Tortricites skalskii Kozlov, 1988

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 : 46

Tortricites skalskii Kozlov, 1988

Excavation locality and depository: The specimen was described from the PIRAS, Moscow, but in a recent search was not found in the PIRAS collection (Prof. A. Rasnitsyn, pers. comm.). Holotype: PIN 964/659; PT: PIN 964/660)/ Baltic Region (Baltic Amber, Prussian Fm.)/ Lutetian, Middle Eocene. The re-assessment is based on the information and illustrations in Kozlov (1988) [original description in Russian].

Published illustrations: Kozlov 1988: 38, fig. 9 (drawing).

Condition: The fossil (holotype) is in two fragments. Adult moth with head, partial body and wings. The forewing length is 6 mm.

Comments: A drawing of the holotype is presented by Kozlov (1988), but some of the information given in the description comes from a fragment of the holotype not included in the drawing. Labial palpi are said to be short and tightly pressed to the head. The long haustellum is coiled into a spiral. The antennae extend beyond the middle of the forewings. The venation in the forewing and hindwing is complete and veins are separate beyond the discal cell. In the forewing, the vein that defines the distal end of the cell is rather narrow; and the bases of M 2, M 3, and CuA 1 are very close together. In the hindwings, Sc ends near the apex of the wing, and R extends to the apex; M 3 and CuA 1 are close together at the base.

Based on the characters that can be observed, in particular the wing venation, the fossil most likely belongs to Tortricidae . The tribal assignment to Grapholitini (formerly Laspeyresiini ) is also possible based on the short labial palpi appressed to the face, which are found in very few other tortricids.