Ptilothyris climacista Meyrick, 1926

Park, Kyu-Tek, Mey, Wolfram, Koo, Jun-Mo, Prins, Jurate De & Cho, Soowon, 2019, Revision of the genus Ptilothyris Walsingham, 1897 (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Lecithoceridae), with descriptions of eight new species from Africa, Zootaxa 4567 (2), pp. 201-235 : 211-212

3. Ptilothyris climacista Meyrick, 1926

( Figs. 6 A–E)

Ptilothyris climacista Meyrick, 1926: 289 . TL: Cameroon. [NHMUK]

Diagnosis. Female ( Figs. 6 A–E). Forewing length 9.0 mm. The wing pattern of P. climacista is superficially similar to P. purpurea Walsingham or P. porphyrea Ghesquière , but it can be distinguished by having a semi-ovate, pale orange patch on the forewing, and the hind wing with a similar semi-transparent patch as in P. serangota Meyrick , but the color is pale orange, not white. The species was described based on a single female.

Female genitalia. Dissection of the genitalia of the type in NHMUK could not be prepared, so the genitalia could not be illustrated.

Material examined. [NHMUK]: 1♀ (holotype) ( Figs. 6A, B ), with the same label data as the type recorded in the original description, “ Cameroon, Bitje, Ja River, Oct. Wet season, G.L Bates.” This specimen also has two additional labels as “ Ptilothyris climacista Meyr. 2/1, E. Meyrick det., In Meyrick Coll”, and “Meyrick Coll. B.M. 1938-290.”

Distribution. Cameroon.

Remarks. In NHMUK, five more specimens, except one specimen ( Fig. 6 E-1) which is certainly a misidentification of P. serangota Meyrick , are placed under the name Ptilothyris climacista Meyr ( Fig. 6E ). One specimen ( Fig. 6C ) of this series bearing a red tag has four labels ( Fig. 6D ) as “Afriq. Occid. Johann-Albrechts Höhe Station-Kamerun, L. Conradt, 1896”, “Paravicini Coll. B. M. 1937-383”, “ Ptilothyris climacista Meyr., M 456-157”. Although a red label or tag usually indicates a holotype, it is confirmed that the holotype of P. climacista Meyrick is certainly the specimen in Fig. 6A . It is unfortunate that assigning the rest to this species or even to the genus Ptilothyris could not be done without examining the male genitalia. A further study is needed for the generic placement of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Ptilothyris climacista Meyrick. A, Holotype, female, in NHMUK; B, Labels of holotype; C, Red-tagged specimen; D, Labels of the red-tagged specimen; E, Specimens placed under the name of P. climacista Meyrick in NHMUK; E-1, Specimen misidentified as P. climacista Meyrick.