Paleolepidopterites destructus ( Cockerell, 1916 ) Heikkilä & Brown & Baixeras & Mey & Kozlov, 2018

Heikkilä, Maria, Brown, John W., Baixeras, Joaquin, Mey, Wolfram & Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2018, Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 4394 (1), pp. 41-60 : 54-55

Paleolepidopterites destructus ( Cockerell, 1916) , comb. nov.

Fig. 6 .

[ Tortrix (?) destructus Cockerell, 1916 ; generic combination Tortricites destructus ( Cockerell, 1916) proposed by Sohn et al. 2012].

Excavation locality and depository: USNM Washington D.C. (Holotype: no. 61998) / USA: Colorado, Teller County, Florissant Beds National Monument (Florissant Fm.)/late Priabonian, Late Eocene. The examination of this compression fossil was done by JWB and MH .

Published illustrations: none

Condition: This species was described as Tortrix (?) destructus from a compression fossil of an adult moth with a forewing length of about 8.3 mm. The wings are folded. Short fragments of a few veins can be observed. Obvious impressions of scales are not present.

Comments: The compression fossil shows no reliable evidence for placement in Tortricidae . Skalski (1992) also concluded that the familial assignment of this fossil is uncertain. The poor preservation of the fossil and the lack of character evidence do not allow making suggestions about its taxonomic placement, but the general habitus of the insect suggests it is lepidopteran.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Paleolepidopterites destructus (Cockerell, 1916), comb. n. USNM (HT: no. 61998). Compression fossil, Florissant Beds National Monument. Length of forewing 8.3 mm. Photo: Alan Rulis.