Nemophora cassiterites ( Meyrick, 1907 )

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2023, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) of India and Sri Lanka, Zootaxa 5300 (1), pp. 1-81 : 22

Nemophora cassiterites ( Meyrick, 1907)

( Figs. 21, 22 , 81 )

Nemotois cassiterites: Meyrick 1907: 991 .

Lectotype ♁ (designated by Kozlov 1995): India, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills (approx. 25 o 35′ N, 91 o 36′ E); labelled: 8 mm circle with violet border, print ‘Lecto-│ type’; 5 × 10 mm, print + black ink ‘Khasi Hills │ Assam. │.8.1906’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ cassiterites │ Meyr. 1/13│ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’; 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ Lectotype ♁ │ Nemotois cassiterites │ Meyrick, 1907 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (NHM) [examined]. Paralectotypes. 2 ♁ 1 ♀, labelled: 8 mm circle with blue border, print ‘Para-│ lecto-│type’; 5 × 10 mm, print + black ink ‘Khasi Hills │ Assam. │.8.1906’; 13 × 16 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ cassiterites │ Meyr. x/13│ E. Meyrick det. │ in Meyrick Coll.’ [males: x= 5, 9; female: x= 6]; 6 × 13 mm, print ‘Meyrick Coll. │ B. M. 1938–290’. 5 ♁, all labels as in previous paralectotypes, except the date ‘.7.1906’ [x= 3, 4, 7, 10, 11]. 2 ♁, all labels as in previous paralectotype, except the date ‘.10.1906’ [x= 2, 8]. One of paralectotypes bears the label: 8 × 13 mm, print ‘B. M. │ Genitalia slide │ No. 27804’. All paralectotypes bear the label: 8 × 18 mm, print ‘ Paralectotype ♁ [or ♀]│ Nemotois cassiterites │ Meyrick, 1907 │ teste M. Kozlov, 1994’ (all in NHM) [examined].

Nemotois cassiterites: Meyrick 1907: 990, 1912a: 7 , fig. 3 (male, external appearance, in colour), 1912b: 9, 1922: 537; Clarke 1955: 75.

Nemophora cassiterites: Diakonoff 1951: 173 ; Kozlov 1995: 468‒469, figs. 5‒6, 12, 14, 17, 30‒34; Das & Singh 2022: 264 .

Other material. India. Meghalaya. 33 ♁ 1 ♀, Cherrapunji ( NHM) ; 19 ♁ 4 ♀, ibid., viii‒x.1894 (Doncaster) (all in NHM) ; 2 ♁, ibid.; 2 ♁, Khasi Hills (all in USNM) ; 4 ♁, Shillong, 9‒17.viii.1928 (Fletcher); 1 ♀, ibid., 16.viii.1927 (Fletcher) (all in NHM) ; 1 ♀, ibid., ix‒x.1918 (Fletcher) ( MINGA) ; 1 ♁, ibid., 1650 m, 16.viii.1927 (Fletcher) ( USNM) ; 1 ♁, ibid., 1500 m, 23.viii.1927 (Fletcher) ( MINGA) . Assam. 3 ♁ 1 ♀, Golaghat, 1890 (Doherty) ( NHM) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora cassiterites belongs to the askoldella species-group (defined by Kozlov 1995); it differs from N. chionites ( Figs. 19, 20 ) by short PLB (slightly shorter than the vertical eye diameter) and from N. griseella ( Figs. 23, 24 ) and N. ischnodesma ( Figs. 25, 26 ) by the light base of the hindwing and by the silver-grey triangular costal spot adjacent to the outer border of the forewing fascia.

Description ( Figs. 21, 22 , 81 ): see Kozlov (1995).

Distribution. India (Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand). The latter record is based on a photograph (https:// www.inaturalist.org/observations/134009814).

Figures

FIGURES 17–24. Adults of Nemophora spp. 17, N. augantha (Meyrick, 1907), male, lectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 18, ditto, female, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 19, N. chionites (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 20, ditto, female, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 21, N. cassiterites (Meyrick, 1907), male, paralectotype, from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India; 22, ditto, female, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 23, N. griseella (Walsingham, 1880), male, from Shillong, Meghalaya, India; 24, ditto, female, holotype of Nemotois tricrates Meyrick, 1922, from Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India. Scale: 2 mm.

FIGURES 69–92. Forewing pattern of Nemophora spp. 69, N. sporodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 70, N. phryganeella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 71, N. seraphias (Meyrick, 1907); 72, N. engraptes (Meyrick, 1907), typical form; 73, N. ornamentella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 74, N. fluorites (Meyrick, 1907); 75, N. manipurella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 76, N. mediseorsa Sun et Li, 2023; 77, N. tenuitella Kozlov, sp. nov.; 78, N. assamensis Kozlov, 1997; 79, N. augantha (Meyrick, 1907); 80, N. chionites (Meyrick, 1907); 81, N. cassiterites (Meyrick, 1907); 82, N. griseella (Walsingham, 1880); 83, N. ischnodesma (Meyrick, 1928); 84, N. asterodoxa (Meyrick, 1928); 85, N. chalcomis (Meyrick, 1907); 86, N. phoenicites (Meyrick, 1907); 87, N. atkinsonii (Moore, 1887); 88, N. gemmella (Walsingham, 1880); 89, N. neurias (Meyrick, 1922); 90, N. chrysoprasias (Meyrick, 1907); 91, N. indica (Walker, 1863); 92, N. ceylonella Kozlov, sp. nov. Scale 2 mm.

FIGURES 25–32. Adults of Nemophora spp. 25, N. ischnodesma (Meyrick, 1928), male, from Pidaung, Myanmar; 26, ditto, female, holotype, from Guwahati,Assam, India; 27, N. asterodoxa (Meyrick, 1928), male, holotype, from Somwarpet, Karnataka, India; 28, N. chalcomis (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Yala, Sri Lanka; 29, ditto, female, from Hambantota, Sri Lanka; 30, N. phoenicites (Meyrick, 1907), male, from Pune, Maharashtra, India; 31, ditto, female, from Pune, Maharashtra, India; 32, N. atkinsonii (Moore, 1887), male, holotype, from Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Scale: 2 mm.