Palumbina diplobathra (Meyrick, 1918)

Ga-Eun Lee 1, Houhun Li, Taeman Han & Haechul Park, 2018, A taxonomic review of the genus Palumbina Rondani, 1876 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) from China, with descriptions of twelve new species, Zootaxa 4414 (1), pp. 1-73 : 34

Palumbina diplobathra (Meyrick, 1918)

( Figs 3 , 46, 87, 107)

Thyrsostoma diplobathra Meyrick, 1918: 120 ; Meyrick, 1925: 100; Gaede, 1937: 301; Clarke, 1969: 484. TL: Assam, India. TD: NHMUK.

Thyrsostoma fissilis Meyrick, 1918: 121 ; Clarke, 1969: 484.

Palumbina diplobathra: Sattler, 1982: 25 .

Material examined. CHINA: Yunnan Province: 1 ♂, Menglun Town (21.97°N, 101.22°E), 620 m, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna, 5.viii.2010, leg. Yinghui Sun and Lixia Li, genitalia slide no. LGE16054, DNA voucher no. LGE-G006.

Re-description. Adult (Fig. 87). Wingspan 8.0 mm. Head white. Labial palpus white, stout, segment I black on outer surface, segment II with hair pencil nearly reaching apex of III; segment III fuscous dorsally, as long as segment II and slightly appressed. Antenna with scape white; flagellum white in dorsal half, remaining flagellum black, cilia 1.5 times longer than width. Thorax and tegula white. Forewing ground color fuscous, white at base; markings white: antemedian fascia slender; distal patch at 2/3, rounded or sinuous; subapex with a slender stripe. Hindwing fuscous. Legs as in P. chelophora except mid tibia with two black spots.

Pregenital abdomen (Fig. 46). Coremata about 1/3 length of abdomen, situated externally; sternum VIII triangular.

Male genitalia (Fig. 107). Uncus tongue-shaped, with sparse hairs ventrally. Culcitula present. Gnathos hook moderately long and upcurved, pointed at apex. Tegumen three times longer than uncus, anterior margin deeply concave. Valva short and broad, with costa nearly straight; ventral margin with a bump before middle, broadly convex after middle to distal 1/5, covered with dense hairs, sharply protruded before apex, blunt at apex. Anellus lobe digitate, slightly shorter than 1/2 length of valva; subapical bristle 1/3 length of anellus lobe. Vinculum slender, posterior margin emarginate at middle. Juxta simple, with sparse hairs at middle of inner margin. Saccus slender, slightly shorter than anellus lobe. Aedeagus dilated basally, slender and nearly straight distally, blunt at apex, with interior sclerite reaching apex; base with a slender extension dorsally: its length longer than aedeagus, curved downward crossing subapex of aedeagus in a semicircle, with acute bumps at apex.

Diagnosis. Palumbina diplobathra can be distinguished from its congeners by the male genitalia, especially the base of aedeagus with dorsal extension. The shape of the aedeagus is somewhat similar to that of P. nesoclera , but it is smaller and the dorsal extension is more broadly curved in P. diplobathra . The subtriangular sternum VIII and the externally present coremata are similar to those of the members in the macrodelta -group, but P. diplobathra does not have the process on the vinculum and the aedeagus is also different from them in shape.

Distribution. China (Yunnan), India.

Remarks. This species was described from four male and female specimens from India. Thyrsostoma fissilis collected from the same locality was synonymized with T. diplobathra by Clarke (1969) based on the male genitalia. This species is firstly recorded for China.

Figures

FIGURES 3, 4. Distribution of Chinese Palumbina spp. 3, the macrodelta-group: ●, P. macrodelta (Meyrick), ▲, P. atricha sp. nov., ♥, P. sigmoides sp. nov., unplaced spp.: ■, P. triangularis sp. nov., ♣, P. diplobathra (Meyrick); 4, the nesoclera- group:●, P.nesoclera (Meyrick), ♥, P.acinacea sp. nov., unplaced spp.: ■, P. acuticula sp. nov., ▲, P.spinevalva sp. nov., ♣, P. chelophora (Meyrick).