Bombyx Linnaeus, 1758

Wang, Xing, Wang, Min, Zolotuhin, Vadim V., Hirowatari, Toshiya, Wu, Shipher & Huang, Guo-Hua, 2015, The fauna of the family Bombycidae sensu lato (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea) from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hainan Islands, Zootaxa 3989 (1), pp. 1-138 : 8

I. Bombyx Linnaeus, 1758 ( FIGURES 1–3 )

Bombyx Linnaeus, 1758 , Systema Naturae 1: 495. Type species: Phalaena (Bombyx) mori Linnaeus, 1758 , Systema Naturae, 1: 499, by subsequent designation in Opin. Decl. int. Commn zool. Nom. 1957, 15: 254 (originally proposed as a subgenus of Phalaena Linnaeus, 1758 ).

Bumbyx: Fabricius, 1777 , Genera Insect: 277. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Bombix: Mabille, 1884 , in Rochebrune, Bull. Soc. philomath. Paris, 8 (7): 31. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Theophila Moore, 1862 , Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 1 (4): 315. Type species: Bombyx bengalensis Moore, 1862 , Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 1 (4): 315, by subsequent designation by Kirby, 1892, Syn. Cat. Lepid. Het., 1: 719.

Diagnosis. Easily distinguished based on the following characters: forewing with M1 and Rs on a common stem; outer margin below apex obviously concave; uncus apically bifurcate with rounded lobes; gnathos a broadly rounded-triangular lobe, valva narrow and long.

Distribution. South-East Asia, with one domestic species now distributed worldwide.

Remarks. The genus consists of six species, including the wild relative of the cultivated silkworm, B. mori . Originally proposed as a subgenus of Phalaena Linnaeus, 1758 , in which many species of numerous other families, particularly Noctuidae were included (Nye, 1975), the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature Used its plenary powers to place Bombyx on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology with “Name number 1056” as the zoological number ( Fletcher & Nye, 1982; Beccaloni et al., 2003). Moore (1862) established the genus Theophila with five included species. Fletcher & Nye (1982) synonymized Theophila with Bombyx based on its type species Bombyx bengalensis Moore, 1862 being a junior synonym of B. huttoni Westwood, 1847 ( Beccaloni et al., 2003) . In the present paper, four Bombyx species are recorded from China (Map 1).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Adults of Bombyx spp. A. B. mori, male (from artificial feeding in Guangzhou); B. B. mori, female (from artificial feeding in Guangzhou); C. B. mandarina formosana, male holotype of B. formosana Mats. (Taiwan); D. B. mandarina, male (Sichuan); E. B. lemeepauli, female (Hubei); F. B. lemeepauli, male (Guangxi); G. B. huttoni, male (Guangdong); H. B. huttoni, female (Guangdong).

FIGURE 2. Adults and labels of Bombyx spp. A – B. B. mandarina, male, type (Shanghai); C. B. mandarina formosana, female (Taiwan).

FIGURE 3. Wing venation and genitalia of Bombyx spp. A. B. mori, male (from artificial feeding in Guangzhou); B. B. mori, female (from artificial feeding in Guangzhou); C. B. mori, wing venation (from artificial feeding in Guangzhou); D. B. mandarina, male (Sichuan); E. B. lemeepauli, male (Guangxi); F. B. huttoni, male (Guangdong); G. B. huttoni, female (Guangdong).