Phtheochroa frigidana (Guenée, 1845), Zlatkov & Huemer, 2017

Zlatkov, Boyan & Huemer, Peter, 2017, Allopatric cryptic diversity in the alpine species complex Phtheochroa frigidana s. lat. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 368, pp. 1-25 : 14-18

Phtheochroa frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev.

Figs 1H , 2E , 3E , 4H , 7 A–B, 9, 10; Table 1

Eupoecilia frigidana Guenée, 1845a: 298 .

Cochylis flavidana Guenée, 1845b: 66 .

Aphelia sulphurana Guenée, 1845b: 67 .

Conchylis andorrana Millière, 1865: 167 , pl. 69, figs 4–5.

Hysterosia frigidana – Razowski 1970: 73, pl. 29, fig. 3, pl. 112, fig. 3.

Phtheochroa frigidana – Razowski 1991a: 103.

non Aphelia sulphurosana – Razowski 1970: 73.

Diagnosis

Externally, this species is practically indistinguishable from P. cantabriana sp. nov. The characters of the phallus and vesica easily separate this species from all other members of the group: the phallic process is straight, in contrast to the other species with a curved process; the vesica has a single long dorsal diverticulum, the other species have two diverticula. The paler fore- and hindwing upperside colour distinguishes P. frigidana from P. schawerdae and P. apenninana sp. nov., both with deep yellow forewings and dark grey hindwings.

Material examined

Neotype

ANDORRA: ♂, pinned, with partially spread wings, slightly worn, four labels: // ANDORRA Port de Cabús , 2290 m 1°25′13′′ E, 42°32′45′′ N 16.vii.2012 leg. Huemer TLMF 2012-011 // BC TLMF Lep

08349” [green label] // Gen. prep. ♂ 1/ 16.7.2012 [genitalia slide number] // NEOTYPE Eupoecilia frigidana Guenée, 1845 Zlatkov & Huemer, 2017 des. [red label] // ( TLMF).

Other material

FRANCE: 1 ♂, Ariège, Teilhet, D119 riv. Hers, 26 Jul. 2002, J. Nel leg. ( TLMF) (slide 14258 JN); 1 ♂, Pyrénées Orientales, Formiguères, le Galbe, 1700 m a.s.l., 3 Aug. 1993, J. Nel leg. ( TLMF) (slide 01646 JN); 1 ♂, Pyrénées Orientales, Col de Puymorens, 1950 m a.s.l., 30 Jun. 2003, J. Junnilainen leg. ( JJ).

Redescription

Male ( Fig. 1H )

HEAD. Most scales from frons and vertex missing, remaining white. Labial palps long, pointed anterad, with white scales dorsally and ochreous laterally. Antennae filiform, with creamy scales.

THORAX. Dorsally covered with white scales, ventrally with whitish scales. Tegula whitish, laterally with ochreous scales. Forewing length 8.8–10.2 mm (x =9.6, n=4). Forewing long, narrow, with pointed apex, upperside ground colour creamy, more intense yellowish at base and along proximal half of costa; no pattern recognizable in studied specimens, but a specimen figured in Millière (1865) has rust dorsal blotch and subterminal fascia. Underside dark grey, with scattered white scales, especially in apical area. Cilia whitish, with darker basal line. Hindwing upperside pale grey, underside white, with scattered grey scales. Cilia white.

ABDOMEN. Grey.

GENITALIA ( Fig. 2E ). Curvature of valva prominent. Rest of valva, uncus and socii resembles those of P. schawerdae . Transtilla of neotype ( Fig. 3E ) short and wide at base, narrow and round apically, but in other specimens with angular apical part. Phallus ( Fig. 7 A–B) almost straight, with very large, straight, slender, blunt medioventral process ( Fig. 4H ). Vesica with ovoid part protruded to the right bearing anteroventrally directed cornutus. Long, slender, bent at basal third, anterodorsally directed diverticulum with cornutus emerges from the left dorsal part of vesica. Gonopore located dorsally, at base of diverticulum, with sclerotized plate and collar-like fold expanding laterally. Cornuti unequal, ventral one shorter, thicker and curved, dorsal one long, slender, sharp-tipped and only slightly curved. Acanthae present in small area on dorsal part, near gonopore, and scarcely around attachment areas of cornuti.

Female

A drawing by Razowski (1970: pl. 112, fig. 3) may represent the female genitalia of a specimen of this species from the Pyrenees.

