Stenoptilia grisescens Schawerda, 1933

Urso, Marchese, Giovanni & Nel, Jacques, 2008, A survey of Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) of North-Eastern Sicily with new distributional records, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (1), pp. 197-208 : 202

Stenoptilia grisescens Schawerda, 1933

( Figs. 8-9 )

Material examined. DISTRICT OF MT. ETNA: Mount S. Leo (Belpasso), 1,000 m a.s.l., VB9687, 15.vi.2005, 1 ♀ ; 21.vi.2004, 1 ♀ ; 23.vi.2004, 2 JJ; 22.vii.2004, 3 JJ 2 ♀♀; 27.vii.2005, 1 J; 17.viii.2004, 1 J 1 ♀; Piano delle Ginestre (Bronte), 1,000 m a.s.l., VB8787, 8.ix.2005, 1 ♀ ; Rifugio Galvarina (Biancavilla), 1,878 m a.s.l., VB9766, 28.vi.2004, 1 ♀ ; 19.vii.2004, 1 ♀. DISTRICT OF PELORITANI MTS.: Mouth of the Stream Agrò (S. Alessio Siculo), 1 m a.s.l., WB3918 , 2.viii.2004, 1 ♀. DISTRICT OF NEBRODI MTS.: Stream Pellera (Roccella Valdemone), 740 m a.s.l., WC0010, 17.vii.2004, 1 J ; 6.viii.2004, 1 ♀ ( GMCI) .

Biology. Adults: wingspan 16-20 mm. Adults fly from July to September; in north-eastern Sicily we observed adults from June to September. It flies among grass at dusk; our specimens were captured at light during the night. Larval host plant: probably monophagous on Misopates orontium (L.) Rafin. ( Scrophulariaceae ).

Range in Italy. Piedmont, Latium; Sardinia; Sicily (new record) .

Distribution. Mediterranean-Macaronesian.

Remark. In the Italian checklist ( ARENBERGER et al. 1995), S. grisescens is indicated as a synonym of S. arida ( Zeller, 1847) (type locality: Messina); the latter species is widespread in the entire peninsula and on the islands. BIGOT & PICARD (2002) considered S. grisescens as a valid species and gave a key to identify the species belonging to the grisescens group ( S. grisescens , S. mariaeluisae Bigot & Picard, 2002 , S. inopinata Bigot & Picard, 2002 , and S. gallobritannidactyla Gibeaux, 1985 ); the key is based on the characters of the male uncus and the ostium bursae and post-vaginal lamella of females. However, GIELIS (2003) still indicated S. grisescens as a synonym of S. arida . ARENBERGER (2005) agreed with BIGOT & PICARD (2002) in considering S. grisescens a valid species, and confirmed its presence in Italy in Piedmont, Latium, and Sardinia. TREMATERRA et al. (2006) reported S. grisescens from Molise and considered it by mistake as a new record for Italy. ARENBERGER (2005) confirmed the presence of S. arida in Latium, Liguria and Sicily. However, most of the records of S. arida from Italy should be verified. Our data demonstrate the presence of S. grisescens in Sicily; the characters of the genitalia for both males and females are as described by NEL (2003) and ARENBERGER (2005).

Figures

Figs. 8-13. Stenoptilia grisescens Schawerda, 1933, male. 8 – body, dorsal view; 9 – genitalia. Stenoptilia mariaeluisae Bigot & Picard, 2002, male. 10 – body, dorsal view; 11 – genitalia. Stenoptilia pelidnodactyla (Stein, 1837), male. 12 – body, dorsal view; 13 – genitalia. Abbreviations: a – anellus; u – uncus; v – valve.