Rhopalovalva Kuznetzov, 1964

Zhang, Aihuan, Bai, Xia & Li, Houhun, 2017, Descriptions of two new species of Rhopalovalva Kuznetzov, 1964 (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) from China, Zootaxa 4231 (1), pp. 114-118 : 114-115

Rhopalovalva Kuznetzov, 1964

Rhopalovalva Kuznetzov, 1964 , Entomol. Obozr., 43(4): 883. Type species: Eudemis lascivana Christoph, 1881

Remarks. Razowski (1989) proposed two putative autapomorphies for Rhopalovalva : the presence of a hairy lobe situated at the distal end of the sacculus and the presence of a pollex on the cucullus. Based on examination of Chinese species and comparison with characters provided by Razowski (1989), we confirm that the dorsally directed, hairy lobe at the distal end of sacculus is an autapomorphy. However, the presence of a pollex on the cucullus is not a convincing feature because it is absent in some species of Rhopalovalva (i.e., R. connata , sp. nov., R. macrocuculla , sp. nov., R. rhombea Zhang & Li , and R. triangulata Zhang & Li ). Also a pollex on the cucullus is found in Pelochrista Lederder , Gibberifera Obraztzov , and other genera, but there is no evidence that these similar structures represent a synapomorphy.

On the basis of the new species described herein, the definition of Rhopalovalva requires modification: the uncus can be slender, clubbed-shaped, or Y-shaped (occasionally absent); the socii may be fused (i.e., R. connata , sp. nov.) or separate; there is a hairy lobe situated at the distal end of the sacculus; and the cucullus is variable, often with a ventral pollex.

As presently defined, Rhopalovalva is composed of 13 species, including the two described herein, all of which are distributed in the Palaearctic and Oriental regions.