Agonopterix conciliatella ( REBEL, 1892 )

Buchner, Peter & Karsholt, Ole, 2019, Depressariinae of Madeira and the Azores Islands (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 69 (2), pp. 331-353 : 337-338

Agonopterix conciliatella ( REBEL, 1892)

( Figs 5–7 , 9 )

Depressaria conciliatella REBEL, 1892: 272 , pl. 17, fig. 14.

Agonopterix mutatella HANNEMANN, 1989: 391 , figs 4–5, pl. 10,

figs 1–3, pl. 11, figs 1–2.

Examined material: 1 , Ilha, Quinta Grande , Fortinhas, 7.vii.1991, leg. M. Meyer (ZfB); 1, Encumeada, 1000 m, la. 15.vi.1993, Genista tenera , leg. O. Karsholt ( ZMUC); 2 , Encumeada, Fortinhas, 13.x.1993, leg. M. Meyer (ZfB) .

Description: Adult ( Figs 5 –6). Size, basic patterns and wing shape as in A. scopariella , but variability markedly larger. Forms with rather uniform ground colour ( Fig. 5 ) are separable from A. scopariella only by dissection (or barcoding), but forms with strongly contrasting dark veins against pale ground colour (Fig. 6) are not found in A. scopariella and therefore these forms can be determined as A. conciliatella at first glance.

Diagnosis: Similar to A. scopariella .

In the male genitalia the cuiller (A) is blunt in A. conciliatella ( Fig. 7 ) and pointed in A. scopariella (Fig. 8); anellus lobes (B) are shorter and broader than in A. scopariella , not overlapping in standard preparations. To avoid overlapping, which can cause technical problems during spreading, in A. scopariella the anellus lobes are some times turned outward (insert C, Fig. 8), but this is not standard preparation.

In the female genitalia the caudal margin of sternite VIII is evenly rounded in A. conciliatella ( Fig. 9A ), and straight with sharply upcurved structure in A. scopariella (Fig. 10B).

Bionomics: Larvae on Fabaceae , e.g. Cytisus spec. , Genista spec. ; it has also been reared from Adenocarpus foliosus in Canary Islands. In Madeira the larva is recorded from Genista tenera (Murray) Kuntze.

Distribution: Canary Islands and Madeira.

Remarks: WALSINGHAM (1894: 546) recorded ‘ Depressaria conciliatella ’ from Madeira, based on a misidentified specimen of Agonopterix scopariella (listed above under examined material of A. scopariella ). Most subsequent records of A. conciliatella from Madeira (see AGUIAR & KARSHOLT, 2006: 46–47 for details) are not based on additional material, but refer to Walsingham, and the specimens listed above are the only correctly identified ones from Madeira known to us. REBEL (1940a: 22) recorded three specimens from Madeira, Rabaçal as ‘ Depressaria conciliatella ’. One of these is kept in the NHMW, but it is unfortunately without abdomen and its identity cannot be established.

Agonopterix conciliatella was listed in the genus Exaeretia STAINTON, 1849 by AGUIAR & KARSHOLT (2006: 20, 47; 2008: 340). That was based on a mismatch of the slide-labels of the holotypes of Exaeretia thurneri and Agonopterix conciliatella , caused by HANNEMANN in year 1952, leading to publication of A. conciliatella in the genus Exaeretia (and E. thurneri in the genus Agonopterix ) by HANNEMANN (1953). These two species were consequently treated in the wrong genera until the clarification of this mismatch ( BUCHNER, 2015).

Figures

Fig. 5: A. conciliatella , Spain, La Gomera, El Cedro, 26.v.1965, e. l. Adenocarpus, leg. J. Klimesch, coll. ZSM. –

Fig. 7: A. conciliatella , Spain, La Gomera, El Cedro, 31.v.1965, e. l. Adenocarpus, leg. J. Klimesch, coll. ZSM. – Fig. 8: A. scopariella , Croatia, Novi Vinodolsky, 20.v.2001, leg.& coll.L.Srnka; insert(8C): TheNederlands,1870, coll.NHMW.

Fig. 9: A. conciliatella , Spain, Gran Canaria 3 km S Lanzarote, 7.9.2012, leg. & coll. A. Stübner. – Fig. 10: A. scopariella , Marokko, Marrakesch, Tensift al Haouz, Toufine, 2100 m, 23.5.2010, leg. & coll. A. Werno.