Ancylis subarcuana (Douglas, 1847)

Gilligan, Todd, Huemer, Peter & Wiesmair, Benjamin, 2016, Different continents, same species? Resolving the taxonomy of some Holarctic Ancylis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), Zootaxa 4178 (3), pp. 347-370 : 368

Ancylis subarcuana (Douglas, 1847)

Figs. 53–58, 73–74, 86

Anchylopera subarcuana Douglas, 1847 , Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 5: 21. stat.rev.

inornatana [uninomial] Herrich-Schäffer, 1848, Syst. Bearbeitung Schmett. Eur. 4: pl. 43, fig. 206. [nomen nudum] Tortrix (Phoxopteryx) inornatana Herrich-Schäffer, 1851 , Syst. Bearbeitung Schmett. Eur. 4: 287.

Diagnosis. Ancylis subarcuana is distinguished by its grayish forewing and subdued markings. The costal and dorsal halves of the forewing are not contrasting, and the expression of the longitudinal line is obscured at the base and apex of the wing. The longitudinal line is continuous from the base of the wing to the apex or termen in A. geminana , A. christiandiana , and A. diminutana , and the costal and dorsal halves of the forewing are contrasting to nearly two-toned in those species. Some individuals are dark brown with reduced markings (Fig. 58).

Redescription. Forewing. FWL Ƌ 6–8.5 mm (n=15), ♀ 6–8 mm (n=10). The costal half of the wing is pale grayish tan at the costa, becoming brown towards the longitudinal line. The dorsal half of the wing is light brownish gray. The longitudinal line arises from below a dark brown to black mark near A1+2, runs up to the cubitus, down to CuA2 beneath another dark brown to black mark, and then up towards the apex, becoming obscured again before reaching the termen. A small black dash is often present just proximal to where the longitudinal line intersects M1. The male in Fig. 58 from northern Finland is typical of specimens from that region that are dark brown with only a remnant of the longitudinal line. Male genitalia. As described for the group. Female genitalia. As in A. diminutana .

Molecular data. BIN URI: BOLD:AAB3492, BOLDABX6097. The intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is moderate when considering both BINs, with average 0.72% and maximum 2.34% (n=9). Within BIN BOLD:AAB3492 average distance is only 0.19% with maximum 0.76%. The minimum distance of this cluster to the nearest neighbor BIN BOLDABX6097 is 2.25%.

Distribution. Razowski (2001, 2003) reported A. subarcuana as distributed from the United Kingdom through Northern Europe to the Baltic States and parts of central Europe, and according to Sinev (2008) also in the northwestern part of European Russia. We also examined specimens from northern Italy.

Biology. Adults are on the wing in two generations, from April to May and from July to August ( Razowski 2001). The larval host is Salix repens ( Razowski 2003) and, according to Wegner (2015), also Salix aurita . In northern Europe the species prefers dunes, heathland and marshy pinewood, in southern parts it was found in alluvial river zones.

Remarks. Anchylopera subarcuana was described from a single specimen collected on May 12, 1844 near Wimbledon (England, GB). According to Sattler (in litt.) no type material could be found in the collections of the Natural History Museum (London, UK). However, the original description with attached color figure leaves no doubt of the identity.

DNA barcode data ( Fig. 1 ) and consistent differences in wing pattern clearly separate A. subarcuana from A. geminana . Species status is furthermore supported by unique larval characters as described already by Schütze (1931) but largely neglected in subsequent literature (e.g. Bradley et al. 1979). The taxonomic confusion surrounding species in this group is detailed under the A. geminana account.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neighbor-joining tree of COI DNA barcode data obtained from BOLD (K 2 P model). Clusters representing morphologically distinct species are color-coded with the corresponding species name.