Porphyrosela teramni Vári, 1961

Prins, Jurate De & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2012, Systematics, revisionary taxonomy, and biodiversity of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), Zootaxa 3594 (1), pp. 1-283 : 175-179

66. Porphyrosela teramni Vári, 1961

( Figs 10 , 20 , 120–122 , 287–291 , 355 , 417 )

Porphyrosela teramni — Vári (1961: 224–225; pl. 15, fig. 4; pl. 65, fig. 12; pl. 105, fig. 7), Vári & Kroon (1986: 86, 138, 157), Kroon (1999: 74, 118, 152), Dall'Asta et al. (2001: 35), Vári et al. (2002: 26), De Prins & De Prins (2005: 369).

Diagnosis. Porphyrosela teramni is similar to P. gautengi ; for differences see diagnosis of P. gautengi .

Material examined. Holotype: ♂, [1] [ South Africa]: ‘ Pretoria / 22.xi.1948 / [leg.] L. Vári / Ac.[quisition] no. 54’. [2] ‘HT’; [3] ‘G[enitalia]. / 6923’; [4] ‘ Porphyrosela / teramni Vári / ♂ HOLOTYPE No 6497’, in TMSA.

Paratypes: 3♂ and 7♀ (including 1♂ and 3♀ genitalia preparations), 15 specimens. [South Africa]: 1♀, Pretoria, 22.xi.1948, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 54; AT; G.[enitalia] 7132; Porphyrosela teramni Vári ♀ ALLOTYPE No 6498, in TMSA. 3♂, 6♀, 15 specimens: Pretoria, 19.xi.1948, 22.xi.1948, 24.xi.1948, 19.i.1949, 14.ii.1949, 15.ii.1949, 15.iv.1950, 02.ii.1951, 06.ii.1952, 13.ii.1952, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 54, 87, 122, 210, 318, 444; PT; G.[enitalia] 7131♂, 7132♀, 6924♀, 7673♀, wing venation 2271; Porphyrosela teramni Vári PARATYPE No 6499, 6500, 6501, 6502, 6503, 6505, 6506, 6507, 6508, 6510, 6511, 6512, 6513, 6514, 6515, 6517, 6518, 6519, 6520, 6521, 6522, 6523’, in TMSA. 1♂, Pretoria, 15.ii.1949, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 122 and 1♀, Pretoria, 13.ii.1952, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 444, both in ZMHB.

Note: 2♀ paratypes and 1 paratype specimen: 1♀, Pretoria, 22.xi.1948, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 54; Porphyrosela teramni Vári PARATYPE No 6504. 1♀ Pretoria, 14.ii.1949, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 122; Porphyrosela teramni Vári PARATYPE No 6516. 1 specimen, Pretoria, 19.i.1949, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 87; Porphyrosela teramni Vári PARATYPE No 6509 belong to Porphyrosela gautengi , new species.

Additional material: 2♂ and 4♀ (including 2♂ and 4♀ genitalia preparations) and 45 specimens. South Africa: 1♂, 2♀, 12 specimens, Oribi Gorge, 09.iv.1954, 11.iv.1954, 12.iv.1954, 17.iv.1954, 20.iv.1954, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 1218, G.[enitalia] 7674♀, 7890♂, 7891♀, wing venation 3233, in TMSA. 14 specimens, Mtunzini, 15.xii.1953, 18.xii.1953, L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 998, in TMSA. 3 specimens, Jozini Dam, Lebombo Mts., 21.xii.1961, Ac.[quisition] no. 2398, in TMSA. 1♀ and 3 specimens, Glenmore, Port Edward, 12.v.1971, [leg.] L. Vári, G.[enitalia] De Prins 3543♀ ( TMSA 14608), Ac.[quisition] no. 3124, in TMSA. 1♂ and 1♀, same locality data, gen. prep. De Prins 3739♂, 3740♀ (MRAC/KMMA 00432, 00433), descaled head prep. (MRAC/ KMMA 00433), wing venation prep. De Prins 3792♀ (MRAC/KMMA 00434), specimen IDs: RMCA ENT 000004794–000004795, in RMCA. 9 specimens, Illovo Beach 09.xi.1984, 11.xi.1984, 12.xi.1984, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 3936, in TMSA. 3 specimens, Durban, [date not stated], [leg.] E. L. Clark, in TMSA. Zimbabwe: 1 specimen, Vumba, 14.iii.1964, [leg.] L. Vári, Ac.[quisition] no. 2680, in TMSA.

