Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933, Cosmopterigidae

Nupponen 1, Kari & Sihvonen, Pasi, 2022, Revision of Neotropical Scythrididae moths and descriptions of 22 new species from Argentina, Chile, and Peru (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea), ZooKeys 1087, pp. 19-104 : 19

Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933, Cosmopterigidae incertae sedis

Fig. 74

Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933. Exotic Microlepidoptera, vol. 4 (part 14): 428.

Scythris neocompsa (Meyrick, 1933). Transferred from Cosmopterigidae to Scythrididae : Scythris , but without evidence to support the transfer ( Hodges 1997).

Material examined.

Holotype. Argentina • ♀; Alta Grazia; CB..32; C. Bruch leg.; [genitalia slide] JFGC No. 6153; NHMUK ID 010922354; NHMUK slide ID 010316673; coll. NHMUK.

Diagnosis.

Unmistakeable both externally (wings, thorax and head brownish-grey with white streaks) and by a characteristic ring-shaped sterigma in the female genitalia.

Description.

The original description is quoted: "Wingspan 17 mm ♂. Head light brownish-grey, white lateral streaks. Palpi white, second joint with grey subapical ring, terminal joint with grey lateral line. Thorax light brownish-grey, five light lines. Forewings narrow-lanceolate; grey-brownish; markings white; a short very oblique streak from base of costa; a fine line on dorsal edge towards base; an oblique streak from costa at 0.2 to fold; an oblique streak from costa at 0.4 in an even curve through middle of disc to costa at 0.8; a line running from fold at 0.4 to dorsum in middle of wing, thence to disc at 0.66, and returning to termen beyond tornus; a streak from disc at 0.75 to apex: cilia light brownish-grey, a white bar at apex and finer one above tornus. Hindwings and cilia grey."

Female genitalia. The genitalia are partly destroyed by museum pests. Sterigma thick ring-shaped. Ostium round, situated approximately at middle of sterigma, lateral margins reinforced by semi-circular and arched sclerotisations. Apophyses anteriores 0.8 × length of apophyses posteriores.

Distribution.

Argentina.

Remarks.

Male unknown. Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933 is transferred from Scythrididae ( Hodges 1997) to Cosmopterigidae incertae sedis, following a consultation with Jean-François Landry (pers. comm.): "An examination of the type, shown in Fig. 74 , strongly suggests that it is not a Scythrididae . The long, sickle-shaped labial palps are not found in scythridids; some spatulate scales are discernible on the head (vertex), and such scales are not found in scythridids but in other gelechioid families such as Cosmopterigidae , Momphidae , and Gelechiidae . The forewing pattern is atypical of scythridids (not trustworthy by itself but significant combined with the other characters). The female genitalia (Fig. 74B ) shows a sterigma that is reminiscent of some Cosmopterigidae (e.g. Triclonella Busck, 1901, Hyposmocoma Butler, 1881, Asymphorodes Meyrick, 1929). These features suggest that this is likely a Cosmopterigidae . The original genus Syntetrernis was transferred to Parametriotinae (now in Elachistidae ) by Hodges (1997), however, the taxon Syntetrernis neocompsa doubtfully matches that subfamily." The male is unknown.

Figures

Figure 74. Holotype female of Syntetrernis neocompsa Meyrick, 1933, transferred from Scythrididae (Hodges 1997) to Cosmopterigidae incertae sedis (revised classification) A adult, Argentina: Alta Grazia (coll. NHMUK) B genitalia, slide JFGC No. 6153.