Nemophora askoldella ( Millière, 1879 )

Liao, Cheng-Qing, Hirowatari, Toshiya, Yagi, Sadahisa, Wang, Min, Wang, Xing & Huang, Guo-Hua, 2023, The fauna of the family Adelidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Adeloidea) from China, Zootaxa 5348 (1), pp. 1-152 : 22

(15) Nemophora askoldella ( Millière, 1879)

(Plates II-4, XIII-2)

Adela askoldella Millière, 1879: 139 (TL: Russia, Primorye; BMNH); Millière 1881: 2, pl. 8, fig. 3; Rebel 1901: 244 (Ussuri); Caradja 1920: 175 (Amur).

Nemotois askoldella: Meyrick 1912b: 7 (E. Siberia) ; Matsumura 1931: 1111. fig. 2331 ( Japan); Matsumura 1932: 122, pl. 4, fig. 6 (list of Japan).

Nemophora askoldella: Inoue 1954: 9 (Primorye, Honshu) ; Okano 1959: 277, pl.183, fig. 12 (Color photo of male) (Primorye, Honshu); Liu 1981: 9, pl.4, fig.18 (color photos) (NE China, E Siberia, Japan); Moriuti 1982 (1): 54, (2): 156, pl.1, fig. 30 (color photo) (Hokkaido, Honshu); Park & Kim 1986: 79, 81, fig.3.1 ( Korea); Heppner 1992: 63 (Taiwan); Kozlov 1995: 469, figs. 7–8, 18, 35–39 (review); Hua 2005: 2 (list of China, in Incurvariidae ); Shao et al. 2008: 550 (Checklist of Taiwan); Hirowatari 2013: 105, fig. 3-07-30,31 ( Japan); Umetsu 2014: 5, fig. 8 ( Japan, Akita Prefecture).

Odela [sic!] irroratella Christoph, 1882: 5 (Amurgebietes) (as junior synonym of askoldella Millière ).

Elasmia purella Caradja, 1920: 175 (unavailable name published as junior synonym of askoldella Millière ).

Nemotois niphites Meyrick, 1938: 28 (TL: China, Yunnan, Lijiang); Hua 2005: 2 (list of China).

Diagnosis. Compared to other species of the askoldella group, N. askoldella has a relatively short labial palpus, which is almost equal to the vertical diameter of the compound eyes, and the forewing transverse central fascia is approximately equal in width.Additionally, this species can also be distinguished by the relatively shorter vinculum, prominent lobe on the medial margin of valva, and lateral margins (viewed ventrally) that are posteriorly almost parallel to the central axis.

Specimens examined. [ Taiwan] 4♁, Guanyun Mountain Villa , 2010.VIII.12, G.H. Huang & S.R. Liao leg. ( HUNAU) .

Distribution. China (Northeast, Yunnan, Hubei, Taiwan); Russia, Japan, Korea.

Remarks. These members of the askoldella group are sometimes misidentified with N. askoledella because of their unique wing pattern. Kozlov (1995) revised this species group and provided a detailed list of misidentifications and synonyms based on the examination and research on many specimens.

Male adults usually swarmed in the broad-leaved forests in the evening or rested at intervals between swarming sessions. Males were also observed feeding on the flowers of Patrinia scabiosaefolia Link. (Valerianaceae) ( Kozlov 1985, 1995). Additionally, Liu (1981) reported that the larvae of this species damaged Apiaceae plants.

One DNA barcode of N. askoldella is generated and this sequence is closest to N. chionites (pairwise distances: 0.043). The phylogenetic tree shows N. askoldella and N. chionites obviously formed into a monophyletic clade, with a high bootstrap value (99%).