Mesophleps ioloncha ( Meyrick, 1905 )

Li, Houhun & Sattler, Klaus, 2012, A taxonomic revision of the genus Mesophleps Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) 3373, Zootaxa 3373, pp. 1-82 : 24-25

Mesophleps ioloncha ( Meyrick, 1905) sp. rev.

( Figs 3, 27, 61, 90, 120)

Paraspistes ioloncha Meyrick, 1905 , J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 16: 600. LECTOTYPE ♂, SRI LANKA (‘CEYLON’): Central Province, Peradeniya, ex pods of Crotalaria , em. viii.1903 (Green) (slide no. 30885; BMNH), here designated [examined]. [Incorrectly synonymized with B. palpigera by Busck 1914: 10.]

Stiphrostola longinqua Meyrick, 1923 , Exot. Microlepid. 3: 25. Holotype ♂, INDIA: Assam, Gauhati , iv.1918 (Fletcher) (slide no. 8422, Clarke) (BMNH). Syn. nov.

Brachyacma trychota Meyrick, 1929 , Exot. Microlepid. 3: 510. Holotype ♀ [not ♂], INDIA: Karnataka, N Kodagu (‘ N Coorg’), Dibidi, 23.iii.1916 (Maxwell) (slide no. 8546, Clarke; BMNH) [examined]. Syn. nov.

Paraspistes palpigera (Walsingham) ; Fletcher 1921: 88 (partim) [Misidentification.]

Brachyacma palpigera (Walsingham) ; Meyrick, 1935: 72 [Misidentification.]; Diakonoff [1968]: 157 (partim), fig. 216 [Misidentification.].

Stiphrostola longinqua Meyrick ; Clarke 1969b: 395, pl. 197, figs 1–1c.

♂, ♀. Wingspan 8.5–17.5 mm. Labial palpus segment 2 dark brown, dorsally with more or less strongly raised scale tuft, distally with white ring; segment 3 about two-thirds length of 2, white, apex sometimes dark. Antenna with alternating greyish white and brown rings. Forewing yellowish white to ochreous brown, dorsum darker greyish brown; costa basally with delicate brown edge, distal three-fifths with slightly wider brown stripe interrupted by faint, light, oblique line running from distal fifth towards termen; black spots variously developed, sometimes indistinct, small or absent; termen with two to three black spots near apex.

Genitalia ♂ ( Fig. 61). Uncus variable, sub-rectangular to oval, widest in distal half, caudal margin almost straight to rounded; gnathos hooks slender, about two-thirds to three-quarters length of uncus; valva narrow, distally about twice width at base; tegumen relatively narrow; downturned distal part of vinculum about two-thirds its total length, anterior margin nearly straight, sclerotized posterior margin relatively broad, concave, medially with distinct gap; phallus short, basal two-thirds bulbous, distal third abruptly narrowed, straight.

Genitalia ♀ ( Figs 90, 120). Dorso-posterior margin of segment VIII weakly convex; apophyses anteriores about one-half length of apophyses posteriores; subostial plate trapezoid to sub-rectangular with rounded posterior corners, caudal margin slightly concave at ostium bursae, anterior margin gently curved; sclerotized antrum tubular, slightly exceeding transverse anterior margin of subostial plate; ductus bursae thin, about twice length of apophyses anteriores, entering corpus bursae postero-laterally; corpus bursae elliptical to broadly oval, about length of ductus bursae, anteriorly barely broader than posteriorly; ductus seminalis very thin, from cervix bursae.

Remarks. P. ioloncha was described from four specimens from Sri Lanka, sex not specified, bred in July from larvae feeding in the pods of Crotalaria sp. Meyrick never marked any type-specimens retained in his own collection and, whenever synonymizing a species, merely amalgamated the two series under the senior name whilst discarding the junior name label. Thus it can be difficult to identify the type-material of a junior synonym. In the case of ioloncha four likely specimens, one male and three females, were found in coll. Meyrick; however, two of them are dated August, rather than July. Such slight discrepancies with regard to the date, and sometimes the sex of the specimens concerned ( Clarke 1955: 14), are not uncommon in Meyrick’s publications. We accept these specimens as being the original syntypes and designate the only male as the lectotype. S. longinqua and B. trychota are merely small specimens of M. ioloncha .

In view of considerable variation it is not easily possible to distinguish ioloncha from palpigera and some other members of the palpigera -group on external characters alone. The male genitalia are very similar to those of palpigera but differ in the usually more ovoid rather than sub-rectangular uncus. In the female the dorso-posterior margin of segment VIII is gently rather than distinctly convex and the sclerotized antrum is tubular rather than funnel-shaped and anteriorly exceeds the transverse edge of the subostial plate. As far as known, palpigera is restricted to Africa, and its range does not overlap with that of ioloncha .

The two Thai specimens from Kanchanaburi are included here provisionally. Both are of the same size but in the male segment 3 of the labial palpus is distinctly shorter than in the female and the costa is brown rather than grey brown as in the female. Whilst the female genitalia are clearly those of ioloncha , the male has an almost circular uncus resembling that of epiochra but differs from that species in the long slender gnathos hooks.

