on the underside of the forewing (Figs 5–8).</p><p>The male genitalia (Figs 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18) are largely similar. However, the phallus presents striking differences in the shape and size of the cornuti (Figs 15, 16, 17, 18). In both species the distal part of the phallus has two cornuti attached to sclerotised parts of the wall, one cornutus on each side. In addition, there is one cornutus – often difficult to see – inside the vesica surrounded by small spinules. The latter cornutus is slightly smaller in R. formosa (Figs 17, 18 k, l); it is straight, pointed and lacks a defined socket. The left cornutus is strongly hooked in R. madaricola sp. nov. (Figs 15, 16, 18 a, b) whereas in R. formosa it is gently curved (Figs 17, 18 c, d). The right cornutus is small and thorn-shaped in R. madaricola sp. nov. (Figs 15, 16, 18 e, f) whereas in R. formosa it is long, slender and basally angled (Figs 17, 18 g, h). In R. madaricola sp. nov. the uncus is laterally slightly concave, whereas in R. formosa it is straight or slightly convex (Figs 13, 14). There is a difference in the composite culcita; the paired scale-tufts are more angled distally in R. formosa (Figs 11, 12).</p><p>Distinguishing traits are also present in the female genitalia (Figs 19, 20). Rhodophaea madaricola sp. nov. has the spinose part of the ductus bursae much shorter than in R. formosa . The appendix bursae is broadly rounded in R. madaricola sp. nov, whereas it is narrowly rounded in R. formosa . The appendix bursae in R. madaricola merges with a larger membranous area of the corpus bursae than in R. formosa . The anterior half of the corpus bursae is without spines in R. madaricola sp. nov. as opposed to one-third in R. formosa . R. madaricola sp. nov. has an evenly distributed cover of spines of similar length in the corpus bursae, whereas R. formosa has longer spines concentrated in the middle of the corpus bursae, forming a transverse band. with shorter spines anteriorly and posteriorly.</p><p>Rhodophaea exotica (Inoue, 1959) of the Far East also resembles R. madaricola sp. nov., the genitalia being strikingly similar. However, R. exotica is significantly larger, wingspan 23–26 mm (Inoue 1959, Paek and Bae 2001; Streltzov 2012) versus 19.5–21.6 mm in R. madaricola sp. nov. The basal area of the forewing in R. exotica is uniform in colour, possibly more brownish grey compared to R. formosa and R. madaricola sp. nov. The specimens photographed in Paek and Bae (2001) and Streltzov (2012) show R. exotica having 4–5 distinct, short, blackish longitudinal streaks along some of the veins between the discal spot and the post-medial line. R. madaricola sp. nov. is without such streaks but usually has a set of reddish scalings. In the male genitalia of R. exotica, the left cornutus has the apical half almost straight, producing a more angled than inwardly curved projection. The right cornutus appears slightly more robust (thicker at the base) in R. exotica . In the female genitalia, the transition from the ductus bursae to the corpus bursae is smooth and broad in R. madaricola sp. nov. compared with the constricted, narrower transition in R. exotica .</p><p>Molecular results.</p><p>The two CO 1 sequences from our specimens were 646 bp and 658 bp in length and included no ambiguous nucleotide sites detected by BOLD Systems. Along with one sequence from a specimen collected in the same area (BOLD process ID: PYRCR 038 -11), our sequences form a well-defined cluster in both the NJ and ML analyses (Fig. 21), with strong bootstrap support and their own exclusive BIN designation: BOLD: AAY 8769. The minimum genetic distance between R. madaricola sp. nov. and R. formosa in this dataset is 2.35 %. Excluding a sequence from Finland, the minimum distance to the main clade of R. formosa is 2.66 %.</p><p>Three more BINs are assigned to the remaining Rhodophaea sequences. The majority of European sequences (25) have the BIN which most probably corresponds to the true R. formosa (BOLD: AAC 8900), except for one specimen from Finland (LEFIG 608 -10) with its own BIN (BOLD: AFS 7949), which is the closest relative to the remaining European sequences in our analyses. Finally, the specimen GBMNC 57806 -20 sampled from China, shares BIN (BOLD: ACQ 4308) with a specimen identified as “ Sciota shantungella ” in BOLD (GBGL 16161 -14). The latter specimen can be found in Suppl. material 1 to Liu et al. (2014) together with two more Chinese specimens (GBGL 16160 -14 and GBGL 16162 -14), all three under the name Nephopterix shantungella Roesler, 1969, which appears to be the only validly published combination for this species (Leraut 2021, e. g. Zhao et al. 2012). The additional two specimens in the Suppl. material 1 of Liu et al. (2014) also appear in Fig. 21 as “ Sciota shantungella ” with the BIN BOLD: ACQ 4310. This is the only BIN associated with “ S. shantungella ” that includes more than one sequence under that name. There are three sequences in this BIN, the third sequence (GBMNC 57935 -20) can be found in Hao et al. (2020). The clade comprising the five aforementioned BINs (AAC 8900, AFS 7949, AAY 8769, ACQ 4310 and ACQ 4308) has a high bootstrap support in our analysis (93 ML / 79 NJ), while the internal relationships among the BINs had low support and were not consistent in the ML and NJ analysis, except AFS 7949 being sister to AAC 8900 (with 56 or lower support). This clade is hereafter referred to as the “ Rhodophaea clade ”.