New or poorly known West Palaearctic Meessiidae (Lepidoptera: Tineoidea)

Meessiidae nuevos o pobremente conocidos del oeste Paleártico (Lepidoptera: Tineoidea)

Introduction

Through the kindness of my colleague Anton [=Toni] Mayr, Feldkirch (Austria), it was possible to examine rich material collected by him in several regions of Europe. Three previously undescribed taxa are described below. Among material from other colleagues, examined in the past, the hitherto unknown female of one species was identified, as well as the first specimens of species from some countries (GAEDIKE, 2019).

Abbreviations

coll. Mayr Anton (= Toni) Mayr, Feldkirch, Austria

coll. Richter Ignac Richter, Prievidza, Slovakia

coll. Roweck Hartmut Roweck, Kiel, Germany

coll. Wikström Bo Wikström, Nummela, Finland

gen. präp. genitalia slide

SDEI Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Müncheberg, Germany

TLMF Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria

Taxonomy

Eudarcia balcanicum (Gaedike, 1988)

Obesoceras balcaicum [recte: balcanicum], Gaedike, 1988. Beitr. Ent., 38(2): 329, figs 16-18

Material examined: 1 ♂, ITALY, Tuscany, Cortona, 1-4-VII-2018, leg. B. Wikström (coll. Wikström). First record from Italy.

Eudarcia albocapitata Gaedike, sp. n.

Material examined: Holotype ♀: ITALY, Prov. Chieti, PN della Majella, Pian di Valle 790 m, bei Taranta Peligna, N 42º09,6’ E 14º09,7’, 21-VII-2011, Mayr Toni leg.; gen. präp. Gaedike NR 9901; Holotypus ♀, Eudarcia albocapitata sp. n., det. R. Gaedike 2020 (TLMF).

Description (fig. 1): Wingspan 10mm; head brush white, scape of antenna white, flagellum ringed; labial palpus also white on inside, on outside dark creamy-coloured, second segment with numerous bristles, apical segment acute; thorax white, tegulae overlaid with darker scales; fore wing white with a pattern of light yellow-brown scales, forming two bands at fi and fl, with an indication near base and a subapical patch, bordered around apex by a darker line of scales; hind wing white.

Male genitalia: Unknown.

Female genitalia (fig. 4): Anterior apophysis not forked, dorsally fused, ostium somewhat funnel - shaped, laterally each with a finger-shaped prolongation; area of segment VIII around ostium and apical part of ductus bursae more strongly sclerotised, on the distal half of ductus a strongly sclerotised patch; corpus bursae with some thin signa; the distal part of ostium with thin wrinkles.

Diagnosis: Superficially distinguishable by colouration of head brush and the pattern of fore wing from other members of the genus. The structure of the genitalia resembles E. croaticum (Petersen, 1962), but the lateral, finger-shaped prolongations are characteristic.

Etymology: The name refers to the colouration of the head brush (Latin: albus = white; caput = head).

Eudarcia lakoniacola Gaedike, sp. n.

Material examined: Holotype ♂: GREECE (Griechenland), 140 m, Peloponnes, Lakonien, Umg. [env. of] Limani Geraka, N 36º46.2’ E 23º04.8’, 16-V-2009, Mayr Toni leg.; gen. präp. Gaedike NR 9830; Holotypus ♂, Eudarcia lakoniacola sp. n., det. R. Gaedike 2020 (SDEI).

Description (fig. 2): Wingspan 8mm; head brush cream-coloured, neck dark brown; antenna as long as fore wing, scape and flagellum unicolourous dark brown; labial palpus cream-coloured on inside, dark on outside, second segment bristled, apical segment short, acute; thorax and tegulae dark grey-brown; fore wing pale creamy with a dark-brown pattern, forming two bands at fi and at fl, a dark base and a dark patch on apex, two short dark stripes between second band and apex; fringe in prolongation of apical patch and of second band also brown; hind wing light grey.

Male genitalia: (fig. 5): Uncus with two thin lobes, slightly curved inwards, with pointed and more strongly sclerotised tip, basally with more strongly sclerotised edge, scapium arched, inner edge dentate, posterior margin of vinculum laterally with a pair of deep incisions, saccus long, with rounded tip; valva more or less parallel-sided, last fourth of costal part abruptly narrower, with rounded tip, costal edge slightly concave, ventral edge from base to fl convex, with narrower fold, phallus two times as long as valva, straight, apically thin, with minute pointed sclerotization at tip.

Female genitalia: Unknown.

Diagnosis: Superficially not clearly distinguishable from many other members of the genus, the genitalia structure shows similarities to E. creticola and E. montanum. The shape of valva and the curved uncus lobes are clearly different to creticola, while the shape of scaphium, the short straight lobe of the uncus and the shape of valva are the clear differences to montanum.

Etymology: The name refers to the place of collection of the holotype (Lakonia).

Infurcitinea graeca Gaedike, 1983

Infurcitinea graeca Gaedike, 1983. Ent. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden, 46(7): 122, figs 13-15 Material examined: 1 ♀, NORTHERN MACEDONIA, leg. I. Richter, GP 28976 (coll. Richter).

First record from Northern Macedonia.

Infurcitinea tauridella Petersen, 1968

Infurcitinea tauridella Petersen, 1968. Acta ent. bohemoslovaca, 65(1): 62, fig. 10

Material examined: 1 ♂, SPAIN, Granada, Baza, Banamaurel, 3-4-VI-2015, leg. H. Roweck & N. Savenkov (coll. Roweck). First record from Spain.

