Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798

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 : 17-18

3. Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798

Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798: 499 . Type species: Phalaena (Tinea) degeerella Linnaeus, 1758: 540 , by subsequent designation by Hampson, 1918: 388.

Nemotois Ḩbner, [1825] 1826: 416. Type species: Tinea schiffermillerella [Denis & Schifferm̧ller], 1775: 142, by subsequent designation by Fletcher, 1929: 146.

Nematois [sic!] Chambers, 1876: 103.

Elasmion Ḩbner, [1806, 1808], 1822: 6. Type species: Elasmion ligulella Ḩbner, [1808]: 6, nomen nudum; subsequently made nomenclaturally available as Dichomeris ligulella Ḩbner, 1818: 25, pl. [25], figs. 143, 144. Included in a work rejected for nomenclatural purposes by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1966: 214. Placed on the Official index of rejected and invalid generic names in zoology as name no. 1836.

Epityphia Ḩbner, [1825]1826: 416, Type species: Epityphia latreillella Fabricius.

Eutyphia Ḩbner, [1825]1826: 416, Type species: Nemotois degeerella Linnaeus.

Nematopogon Zeller, 1839: 185 , Type species: Nematopogon schwarziella Zeller.

Nemotophora Agassiz, 1847 nec Gry., 1840; Agassiz, 1864: 46, 247 (emend. Nemophora Hoffmannsegg ).

Ucetia Walker, 1866: 1820 , Type species: Ucetia bifasciella Walker.

Trichofrons Amsel, 1937: 134 , Type species: Adela pantherella Guenée, 1849: 409 , p. 4, fig. 11, by original designation.

Adela auctorum , partim (nec Latreille, 1802).

Diagnosis. The head is rough on vertex; the face is smooth. The antennae are long, about 2–3 × forewing length in male and more than 1.5 × in female, usually thickened with raised scales at the base; the 2–7 of flagellum usually both have a posteriorly projecting simple pecten. The labial palpus is 3-segmented, short to moderate in length, with dense raised hairs. The maxillary palpus is rudimentary. The tibiae of the forelegs have epiphysis apically; The hind tibiae are covered with dense hairs. The R 3 and R 4 of hindwing are usually stalked, approximate, or free. Rs and M 1 of the hindwing are usually stalked.

Remarks. The genus Nemophora consists of about 180 known species and more than 120 undescribed species ( Kozlov 2020, 2023c; Liao et al. 2021; Sun et al. 2022, 2023). The genus is mainly distributed in Eurasia and has very high species diversity in Southeast Asia ( Kozlov 2016b). Although some Nemophora species have been taxonomically revised ( Kozlov 1995; Kozlov & Robinson 1996a), many species still have taxonomic problems with their generic status. For example, Adela ommatella Caradja, 1920 shares the same diagnosis as the N. sichuana species group, and A. suavis Caradja, 1921 is confirmed as a synonym of N. fluorites in this paper (see below). Thus, this genus requires more comprehensive taxonomic revision.

Here, we provided 91 Nemophora species from China, of which 24 were described as new species and the other nine as new records in China.

3.1 Nemophora albiantennella species group

Diagnosis. This species group can be distinguished by the following characters: the forewing color is uniform without fasciae, usually yellowish green, bronze, or copper with bright metallic luster; the completely fused base of valva; the suspensorium is very short, not reaching the base of valva; and the apex of aedeagus consists of dorsal and ventral lobes.

Remarks. Three species belong to the albiantennella species group. Among them, N. insulariella is distributed in Sakhalin, Russia ( Kozlov 1997a), and N. albiantennella is a widespread species from northern China to the Russian Far East. In addition, N. pseudalbiantennella sp. nov. is a new and endemic species in Shaanxi Province, China.

Key to species of the albiantennella group based on external morphology

1 Tibiae of leg yellowish to brown; abdomen uniformly brown to dark brown.......................... N. albiantennella

- Tibiae of leg black; abdomen most yellowish to brown with black apex.................. N. pseudalbiantennella sp. nov.

Key to species of the albiantennella group based on male genitalia

1 Valva triangular, with straight lateral margins; suspensorium very small, distinctly far away from posterior margin of vinculum............................................................................... N. albiantennella

- Valva nearly trapezoid, lateral margins concave basally; suspensorium relatively large, close to posterior margin of vinculum........................................................................... N. pseudalbiantennella sp. nov.