Molecular data ( Table 1 , Fig. 9 )

BIN URI: BOLD:ACA9598. The intraspecific divergence of the barcode region is unknown (n =1). The minimum distance to the nearest neighbour, P. cantabriana sp. nov. is 3.69%.

Ecology

Preimaginal stages and larval host plant are unknown. According to the label data, the moths fly from the middle of July to the beginning of August. Guenée (1846) reported May and June. The habitat of the neotype was alpine meadows above the tree-line, but based on supplementary material this species also occurs at lower altitudes.

Distribution ( Fig. 10 )

Pyrenees. All previous records from other mountains need revision.

Remarks

The erroneous type locality of “ Dalecarlia ” in the original description of P. frigidana is a major hindrance in the interpretation of this taxon. Therefore, in order to maintain the stability of the nomenclature, we have designated a neotype for Eupoecilia frigidana in accordance with past usage of this name for populations from the Pyrenees ( Razowski 1970), with Cochylis flavidana and C. andorrana as junior synonyms ( Razowski 2002).

Figures

Fig. 1. Adults of Phtheochroa spp. A–D. P. schawerdae (Rebel, 1908) comb. nov. A. ♂, Bulgaria, Pirin Mts. B. ♂, Bulgaria, Rila Mts. C. ♀, Bulgaria, Rila Mts. D. ♂, Republic of Macedonia, Korab Mts. – E–F. P. alpinana sp. nov., France, Alpes Maritimes. E. Holotype, ♂. F. Paratype, ♀. – G. P. apenninana sp. nov., holotype, ♂, Italy, Gran Sasso National Park. – H. P. frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev., ♂, neotype of Eupoecilia frigidana, Andorra, Pyrenees. – I–J. P. cantabriana sp. nov., Spain, Picos de Europa National Park. I. Holotype, ♂. J. Paratype, ♂. Scale bar = 5 mm, all to scale.

Fig. 2. Male genitalia (without phalli) of Phtheochroa spp. A–B. P. schawerdae (Rebel, 1908) comb. nov. A. Bulgaria, Rila Mts. B. Republic of Macedonia, Korab Mts. – C. P. alpinana sp. nov., France, Alpes Maritimes, holotype. – D. P. apenninana sp. nov., Italy, Gran Sasso National Park, holotype. – E. P. frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev., Andorra, Pyrenees, neotype of Eupoecilia frigidana. – F. P. cantabriana sp. nov., Spain, Picos de Europa National Park, holotype. Scale bar = 250 µm, all to scale.

Fig. 3. Transtilla of Phtheochroa spp. A–B. P. schawerdae (Rebel, 1908) comb. nov., Bulgaria, Rila Mts. – C. P. alpinana sp. nov., France, Alpes Maritimes, holotype. – D. P. apenninana sp. nov., Italy, Gran Sasso National Park, holotype. – E. P. frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev., Andorra, Pyrenees, neotype of Eupoecilia frigidana. – F. P. cantabriana sp. nov., Spain, Picos de Europa National Park, paratype. Scale bar = 250 µm, all to scale.

Fig. 4. Ventral phallic process of Phtheochroa spp., ventral view. A–C. P. schawerdae (Rebel, 1908) comb. nov. A–B. Bulgaria, Rila Mts. C. Republic of Macedonia, Korab Mts. – D–E. P. alpinana sp. nov., France, Alpes Maritimes. D. Holotype. E. Paratype. – F–G. P. apenninana sp. nov., Italy, Gran Sasso National Park. F. Paratype. G. Holotype. – H. P. frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev., Andorra, Pyrenees, neotype of Eupoecilia frigidana. – I–J. P. cantabriana sp. nov., Spain, Picos de Europa National Park. I. Holotype. J. Paratype. Scale bar = 100 µm, all to scale.

Fig. 7. Phalli with vesica everted of Phtheochroa spp. A–B. P. frigidana (Guenée, 1845) stat. rev., Andorra, Pyrenees, neotype of Eupoecilia frigidana. – C–D. P. cantabriana sp. nov., Spain, Picos de Europa National Park, holotype. A, C: left. B, D: dorsal. Abbreviations as in Figs 5–6. Scale bar = 250 µm.

Fig. 9. Maximum likelihood tree (built with MEGA6) of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode fragments. Values at the nodes are bootstrap support values based on 500 replicates.

Fig. 10. Distribution of the Phtheochroa frigidana s. lat. species complex based on examined material.