Redescription. Adult ( Figs 120–122 ). Forewing length: 2.09–2.18 mm.

Head: Anterior part of vertex bronze, posterior part of vertex and occiput tufted with fuscous ochreous intermixed with grey piliform scales with slight bronze shading, of medium length; tufted bunch of piliform scales divided medially, more dense laterad, close to antennae, projecting anterior upwards upwards, short piliform scales, projecting laterally on posterior part of occiput; frons smooth, greyish with a very gew dark tipped scales and with very strong metallic gloss. Maxillary palpus tiny, porrect, greyish. Labial palpus as long as diameter of eye, greyish, drooping, terminal palpomere with sharply pointed apex, directed downwards. Haustellum short, strongly curved, pale beige. Antenna as long as forewing, consisting of 33–34 flagellomeres, basal and median flagellomeres brownish fuscous dorsally, paler ventrally, apical 8 flagellomeres pure white; pedicel slightly larger than following flagellomere, rectangular form, brownish fuscous; scape covered appressed dark fuscous piliform scales dorsally and brownish ochreous ventrally, pecten absent.

Thorax: Greyish with strong metallic gloss; tegulae as thorax. Forewing ground colour golden ochreous with four slight oblique, silvery white costal strigulae and three gradually enlarging towards tornus dorsal strigulae; first and fourth costal strigulae are slightly larger than second and third costal strigulae; first costal strigula at 1/3 of forewing, oblique towards apex, rectangular shaped, irregularly edged around with 2–3 rows of fuscous scales; second costal strigula at middle of forewing, parallel to first costal strilgula, slightly narrower than first costal strigula, edged on both sides with irregular row of fuscous scales; third costal strigula at 3/4 of forewing, triangular shaped, oblique towards tornus, slightly smaller than second strigula, edged on both sides by a row of black fuscous scales; fourth costal strigula in apical area, shiny white, relatively large triangular shaped, directed straight downwards, reaching just midline of termen; 3 dorsal strigulae gradually enlarging towards tornus; 1dorsal strigula at 1/4, situated slightly basad first costal strigula, very small, half rounded, edged around except on dorsum with a row of brownish fuscous scales; second dorsal strigula short rod or triangular shaped, ending just before midline of forewing, slightly oblique towards apex, situated just basad second costal strigula, edged with 1–2 rows of brownish fuscous scales, third dorsal strigula, rectangular shaped, reaching midline of forewing, follows just after third costal strigula, edged on both sides with irregular row of brownish fuscous scales, termen and apical area bordering fourth costal strigula and third dorsal strigula suffused with brownish fuscous scales; fringe short pale greyish at apex, gradually getting longer and darker to dark grey at tornus and dorsum. Hindwing light fuscous, fringe long, dense, gradually shortening towards apex and slightly of darker shading than hindwing. Fore femur brownish fuscous, fore tibia brownish fuscous with beige subapical patch, tarsomeres I dark beige, other tarsomeres brownish fuscous, terminal tarsomere with beige tip; mid-femur and mid-tibia fuscous, mid-tibia with appressed scales, tibial spurs fuscous, tarsus fuscous with terminal tarsomere metallic greyish white; hind femur dark grey with metallic gloss, hind tibia fuscous at base, metallic dirty white at subbase and reddish ochreous with long, loose, dark grey, piliform scales from beyond middle of hind tibia to nearly apex, apex white, medial spurs very long, slightly shorter than tibia, greyish metallic with intermixed reddish ochreous, small patches at subbase, fuscous at median part and whitish at apex, apical spurs short, about 3× shorter than medial spurs, dirty pale greyish with white apices; tarsus fuscous with pale grey with weak metallic glossy apex, tarsomeres I–II dark fuscous with metallic apices, tarsomeres III pale fuscous with metallic gloss, tarsomeres IV pale grey with pale fuscous apex, tarsomere V pale grey with weak metallic gloss.

Abdomen: Fuscous grey dorsally, paler grey with metallic gloss ventrally. Sternum VIII of male very small, visible at 100× enlargement, as large as 108 µm, half rounded, with well sclerotized lateral sides, covered with tiny, sparse tubercules.

