Bryotropha plantariella ( Tengström, 1848 ), Tengstrom, 1848

Rutten, Twan & Karsholt, Ole, 2004, (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), Zootaxa 740, pp. 1-42 : 7-8

Bryotropha plantariella ( Tengström, 1848)

(figs. 3–5, 20, 22, 36, 44, 51–54, 75)

Gelechia plantariella Tengström, 1848: 128 . Gelechia cinerosella Tengström, 1848: 129 . Gelechia serratulella Tengström, 1848: 128 . Bryotropha brevipalpella Rebel, 1893: 47 .

Diagnosis. Small, almost uniformly ochreous gray to brown species with ochreous labial palpus and (in the males) distinct stigmata.

Description. Adult (figs. 3–5). Sexual dimorphism moderately pronounced. Male: Wingspan 11–13 mm. Labial palpus pale to bright ochreous on the inner side, weakly to heavily suffused brown on the outer side; segment 3 as long as segment 2. Antenna dark brown, indistinctly ringed with ochre. Head with frons ochreous, vertex somewhat darker. Thorax and tegula concolorous with forewing. Forewing dark ochreous gray to dark brown; plical and discal stigmata usually distinct, especially the second plical, which is often well developed; first discal beyond second plical; costal and tornal patches pale ochreous, fused to form a very faint, angulated fascia; termen indistinctly lined with blackish scales; cilia with one or more lines. Hindwing grayish brown; cilia concolorous with yellowish base.

Female. Slightly smaller and darker than the male, having both pairs of wings more slender and more pointed.

Variation. The subapical area on the forewing may be darkened due to suffusion with dark brown scales.

Similar species. Males can be separated from B. similis by the brownish color (blackish in B. similis ) and the ochreous palpus (white, speckled fuscous in B. similis ). In B. hodgesi the forewing are not as unicolorous as in B. plantariella , often with a distinct fascia and a darkened subapical area but with very indistinct roundish stigmata. In B. plantariella the stigmata are nearly always well developed, the second plical being particularly prominent. The dark, almost unicolorous females resemble B. similis but can be recognized by the much more pointed forewing and the ochreous colored labial palpus.

Male genitalia (figs. 20, 21, 36, 51–54). Uncus subrectangular. Socius with several setae. Gnathos slender and very long, with large gradual bend, base with microtrichia. Thornshield triangular, without spikes. Vinculum occasionally with small patch of microtrichia. The very long and slender gnathos with its base set with microtrichia, is characteristic.

Female genitalia (fig. 44). Segment VIII with small triangular lamella postvaginalis and short, but stout, microtrichia. Ventral groove ends at about 3/5, and is followed by a narrow indentation. Distal margin of segment VIII dorsally weakly concave. Signum very characteristic; rectangular with two transverse folds; distal and proximal sections, which are set with stout spikes, folded behind the smooth middle section. Not to be confused with any other species.

The early stages are unknown. In Europe ( Denmark) a few specimens were bred from Sphagnum sp. ( Buhl et al. 1992). Adults were collected from early July to early August with a single specimen in late May, most likely in one generation.

Distribution (fig. 75).Widespread but local. In Canada B. plantariella occurs in lowland regions, in the USA it becomes restricted to higher altitudes of up to 2700 m. In the Palaearctic known from Scandinavia in the west to the far east of Russia ( Omelko 1999: 170) in the east.

Material examined: 97 ɗ, 9 Ψ, including 32 male and 5 female genitalia preparations.