More than three hundred specimens were collected in Shaanxi Province and a few other places in China, where the distributions of ioloncha and sublutiana overlap. Although it is not always easy to separate the two species, due to variation in characters such as the labial palpus and the forewing, ioloncha can be distinguished from sublutiana by the broader elongate-ovate forewing with a more evenly convex costa, the hind wing with moderately concave termen beneath the apex and, in the male genitalia, the uncus with usually rounded caudal margin. In sublutiana both fore- and hind wings are narrower, the distal half of the forewing is usually more pointed and the costa tends to be weakly concave; the hind wing termen is more deeply concave beneath the sharply produced apex and, in the male genitalia, the uncus is caudally truncated to weakly concave medially. The female genitalia of both species are variable.

Biology. Host-plants: Tephrosia candida , T. purpurea , Crotalaria juncea (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae ). The larva feeds in the pods.

Distribution. India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China (Anhui, Gansu, Henan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang; Taiwan), Indonesia, Solomon Islands. Also in the Philippines ( Diakonoff [1968]: 157, fig. 216).

Material examined (219 ♂♂, 188 ♀♀, including 20 ♂♂, 23 ♀♀ genitalia preparations)

India: 1 ♂, Gujarat, Mehmadabad, 18.xi.1927 (Maxwell) ; 4 ♀♀, Karnataka, N Kodagu (‘Coorg’), Dibidi, 10.xii.1906, 12.ii.1912, x.1910 (Newcome) ; 1 ♀, holotype of B. trychota (as above); 1 ♂, Dharwar, Hebli, 24.i.1916 (Maxwell); 1 ♀, Dharwar, Devikop, 19.v.1916 (Maxwell); 1 ♀, Tamil Nadu, Madurai, ex Tephrosia purpurea (‘Kolingi’) ; 4 ♂♂, Assam, Naga Hills, Golaghat, 1890 ; 1 ♂, holotype of S. longinqua (as above). Sri Lanka (‘Ceylon’): 1 ♂, lectotype of P. ioloncha (as above) ; 3 ♀♀, paralectotypes of P. ioloncha , same data as lectotype, vii, viii.1903 (Green) ; 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Puttalam, vii, x–xii.1904 (Pole); 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Nawalapitiya , 2500 ft, 1889 (Pole) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, Peradeniya , x.1912 (unspecified) (1 ♂, 1 ♀, NKUM) ; 2 ♀♀, Veyangoda, ex Tephrosia pods, 24.v.1923 (Hutson); 1 ♀, Colombo, 17.xii.1906 ( BF) ; 1 ♂, Kandy , 1600 ft, 189? (Pole) ; 1 ♂, Pundaloya, 3500–4500 ft, iii.1890 (Green). Thailand: 1 ♂, Chaiyapumh District , Phu Khieo, 2–4.v.1986 (Allen) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Kanchanaburi, Kwai Yai River , 5.i.1987 (Allen) . Indonesia: 2 ♂♂, Sulawesi (‘Celebes’), Minahassa, Tomohon, 2, 19.vii.1954 (Alston) ; 1 ♂, Sulawesi (‘Celebes’), Bontain , 3000–6000 ft, 1896 (Doherty) ; 1 ♂, Seram, Melinari, 4 km S of Wahai , 30 m, coconut, pasture, scrub & gardens, viii–ix.1987 (Holloway, Jones et al.) ; 1 ♀, Java, Telawa, vii.1933 (Kalshoven) ; 1 ♂, Java, Buitenzorg, ex Crotalaria juncea , 12.xi.1936 (Tjoa) ; 1 ♀, Pematang Siantar, Mardjandi Estate, 2500 ft, ex Larva on seeds (pod) of Tephrosia candida , 2.i.1931 (Nel); 1 ♂, Liwa, vii–viii.1890 (Doherty). China: 1 ♂, Zhejiang Province, Mt Tianmu (‘Tien Mu Shan’), 5200 ft, ix.1932 (Caradja [? Höne]) ; 155 ♂♂, 129 ♀♀, Shaanxi Province, Yangling , 450 m, 21.v.1985 – 24.ix.1985, 26.v.1986 – 17.viii.1986, 17.vi.1987 – 23.viii.1987; 3.vii.1993 – 20.viii.1993 (Houhun Li et al.) ( NKUM) ; 9 ♂♂, 18 ♀♀, Shaanxi Province, Yangxian , 450–680 m, 16–17.v.1995 (Hongjian Wang) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♂, Shaanxi Province, Zhouzhi County, Louguantai , 520 m, 12.v.1995 (Aisihaer Maimaiti) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♀, Shaanxi Province, Danfeng, Teiyupu , 680 m, 27.v.1994 (Jin Zhou) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♀, Gansu Province, Kangxian County, Douba , 1200 m, 4.vi.1995 (Aisihaer Maimaiti) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♂, 6 ♀♀, Anhui Province, Yuexi County, Wenquan, 2–22.viii.1995 (Xiangfu Hu) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♀, Henan Province, Tongbai County, Shuiliandong , 300 m, 24.v.2000 (Haili Yu) ( NKUM) ; 1 ♂, Taiwan (‘Formosa’), Heito, 21.viii.1933 (Issiki). Solomon Islands: 19 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀, Guadalcanal Island, Honiara 8–18.ix, 4–10.x, 1–5.xi, 10–23.xii.1953, 6–12.i.1954 (Bradley) ; 2 ♂♂, Ternate, 10.vii.1954 (Alston).