Male genitalia ( Figs 287–291 ). Tegumen conical, rather long (ca. 300 µm), acuminate apically, sparsely squamose dorsally, with a pair of fine long setae, ca. 50 µm long; tuba analis densely covered with spinules on ventral surface; arms of tegumen narrow, strongly sclerotized, running parallel to each other with smooth anastomosis into median part of tegumen. Valvae symmetrical, 1/4 shorter than tegumen, narrow, bar-shaped, slightly arched upwards and slightly constricted medially, slightly concave ventrally with gently emarginated subapex and blunt apex, ventral surface of valva scattered with sparsely distributed, round tubecules bearing fine setae. Vinculum narrow, subtriangular with apical saccus very short and sharp caudally. Transtilla complete, narrow in whole length, without latero-cephalic lobes. Aedoeagus slightly shorter than valva, ca. 236 µm long, thickly sclerotized, tubular, gently tapering apically beyond middle, with narrow constriction at subvesica, vesica sclerotized, bulbed at apex, with one side heavily but narrow sclerous. Anellus long, membranous, tubular, as long as aedoeagus, with tiny spinules at apical part.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 355 ). Papillae anales short, narrowed dorsally and ventrally, touching each other with dorsal caudal parts forming a triangle with smoothly rounded apex and rough, thick, lateral sides, tubulosae, spinulosae and setose with long setae of 50–70 µm, more dense baso-laterally. Posterior apophyses long, ca. 340 µm lonbg, slender throughout, slightly arched, parallel to each other, with sharp apices, entering anterior 1/3 of segment VII. Segment VIII short, strongly sclerotized, wrinkled, anterior margin sinoid and tightly fused with posterior margin of segment VII. Anterior apophyses absent. Segment VII long (470 µm), trapezoidal, well sclerotized, with sinuate posterior margin, concave ventrally. Ostium bursae opening at middle of concave posterior margin of segment VII, without surrounded sterigma. Structure of ductus bursae+corpus bursae long (ca. 0.9 mm), weakly sclerotized; without distinction between ductus bursae and corpus bursae; corpus bursae formed by terminal elongate portion of ductus bursae, without signum. Ductus spermathecae narrow, sclerotized, of medium length, less long than half length of segment VII, enlarged anteriorly, gently curving, without revolutions; vesica small, indistinguisble from caudal part of ductus spermathecae.

Habitat. Secondary forest.

Host plant(s). Fabaceae :

Teramnus sp. , Vigna sp. ( Vári 1961: 225, De Prins & De Prins 2005: 369). In note 2680 written by Vári on 12 March 1964 (manuscript notebook of Vári), it is stated that he collected in “Vumba 1 mine of Porphyrosela teramni on Vigna plant. The moth emerged 14.iii.1964 [ P. teramni ]”. In note 3124A written by Vári on 08 May 1971, (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Glenmore a few mines of Porphyrosela teramni Vári on Vigna (=3122) plant. The first moth emerged 13.v.1971 [ P. teramni ]”. In note 3936 written by Vári on 02 November 1984, (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Illovo Beach a few mines of Porphyrosela teramni Vári on Vigna plant. The first moth emerged 09.xi.1984 [ P. teramni ]”.

T. labialis (L. f.) Spreng, Vári 1961: 225, Kroon 1999: 74, 118; Dall’Asta et al. 2001: 35; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 369). In notes 0087, 0122, 0210 written by Vári on 03 January 1949, 06 November 1949, 10 April 1950 (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Pretoria several mines (=54) of Lithocolletis on Teramnus labialis (=54). The first moth emerged 04.i.1949, 14.xi.1949, 15.iv.1950 [ P. teramni [types]]”, In notes 0318, 0337, 0444 written by Vári on 23 January 1951, 02 June 1951, and 02 February 1952 (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Pretoria (own garden) some mines (=54) of Lithocolletis on Teramnus labialis (=54). The first moth emerged 02.ii.1951, and 06.ii.1952 [ P. teramni [types]]”.