</p><p>Another BIN (BOLD: AAG 0524) includes one sequence of “ S. shantungella ”, three sequences of Sciota fumella (Eversmann, 1844) and one sequence of Laodamia faecella (Zeller, 1839), the latter not included in the ML analysis. All the sequences in this BIN except one of S. fumella can be found in Hao et al. (2020). A BLAST search of the “ S. shantungella ” sequence in this BIN returned, in addition to the aforementioned sequences, a sequence from a specimen identified as Paracolax tristalis (Fabricius, 1794) (a member of Erebidae) with 99.35 % identity. The latter sequence can also be found in Hao et al. (2020).</p><p>There are four more BINs associated with Sciota fumella, of which BOLD: AAI 0832 includes all the sequences sampled outside China, with 11 sequences in total. The other three BINs have no more than three sequences each and were distant to both AAI 0832 and each other in our ML analysis. All of them can be found in Hao et al. (2020). BOLD: AEG 2985 includes two sequences under the name Canarsia ulmiarrosorella (Clemens, 1860), and a BOLD search on this BIN revealed another three sequences: Scoliopteryx libatrix (Linnaeus, 1758) (a member of Erebidae) also from Hao et al. (2020), as well as two sequences of Dusungwua basinigra (Ren &amp; Li, 2020) from full mitochondrial genomes sequenced by Liu et al. (2021) (listed as unidentified Phycitinae in BOLD).</p><p>Description.</p><p>Male (Fig. 3). Wingspan 19.5–21.6 mm (holotype 21.6 mm). Head greyish brown. Antenna filiform, about 2 / 3 length of forewing; light brown with blackish at the base of each flagellomere; base of flagellum with flat sinus surrounded by light-tipped, blackish brown scales. Labial palp upturned; blackish brown, off-white on outer and inner edge. Neck, thorax and tegulae reddish brown. Forewing slender; with admixture of black and off-white; basal area light grey along costa, reddish brown and / or black along dorsum; ante-median line off-white, positioned nearly in middle of wing, dentate; discal spot black, elongate, slightly curved; medial area reddish brown except off-white inner 1 / 3; post-median line off-white with black inner edge, wavy, but less so compared with ante-median line; terminal area reddish brown except pre-apical area suffused with blackish; terminal line black; fringes greyish brown. Hindwing greyish brown; marginal line dark grey; fringes off-white. Abdomen blackish brown with about 1 / 3 of each segment distally off-white. Scales on coxa of legs greyish brown; mid-legs and tarsi black, narrowly ringed off-white on terminal edges.</p><p>Female (Fig. 1). Wingspan 19.5–21 mm. Externally similar to male except lack of sinus at base of flagellum.</p><p>Variation.</p><p>The shading and amount of the reddish colour vary in the specimens examined, especially in the basal area of the forewing.</p><p>Male genitalia (Figs 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 a, b, e, f, i, j). Uncus rectangular, lateral sides slightly concave; gnathos pointed, relatively slender; tegumen broad and rounded; valva long and slender, slightly narrowed towards apex, with dense cover of long setae; costa sclerotised; juxta shaped as wide V, apically weakly spiculose; vinculum broad, rectangular; phallus cylindrical with three cornuti – two cornuti attached to sclerotised parts of wall on each side, the left strongly hooked, the right small and thorn-shaped, the third inside the vesica straight, pointed and lacking defined socket (can be difficult to observe if the vesica is not everted); composite culcita with lateral, long, angled, paired scale-tufts.</p><p>Female genitalia (Fig. 19). Papillae anales triangular, apically rounded, covered with short bristles and long setae; posterior apophyses short, slender, about as long as papillae anales; tergite 8 strongly sclerotised, relatively broad; anterior apophyses short, strong, slightly longer than posterior apophyses; ostium short, broad, not sclerotised; ductus bursae broad, widened posteriorly, membranous in posterior half, constricted in middle, anterior half with numerous short spines of different sizes; corpus bursae oval, membranous, posterior half with numerous short spines of different sizes; appendix bursae short, broad and rounded.</p><p>Etymology.</p><p>The name is derived from Madares (Cretan Greek: Μαδάρες), the old local designation of Lefka Ori (White Mountains) and the feminine form of incolus; “ inhabitant ” – “ The one that lives in the Madares mountains ”, where the type series was collected.</p><p>Life history and habitat.</p><p>The early stages and their hosts are unknown. All type specimens were attracted to light. The material collected by the authors was found in a locality surrounded by hawthorn Crataegus L. (Figs 22, 23), which is a potential host-plant. All specimens were collected at an altitude exceeding 1000 m a. s. l. with a flight period from early May to August.</p><p>Distribution.</p><p>Only known from the surroundings of the Omalos Plateau in the White Mountains (Lefka Ori), an inland mountain range in the Chania province in the western part of Crete, Greece (Fig. 24).</p><p>Remarks.</p><p>There are additional specimens of Rhodophaea madaricola sp. nov. from Omalos in ZSM.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/51C9955DC7D451E98D96B95C95FD3731	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Slagsvold, Per Kristian;Berggren, Kai;Voith, Reidar J. D. I.;Johannessen, Olve D. M.;Aarvik, Leif	Slagsvold, Per Kristian, Berggren, Kai, Voith, Reidar J. D. I., Johannessen, Olve D. M., Aarvik, Leif (2026): Rhodophaea madaricola sp. nov. from the mountains of the Greek island Crete, with comments on Rhodophaea Guenée, 1845 and related genera (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae). Nota Lepidopterologica 49: 171-193, DOI: 10.3897/nl.49.206374
