Thubana leucosphena Meyrick, 1931

Yang, Linlin, Zhu, Yanmei & Li, Houhun, 2010, Review of the genus Thubana Walker (Lepidoptera, Lecithoceridae) from China, with description of one new species, ZooKeys 53, pp. 33-44 : 38-39

Thubana leucosphena Meyrick, 1931 Figs 1116

Thubana leucosphena Meyrick, 1931: 69; Clarke, 1965: 231; Gozmány, 1978: 235; Wu, 1997: 84; Park, 2003: 143.

Thubana microcera Gozmány, 1978: 236, syn. n.

Material examined.

China, Zhejiang Province: 13 ♂, Wuyanling, Taishun (27°33'N; 119°42'E),790 m, 2-3.VIII.2007, coll. Qing Jin; 2 ♂, 2 ♀, same locality, 680 m, 930 m, 28-31.VII.2005, Yunli Xiao; 4 ♂, 2 ♀, Tianmushan (30°26'N; 119°34'E), Lin’an, 350 m, 7-8.VIII.2007, coll. Qin Jin, 10 ♂, 800 m, 19.VIII.1999, coll. Houhun Li et al., 5 ♂, 2 ♀, 500 m, 16.VIII.1999, coll. Houhun Li et al.; 1 ♂, Qingliangfeng (30°07'N; 118°51'E), Lin’an, 900 m, 12.VIII.2005, coll. Yunli Xiao. Anhui Province: 4 ♂, Mozitan, Huoshuan (31°24'N; 116°19'E), 12.VIII.2004, coll. Jiasheng Xu & Jialiang Zhang; 5 ♂, Huangshan (29°43'N; 118°18'E), 6-7.VIII.2004, coll. Jiasheng Xu and Jialiang Zhang; 6 ♂, Jiuhuashan (30°23'N; 117°48'E), 8-9.VIII.2004, coll. Jiasheng Xu & Jialiang Zhang. Fujian Province: 2 ♂, Wuyishan (26°54'N; 116°42'E), 740 m, 19-24.V.2004, coll. Haili Yu; 1 ♂, Qingyunshan, Yongtai (25°52'N; 118°57'E), 550 m, 18.IX.2002, coll. Xinpu Wang. Jiangxi Province: 4 ♂, Xiaoxidong, (26°57'N; 114°17'E), 1,3-4.VII.1978; 2 ♂, Tonggu (28°32'N; 114°22'E), 28.VII.1982, 10.V.1983; 3 ♀, Ciping (26°34'N; 114°10'E), 13.VII.1978; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Xiashan, Yichun (27°47'N; 114°23'E), 7,30.VII.1980; Jinpenshan (29°20'N; 117°00'E), 2 ♂, 18-19.VIII.2006, coll. Jiasheng Xu & Weichun Li. Henan Province: 3 ♂, 1 ♀, Xiaguan, Neixiang (33°02'N; 111°50'E), 650 m, 10,12.VII.1998, coll. Houhun Li; 1 ♀, Huangshi’an (33°40'N; 111°37'E), Xixia, 890 m, 19.VII.1998, coll. Houhun Li. Hunan Province: 1 ♂, Zhangjiajie (29°49'N; 110°26'E), 650 m, 7.VIII.2001, coll. Houhun Li & Xinpu Wang. Hubei Province: 3 ♂, 2 ♀, Maoba (30°02'N; 109°02'E), Lichuan, 700 m, 28-29.VII.2007, coll. Houhun Li et al. Guizhou Province: 1 ♂, Jiangkou (27°41'N; 108°50'E), 600 m, 27.VII.2001, coll. Houhun Li & Xinpu Wang.

Diagnosis.

This species is characterized by the following characters: male genitalia (Fig. 15) with juxta having a lobulate projection at middle near anterior margin and two large thornlike processes on caudal margin, the posterolateral lobes inconspicuous (Fig. 15b-d), the aedeagus shorter than valva, the cornuti consisting of a long slender band, a bundle of brushlike spines, a dentate plate, and sometimes with a few dispersed deciduous spicules (Fig. 15a); female genitalia (Fig. 16) with apophysis anterioris about 1/2 length of apophysis posterioris, the caudal margin of 8th sternite slightly emarginate at middle, the ductus bursae long, twisted, with spicules on inner surface (Fig. 16a), and the signum spinulose, semiovate, slightly emarginate at upper margin. Thubana leucosphena is very close to Thubana felinaurita , but differs as noted in the description of the latter.

Distribution.

China (Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Zhejiang).

Discussion.

This species was described by Meyrick (1931) based on three specimens collected from Guanxian of Sichuan Province in China: "two males" and "a third example". Clarke (1965) rectified the "two males" as Oecophoridae and chose the "third example", a female, as the lectotype of Thubana leucosphena . Meyrick (1935) mentioned the occurrence of this species in Tianmushan of Zhejiang Province. Gozmány (1978) described Thubana microcera on the basis of a male specimen collected from Tianmushan and noticed that itcould be distinguished from Thubana leucosphena by the shape of the costal patch. In this study, however, we noticed that the costal patch varies from triangular to trapezoidal both within male specimens of Thubana microcera (Figs 11-12) and female specimens of Thubana leucosphena (Figs 13-14). We also found that males collected from Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces match with those of Thubana microcera described by Gozmány, females match with those of Thubana leucosphena . Besides, we observed the deciduous spicules from the male aedeagus in the ductus bursae of Thubana leucosphena . What is more, no other species of Thubana were collected in these localities so far. Hence, we treat Thubana microcera as a junior synonymof Thubana leucosphena , and regard the variation of the shape of costal patch from triangular to trapezoidal as intraspecific variation.

Notes.

The previous description did not mention the median projection on posterior margin of the juxta. Though this projection (Fig. 15b) is not present in most individuals, we found it present in some males, either inconspicuous (Fig. 15c) or small but visible (Fig. 15d). We consider this variation as intraspecific because other characters fit well with Thubana leucosphaena .