Vigna luteola (Jacq.) Benth. ( Vári 1961: 225, Kroon 1999: 74, 119; Dall’Asta et al. 2001: 35, De Prins & De Prins 2005: 369). In note 0998 written by Vári on 01 December 1953, (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Mtunzini some mines of Lithocolletis on Vigna cf. luteola (=688). The first moth emerged 09.iv.1953 [ P. teramni ]”. In note 4054 written by Vári on 25 January 1990, (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Pretoria (Willow Glen) Porphyrosela teramni Vári on Vigna luteola (Jacq.) Benth. [ P. teramni ]”.

In note 1218 written by Vári on 30 March 1954 (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected at “ Oribi Gorge some mines of Lithocolletis on unidentified plant. The first moth emerged 09.iv.1954 [ P. teramni ]”. In note 2398 written by Vári on 15 December 1961 (manuscript notebook of Vári) it is stated that he collected in “Jozini Dam 3 mines of Lithocolletis on unidentified Leguminosae plant. The first moth emerged 21.xii.1961 [ P. teramni ]”.

Remarks. The species identification of the moths as P. teramni is stated by Vári himself.

Mine. An underside mine, tentiform, transparant, arbitrarily in disc, whitish on underside, no distinct folds visible, but mine strongly contracted. Fine black frass in one or two clusters; pupation without cocoon; pupa protrudes through lower epidermis before adult emerges; often more than one larva, up to six larvae found in one mine ( Vári 1961: 225, De Prins & De Prins 2005: 369).

Flight period. Adults have been collected from early November to mid-May.

Distribution ( Fig. 417 ). Recorded from South Africa ( Vári 1961: 225) and Zimbabwe (new record).

Figures

FIGURES 5–10. Adult head morphology of the Afrotropical Lithocolletinae genera. 5, Neolithocolletis nsengai, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00537. 6, Cameraria landryi, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00529. 7, Phyllonorycter grewiaecola, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00532. 8, Phyllonorycter hibiscina, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00531. 9, Cremastobombycia solidaginis, descaled head prep. De Prins 3791. 10, Porphyrosela teramni, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00433.

FIGURES 11–20. Wing morphology of the Afrotropical Lithocolletinae genera. 11, Hyloconis luki, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00454. 12, Neolithocolletis mayumbe, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00535. 13, Neolithocolletis nsengai, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00427. 14, Cameraria perodeaui, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00453. 15, Cameraria torridella, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00490. 16, Phyllonorycter grewiaecola, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00528. 17, Phyllonorycter melanosparta, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00497. 18, Cremastobombycia kipepeo, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00494. 19, Cremastobombycia morogorene, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00667. 20, Porphyrosela teramni, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00434.

FIGURES 117–122. Adults. Scale bar 1 mm. 117, Porphyrosela gautengi, holotype ♂, South Africa, Lebombo Mountains, Jozini Dam, 18.i.1965, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000004797. 118, Porphyrosela homotropha, paratype 4786♀, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, 5.xii.1959, leg. E.M. Hering, in ZMHB. 119, Porphyrosela homotropha, ♀, Ethiopia, Tana Lake, Bahir Dar, 11–16.i.1996, leg. Mey & Ebert, in ZMHB. 120, Porphyrosela teramni, holotype 6497♂, South Africa, Pretoria, 22.xi.1948, leg. L. Vári, in TMSA. 121, Porphyrosela teramni, paratype 6520, South Africa, Pretoria, 22.xi.1948, leg. L. Vári, in TMSA. 122, Porphyrosela teramni, ♂, South Africa, Glenmore, 12.v.1971, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000004794.

FIGURES 287–291. Male genitalia. Scale bar 100 µm. 287–288, Porphyrosela teramni, holotype, the drawing is made by Willy De Prins after the genitalia prep. Vári 6923, in TMSA. 287, lateral view. 288, aedoeagus. 289–291, Porphyrosela teramni, genitalia prep. MRAC/KMMA 00432, in RMCA. 289, ventral view. 290, sternum VIII. 291, aedoeagus.

FIGURES 354–355. Female genitalia. Scale bar 200 µm. 354, Porphyrosela homotropha, paratype, the drawing is made by Willy De Prins after the original description and the drawing of Vári (1963: 12; fig. 11). 355, Porphyrosela teramni, genitalia prep. MRAC/KMMA 00433, in RMCA.

FIGURES 415–417. Distribution of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae species. 415, Porphyrosela gautengi. 416, Porphyrosela homotropha. 417, Porphyrosela teramni.