Callimorphina Walker, 1865

Macià, Ramon, Mally, Richard, Ylla, Josep, Gastón, Javier & Huertas, Manuel, 2019, Integrative revision of the Iberian species of Coscinia Hübner, [1819] sensu lato and Spiris Hübner, [1819], (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae), Zootaxa 4615 (3), pp. 401-449 : 404

Subtribe Callimorphina Walker , [1865]

Recent authors, such as Dacosta & Weller (2005), Dubatolov (2006), Witt & Ronkay (2011), Vives Moreno (2014) and Zenker et al. (2016), include Coscinia and Spiris in the subtribe Callimorphina Walker , [1865]. However, there are distinct morphological traits, explained below, which perhaps indicate that these genera do not belong in Callimorphina but in another subtribe. This is something that requires a more extensive and detailed study, and is not discussed here. The authors are fully aware that the morphological features described here only apply to a subset of Callimorphina , and that they do not represent a sound diagnosis for the whole subtribe; however, they are valid for the Iberian and Western Europe species.

Morphological differences within the genus Coscinia have led the authors to create the genus Sagarriella Macià, Mally, Ylla, Gastón & Huertas gen. nov. and to restore the genus Lerautia stat. rev. Based on their morphological characteristics, Sagarriella and Lerautia are assigned to the subtribe Callimorphina along with Coscinia and Spiris . Although we have not been able to study the larval stages of Lerautia , given its great similarity in the rest of studied characters, we assume that larval characteristics should not differ significantly.

Diagnosis. Imago. Imagines of Coscinia , Spiris , Sagarriella and Lerautia have elongated and narrow forewings, and antennae that are bipectinate in males and filiform in females. Typical members of Callimorphina have a broader wing shape, and the antennae are filiform in both sexes. The male genitalia of Callimorphina have a sacculus with a prominent process, always separated from the valve to form a sort of bilobed valve. The male genitalia of Coscinia , Spiris , Sagarriella and Lerautia lack a sacculus with similar processes, but always have a characteristic fold in the central part of the valve, which is absent in Callimorphina . The tip of the uncus in Coscinia , Spiris , Sagarriella and Lerautia is usually tubular or slightly pointed, or spatulate; in Callimorphina , the uncus widens subapically and resembles the shape of a bird´s beak.

Larva. The larvae of Coscinia , Spiris and Sagarriella ( Lerautia , larva not studied) have four to five P setae (P = posterior) in the superior area of each hemisphere epicranium of the head capsule. Setae P1 and P2 are common in most Lepidoptera larvae, but the other three seem to be exclusive to these genera. There is no reference to these setae in Gerasimov (1935), Hinton (1946) or Beck (1960), but they are mentioned in Garcia-Barros (1992) for Sagarriella romei . These setae are not present in the species of the subtribe Callimorphina , in which only P1 and P2 are present in Tyria jacobeae ( Linnaeus, 1758) and U. pulchella . In Cymbalophora pudica ( Esper, 1785) , Callimorpha dominula ( Linnaeus, 1758) and Euplagia quadripunctaria ( Poda, 1761), these setae are not distinguished. The immature stages of Coscinia , Spiris and Sagarriella ( Lerautia , larva not studied) are very similar, and specific identification relies on breeding them to the adult stage. So, when breeding larvae from eggs, the best diagnostic characters for species distinction are the shape of the nails of the thoracic legs and abdominal prolegs and the chaetotaxy of the ocellar zone, where setae O1 and O2 are always in the same place, whereas seta O3 can approach more or less setae O1 or O2 depending on the species. Larva cylindrical and dark, with a white or orange dorsal line; verrucae D1, D2, SD1, L1, L2 and L3, with short, black and white setae.

Pupa. Straight or slightly curved; fusion of the tips of the pterothecae and the tips of the antennae protruding or not; hair coverage of variable length; there are circular depressions in the abdomen and groups of setae of different length that coincide with the verruca of the larva; posterior end of pupa rounded, cremaster absent in Coscinia , Spiris and Sagarriella , ( Lerautia , pupa not studied) present in Callimorphina except T. jacobeae .