Nemophora decisella ( Walker, 1863 )

Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2024, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, Zootaxa 5423 (1), pp. 1-66 : 32-34

Nemophora decisella ( Walker, 1863)

( Figs. 34, 35 )

Nemotois decisella : Walker 1863: 505. Holotype ♂: Indonesia, Sumatra; labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘Type’; 6 mm blue-grey circle, black ink ‘Sumat │ ra’, reverse side ‘[18]54 │ 76’; 14 × 24 mm, wide black border, black ink + print ‘ Nemotois │ deciscella. [sic!] Wkr. │ Cat. Lep. BM. XXVIII p. 505. 1863 │ TYPE ♂ descr.’; 5 × 35 mm, print ‘22. Nemotois decisella .’ ( NHM) [examined].

Other material (excluding specimens reported by Kozlov & Robinson 1996a). India. 5 ♂ 4 ♀, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills, 1898–1899 (Doherty) ; 1 ♀, ibid., iii.1895 (Doherty) ; 1 ♂, Cherrapunji , iv.1894 (Doherty) (all in NHM) . Bhutan. 1 ♂, 14.viii.1895 (Dudgeon) ( NHM) . Continental China. 1 ♂, Szetschwan, Tai-tou-ho (Déjean) . Hainan. 1 ♀, Five Fingered Mountains (Whitehead) (both in NHM) . Taiwan. 1 ♀, I-Lan County, Yuanshan, Fushan , Botanical Garden, 800 m, 16.–19.iv.1996 (Yen) ; 1 ♂, ibid., 14.–15.v.1996 (Yen) ; 3 ♂, ibid., 17.–19.vi.1996 (Yen) ( NMNST) . Thailand. 1 ♂, Trat Province, Laem Ngop district, Ban Noen-Ki-Lai, 160 m, 22.xi.2006 (Cerný) ( ZMB) ; 1 ♂, Chiang Mai Province, 450 m, Mok Fa Garden Resort, 1.xi.2002 (Herczig & Ronkay) ( HNHM) ; 1 ♂, Nakhon Nayok Province, Khao Yai National Park , 700 m, 29.ix.–6.x.1984 (Karsholt et al.) ( ZMUC) ; 1 ♂, Uthai Thani Province, Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Khao Nang Ram Research Station , 400 m, 19.x.1991 (Kitching) ( NHM) . Cambodia. 1 ♂, Cardamom Mts., near Pramuoy village , dry dipterocarp and gallery forest, 24.–25.ii.2000 (Nuss) ( SMTD) . Vietnam. 1 ♂, Buôn Ma Thuôt , 500 m, 16.–18.v.1960 (Quate) ; 1 ♂, 20 km N of Pleiku , 650 m, 9.v.1960 (Quate); 1 ♂ , 28 km N DiLinh ( Djiring ), 1200 m, 22.–28.iv.1960 (Quate) (all in BPBM) . Malaysia. 1 ♂, Trengganu, Pulau Tenggol , 19.viii.1994 (Robinson) ( NHM) . Indonesia. 1 ♂, Eastern Java, Nongkedjadjar , 1300 m, v.1934 (Kalis) ( NHM) ; 1 ♂, Sumatra, Prapat, HW 3, 13.vi.–28.viii.1983 (Diehl) ( HNHM) ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Sumatra, 14 km NE Parat , 1150 m, 21.v.1982 (Diehl) ( ZSM) . Brunei. 4 ♂ 2 ♀, Rampayoh river , LP 195B, GR 960785, 100 m, lowland dipterocarp forest, 26.– 29.ix.1997 (Robinson) ; 2 ♂, Lamunin, Sungai Burong , 60 m, water tanks, disturbed lowland forest, 17.ix.–30.ix.1992 (Robinson) ; 7 ♂, Labi , 1.–2.vi.1997 (Ping) ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Sungai Burong , 9.xi.1996 (Ping) (all in NHM) .

Diagnosis. Nemophora decisella differs from N. paradisea in greyish brown (vs coppery brown) forewing colour, strongly S-shaped (vs nearly straight) apical third of carinae, strongly C-shaped (vs nearly straight) phallus and inner valvar margins almost parallel to each other (vs steadily approaching each other).

Distribution. India (this study), Bhutan (this study; questionable record: see comments), China, including continental part ( Liao et al. 2023), Hainan ( Liao et al. 2023) and Taiwan (this study), Myanmar ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a), Thailand ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a), Cambodia (this study; photograph-based record: https://www. inaturalist.org/observations/9954568), Vietnam (this study), Malaysia ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a), Indonesia ( Walker 1863), Brunei ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a).

Comments. The English descriptions and localities of N. decisella and N. sinicella were swapped by Walker (1863); the Latin diagnoses are correct ( Meyrick 1912a). A colour photograph of the holotype of N. decisella (erroneously referred to as a syntype) was published by Liao et al. (2023, pl. 10 fig. 5). Regrettably, these authors attributed all synonyms of both N. decisella and N. paradisea to N. decisella alone, which is obviously incorrect.

The record of N. decisella from Russia ( Liao et al. 2023) is erroneous and refers to N. paradisea . The record from South Korea ( Kozlov & Robinson 1996a) also most likely refers to N. paradisea , but requires re-examination. The specimen of N. decisella tentatively attributed to Bhutan (spelled ‘Bhotan’ on the label) may originate from both south-western Bhutan and the Kalimpong District of West Bengal State of India ( Volynkin & Černý 2022).

For the combined description of N. decisella and N. paradisea and for geographic variation in diagnostically important traits see Kozlov & Robinson (1996a). The individual descriptions of both N. paradisea and N. decisella , their extended differential diagnoses and synonymy will be provided elsewhere simultaneously with the revision of several species closely related to N. decisella that have been described by Diakonoff (1951).

Figures

FIGURES 33–40. Adults of Nemophora spp. 33, N.paradisea (Butler, 1881), female, from Kanzanji,Yogo-cho, Shiga Prefecture, Honshu, Japan; 34, N. decisella (Walker, 1863), male, from Rampayoh River, Brunei; 35, ditto, female, lectotype of Adela sythoffi Snellen, 1901, from Preanger, Java, Indonesia; 36, N. caeruliantenna Liao, Hirowatari & Huang in Liao et al., 2023, male, from Changwat Nan, Thailand; 37, N. sakaii (Matsumura, 1931), male, from Khao Yai National Park, Thailand; 38, ditto, female, from Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India; 39, N. auricapitella Kozlov, sp. nov., male, holotype, from Myeik, Myanmar; 40, ditto, female, paratype, from the same locality. Scale: 2 mm.