Kessleria fasciapennella ( Stainton, 1849 )

Tarasova, Anastasiia A. & Ponomarenko, Margarita G., 2025, New data on Microlepidoptera (Lepidoptera: Micropterigidae, Adelidae, Glyphipterigidae, and Yponomeutidae) from the Far East of Russia, Zootaxa 5715 (1), pp. 456-475 : 459

Kessleria fasciapennella ( Stainton, 1849)

( Figs 2 , 14 , 28, 29 )

Material examined. 2 ♀♀, Russia, Primorskii Krai , Khasanskii district , Gamov Peninsula, 27 km SW of Slavyanka, Srednyaya Inlet, 42°35’18” N, 131°12’48” E, 25.vii 1997 (leg. M. Ponomarenko), GS 344 AT, FSCB .

Diagnosis. This species is similar to K. saxifragae (Stainton) by pattern of forewing and female genitalia with transverse sclerotisation in sternal area of 8 th segment formed by extended ventral arms of apophyses anteriores, antrum with sclerotised ring and corpus bursae without signum. It differs by narrower transverse sclerotisation in sternal part of 8 th segment, a ratio of sclerotisation length to its width is 0.2, by smaller and flattened setaceous lobes of postvaginal plate and shorter granular part of ductus bursae, which does not exceed 1/5 of total ductus length in the female genitalia ( Figs 28, 29 ). The related species possesses wider transverse sclerotisation in sternal part of 8 th segment, a ratio of length of this sclerotisation to its width is 0.6, larger and rounded setaceous lobes of postvaginal plate and ductus bursae with continuous granular sculpture in the female genitalia.

Remarks. The specimens collected in the south of the Russian Far East differ from European specimens by relatively smaller size (wingspan 12.7 mm), groundcolour of forewing beige, wing pattern without a distinct dark brown oblique stripe extending, which in European moths extends from about 1/4 of the dorsal margin to about 2/5 of the costal margin, and without stripe from 1/3 wing length to apex. Instead of these stripes there are scattered dark brown scales located exactly in the same place; forewing with four rows of black dots running from near base: five dots in subcostal row to 1/3 of wing length, nine ones in radial row to 2/3 wing length, six-seven ones in submedian row and ten ones in subdorsal row both to a little beyond middle of wing ( Fig. 2 ). In the female genitalia, Far Eastern specimens differ by a relatively longer unbranched part of apophyses anteriores, which is 1.2 times longer than the posterior branch ( Fig. 28 ). According to the photographs, the European specimens of K. fasciapennella have distinct oblique stripe on the forewings and shorter unbranched part of apophyses anteriores, which is only 0.7 of posterior branch length ( Huemer & Tarmann 1991: figs 52, 53, 237). The exception is the specimen from Komi Republic ( Huemer & Tarmann 1991: fig. 54), which also lacks an oblique stripe on the forewing, and its wing pattern is similar to that of specimens from the south of the Far East.

Distribution. Europe; Russia (N, NW and NE of European part, south of West Siberia, Irkutskaya Oblast’, south of Far East: Primorskii Krai, first record).

Host plant. Parnassia palustris L. ( Celastraceae ) in Europe ( Huemer & Tarmann 1991).

Figures

FIGURES 1–10. Adults (1–6) and schemes of forewing pattern (7–10). 1—Cauchas storozhenkoi sp. nov., male, holotype; 2—Kessleria fasciapennella, female; 3—Metanomeuta fulvicrinis, male; 4—Glyphipterix maritima, female; 5, 6—Micropterix sikhotealinensis: 5—male, holotype; 6—female; 7, 8—M. aureatella, after Zeller-Lukashort et al. (2007: figs 30, 32); 9, 10—M. sikhotealinensis: 9—male, holotype; 10—female. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 11–17. Heads with appendages. 11–13—Cauchas storozhenkoi sp. nov., male, holotype: 11—head, lateral view; 12—flagellum with ventral ciliation; 13—head, frontal view, measurements for calculation of interocular index, shown by arrows; 14—Kessleria fasciapennella, head of female, lateral view; 15—Metanomeuta fulvicrinis, head of male, lateral view; 16—Glyphipterix maritima, head of female, latero-frontal view; 17—Micropterix sikhotealinensis, head of male, holotype, lateral view. Abbreviations: md—minimum distance between the eyes across the frons, vd—vertical eye diameter.

FIGURES 28–32. Female genitalia and female abdomen. 28, 29—Kessleria fasciapennella, GS 344 AT: 28—genitalia, ventral view; 29—sternal area of 8th segment and antrum. 30—Micropterix sikhotealinensis, GS 346 MP, lateral view. 31, 32, Glyphipterix maritima, GS 348 MP: 31—genitalia, ventral view; 32—antrum, fragment with thorns near its bottom is shown. Abbreviations: a.a—apophysis anterioris, ant—antrum, a.p—apophysis posterioris, c.b—corpus bursae, d.b—ductus of corpus bursae, d.s—ductus seminalis, l.pv—lobe of lamella postvaginalis, ost—ostium, p.a—papillae anales, r.th—ring of thorns near the bottom of the antrum, st.sc—sternal sclerotisation of 9th segment, t.p—terminal papillae, v.s—sclerotisation of ventral arms of apophyses anteriores. Scale bar 0.5 mm with the exception of enlarged figures 29, 32.