Infurcitinea turcica Petersen, 1968

Infurcitinea turcica Petersen, 1968. Acta ent. bohemoslovaca, 65(1): 63, figs 12-13

Material examined: 1 ♀, NORTHERN MACEDONIA, leg. I. Richter, GP 28975 (coll. Richter).

First record from Northern Macedonia.

Infurcitinea gaedikella Nel, 2003

Infurcitinea gaedikella Nel, 2003. R.A.R.E., 15(2): 46, figs 1-2

Material examined: 1 ♂, SPAIN, Aragón [Huesca], Balneario de Panticosa, 1650 m, 14-VII-2012, leg. T. Mayr (coll. Mayr). First record from Spain.

Infurcitinea mayri Gaedike, sp. n.

Material examined: Holotype ♂: SPAIN (Spanien), Kataluna (Cataluña), Port de la Bonaigua, 1820 m, N 42º38’52”, E1º00’13”, 19-VII-2006, Mayr Toni leg.; gen. präp. Gaedike NR 9810; Holotypus ♂, Infurcitinea mayri sp. n., det. R. Gaedike 2020 (SDEI).

Description (fig. 3): Wingspan 9mm; head brush light grey-coloured, laterally the scales somewhat darker, antenna grey, on underside lighter, labial palpus short, straight, second segment apically with bristle, and similarly light grey-coloured; thorax and tegulae grey, scales apically darker; forewing ground-colour grey with a dark brown pattern, which is not clearly visible because of the rather poor condition of the specimen, the dark scales form two bands at 1/2 and at fl each a band darker is the area near apex and the base; hind wing grey.

Male genitalia (fig. 6): Uncus truncate, laterally with minute pointed tips, vinculum with two lateral processes, the basal edge between them more strongly sclerotised; valva basally broad, costal arm, beginning at fi of valva length, narrowest, apically semi-circularly prolonged, apical edge with some small strongly-sclerotised teeth, ventral edge of valva convex, the costal arm ending basally in a long, thin, curved process; basal edge from apodeme to beginning of ventral edge more strongly sclerotised; phallus fused with the two parts of anellus, straight, narrow, one edge more strongly sclerotised, part of the apical half of anellus with long bristles, and opposite these enlarged in a sickle- shape, the another part slightly curved, nearly as long as first part.

Female genitalia: Unknown.

Diagnosis: The poor condition of the holotype makes it impossible to compare the new species superficially. The genitalia are similar to I. vartianae Petersen, 1962. Differences are the apical edge of valva with small teeth, and the anellus with only two parts, while vartianae has long bristles on the inside of the apical edge and anellus with three parts.

Etymology: Named in honour of the collector, Anton (=Toni) Mayr, Feldkirch, Austria.

Infurcitinea olympica Petersen, 1958

Infurcitinea olympica Petersen, 1958. Dt. ent. Z., N. F., .(3-4): 372, fig. 9

Material examined: 2 ♂♂, ITALY, Tuscany, Cortona, 11-15-VII-2018, leg. B. Wikström (coll. Wikström). First records from Italy. 12 ♂♂, NORTHERN MACEDONIA, Bjelovodica, Mermerno jazero, 21-VI-2017, leg. I. Richter (coll. Richter); 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Kozhuf mts, 30-VII-2015, leg. I. Richter (coll. Richer). First records from Northern Macedonia.

The material from Northern Macedonia contains a female for the first time, it allows to describe the genitalia structure (fig. 7): Segment VIII ventrally convex, ostium funnel-shaped, dorsally with a somewhat triangular process with rounded tip, arms of the furcate anterior apophyses dorsally connected.

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank all colleagues for their kindness in enabling me to examine their material. Special thanks are due to Toni Mayr (Feldkirch, Austria) for permitting the deposition of the holotypes of two species in the collection of the SDEI, to Christian Kutzscher (SDEI) for taking the colour pictures and Andrew Liston (SDEI) for some linguistic improvements to the manuscript.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GAEDIKE, R., 1983.– Zur Kenntnis der paläarktischen Tineidenfauna (Lepidoptera: Tineidae).– Entomologische Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden, 46(7): 161-152.

GAEDIKE, R., 1988.– Beitrag zur Kenntnis der lichenophagen Tineiden (Lepidoptera).– Beiträge zur Entomologie, 38(2):327-336.

GAEDIKE, R., 2015.– Tineidae I (Dryadaulinae, Hapsiferinae, Euplocaminae, Scardiinae, Nemapogoninae and Meessiinae).– In O. KARSHOLT, M. MUTANEN & M. NUSS (ed.). Microlepidoptera of Europe, 7: XXVII + 1- 308. Brill, Leiden - Boston.

NEL, J., 2003.– Description de quatre nouvelles espèces de microlépidoptères découvertes dans le Midi de la France (Lepidoptera, Tineidae, Gelechiidae, Epermeniidae).– Revue de l’Association Roussillonaise d’Entomologie, 15(2): 46-53.

PETERSEN, G., 1958.– Neue paläarktische Tineiden aus der lichenophagen Gatungen (Lep. Tineidae).– Deutsche Entomologische Zeitung, N. F., 5(3-4): 367-375.

PETERSEN, G., 1968.– Beitrag zur Kenntnis der ostmediterranen Tineiden (Lepidoptera: Tineidae, exclus. Nemapogoninae).– Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca, 65(1): 52-66.