Thiotricha tylephora Meyrick, 1935

Lee, Ga-Eun & Li, Houhun, 2024, A taxonomic review of Thiotricha Meyrick, 1886 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of 84 new species, Zootaxa 5449 (1), pp. 1-222 : 97

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5449.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CAC513A2-D2B4-4E6E-BAB6-CCE6E054680F
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03CC3667-985B-1D1F-FF05-8AADDCA1E1A6
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Thiotricha tylephora Meyrick, 1935
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Thiotricha tylephora Meyrick, 1935 View in CoL

( Figs 14 View FIGURE 14 , 26A View FIGURE 26 , 39A View FIGURE 39 , 55C View FIGURE 55 , 65E, F View FIGURE 65 , 72A View FIGURE 72 )

Thiotricha tylephora Meyrick, 1935 View in CoL , in Caradja & Meyrick: 68; Gaede, 1937: 307; Clarke, 1969: 475; Ivinskis et al., 1984: 41;

Park, 1998: 302; Hua, 2005: 8; Ueda & Fujiwara, 2005: 75; Li & Wang, 2009: 125. TL: China (Zhejiang). TD: NHMUK. Polyhymno tylephora : Park & Ponomarenko, 2006: 277; 2007: 44; Sakamaki, 2013: 47, 296.

Type material ( Figs 65E, F View FIGURE 65 , 72A View FIGURE 72 ). Holotype ♂, CHINA, Tien-Mu-Shan, C. 5,000, xi.1932, leg. Hermann Höne, genitalia slide no. J. F.G.C. 8379 ( NHMUK).

Additional material examined. CHINA: Hubei Province: 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, Qingtaiguan Forest (31.19°N, 115.7°E), 570 m, Luotian County, 2, 3.vii.2014, leg. Wei Guan and Meiqing Yang, genitalia slide nos. LGE15054f, LGE 15055m, LGE 16173m, LGE16174f, LGE17195f GoogleMaps ; Zhejiang Province: 1 ♀, Sanmuping, 800 m, Mt. Tianmu , 19.viii.1999, leg. Houhun Li et al .; 1 ♀, Sanmuping, 1000 m, Mt. Tianmu , 28.vii.2011, leg. Linlin Yang and Na Chen, genitalia slide no. LGE16179 ; 1 ♀, Qianmutian (30.40°N, 119.44°E), Mt. Tianmu , 1320 m, 1.vii.2013, leg. Aihui Yin and Xiuchun Wang, genitalia slide no. LGE16022 GoogleMaps ; 2 ♀♀, Laoan (30.33°N, 119.40°E), 555 m, Mt. Tianmu , 4, 6.vii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Xuemei Hu and Qingyun Wang, genitalia slide no. LGE16178 GoogleMaps ; 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, Qianjiangyuan (30.39°N, 119.49°E), 866 m, Mt. Tianmu , 8−10.vii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Xuemei Hu and Qingyun Wang, genitalia slide nos. LGE 15060m, LGE23028f, LGE 23031m GoogleMaps ; 3 ♀♀, Sanmuping (30.37°N, 119.43°E), 789 m, Mt. Tianmu , 13, 15.vii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Xuemei Hu and Qingyun Wang, genitalia slide no. LGE23030 GoogleMaps ; 1 ♀, Xiguan (30.36°N, 119.48°E), 566 m, Mt. Tianmu , 18.vii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Xuemei Hu and Qingyun Wang GoogleMaps ; 1 ♀, Sanmuping (30.37°N, 119.43°E), 789 m, Mt. Tianmu , 10.viii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Qingyun Wang and Suran Li, genitalia slide no. LGE23029 GoogleMaps ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Qianjiangyuan (30.39°N, 119.49°E), 866 m, Mt. Tianmu , 13, 15.viii.2014, leg. Aihui Yin, Qingyun Wang and Suran Li, genitalia slide nos. LGE 16175m, LGE16177f GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Adult ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ). Wingspan 10.5−17.0 mm. The holotype of T. tylephora has a creamy forewing sprinkled with fuscous scales and marked with longitudinal streaks in the distal 1/3, but there is a great variation in the forewing pattern in other specimens examined. The male genitalia ( Fig. 39A View FIGURE 39 ) are diagnosed by the narrow valva, the large ovate anellus lobe bearing a robust apical bristle and the long aedeagus strongly narrowed distally. In the female genitalia ( Fig. 55C View FIGURE 55 ), the strongly produced posterior margin of tergum VIII and the presence of a long and linear sclerite at the base of ductus bursae are diagnostic.

Distribution. China (Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin, Zhejiang) (Li & Wang 2009), Korea, Japan.

Remarks. In the Chinese specimens, the wing pattern of T. tylephora is extremely variable ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ): some have a large patch at the base of dorsum; some have longitudinal streaks from base to near apex or only in distal half; or the markings are all indistinct. Among them, the individuals with a trapezoidal patch are closely related to T. trapezoidella ( Caradja, 1920) described from Far East Russia. The male genitalia are unknown for T. trapezoidella , but the female genitalia of the lectotype have been illustrated in previous studies ( Park 1998; Park & Ponomarenko 2007). Based on that, there is no difference distinguishing T. trapezoidella from T. tylephora except the size of corpus bursae, which can be variable within a species of Thiotricha . Considering that the male genitalia of the specimens with the trapezoidal patch are nearly identical to those of the holotype of T. tylephora , it is possible that T. tylephora is a junior synonym of T. trapezoidella . However, further examination will be required using both molecular and morphological evidence since a high degree of intraspecific variability in the COI gene has been detected among T. tylephora specimens (LGE personal observation, unpublished data). We identify the Chinese T. tylephora based on examination of specimens collected from the type locality (Mt. Tianmu of Zhejiang Province) and their similarity in male genitalia. Some specimens from the Hubei Province are genetically grouped with the materials from Mt. Tianmu and these were also included in this study.