Nemophora chrysoprasias ( Meyrick 1907 )

Liao, Cheng-Qing, Hirowatari, Toshiya, Yagi, Sadahisa, Wang, Min, Wang, Xing & Huang, Guo-Hua, 2023, The fauna of the family Adelidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Adeloidea) from China, Zootaxa 5348 (1), pp. 1-152 : 43

(42) Nemophora chrysoprasias ( Meyrick 1907)

(Plates V-2, X-9)

Nemotois chrysoprasias Meyrick, 1907: 992 (TL: India, Assam, Khasi Hills; BMNH); Meyrick 1912a: 8; Meyrick 1912b: 7, fig. 1; Clarke, 1955: 89.

Nematois [sic!] chrysoprasias: Showalter 1929: 72 , pl. XV, fig. 14 (color photograph of a male).

Nemophora chrysoprasias: Das & Singh 2022: 264 ; Hirowatari et al. 2022: figs. 1–4 ( China, redescription); Kozlov 2023c: 30, figs. 37, 38, 90, 122, 153 ( India, Myanmar).

Diagnosis. This species is unique by the special forewing pattern with ground metallic green and orange central fascia, and by the hindwing almost completely translucent white.

Specimens examined. [Yunnan] 1♁ 1♀, Bailongtan (2,350 m), Midu County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, 2016.VII.23, G.H. Huang & M. Wang leg.; 1♀, Weixi Lisu Autonomous County (2,150 m), Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 2018.VII.24, S.F. Mo & Z.P. Miao leg. ( HUNAU) .

Distribution. China (Yunnan); India, Myanmar.

Remarks. This species has not been reported for more than a century since it was originally described in Assam, India. Recently, Hirowatari et al. (2022) newly reported the distribution of this species from Yunnan, China, and discussed its phylogenetic position with other related species. This species is more closely related to N. rubrofascia judging from the following characters: the male genitalia has a very long vinculum and a petal-like lamellate process of phallus apically; the female genitalia has a cup-like sclerotization of vestibulum, a pair of sclerites near the guy wire attachment point, and bifurcate membrane of the median part dorsally; the sexual dimorphism in the wing markings is absent; and the smooth basal part of the antenna lacks raised scales. In addition, the pairwise distances and phylogenetic tree based on COI sequences also support a close relationship between N. chrysoprasisa and N. rubrofascia ( Hirowatari et al. 2022) .

This species was obsevered swarming over small bushes on a side of trail in the forest ( Kozlov 2023c).