A Taxonomic study of two species of Thiotricha Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), from southwestern Japan, with notes on the biology of their immature stages

Abstract

The taxonomy and biology of the immature stages of two gelechiid species of Thiotricha Meyrick, 1886, found in the southeastern part of the Sino-Japanese region is presented. Thiotricha lumnitzeriella Kyaw, Ueda & Hirowatari sp. nov., from islands in southwestern Japan is described. The larva of this species feeds as a portable case maker on Lumnitzera racemosa Willd. (Combretaceae). Thiotricha gemmulans Meyrick, 1931 originally described from India is newly recorded from Japan, mainland China, and Thailand. This species feeds as a portable case maker on Glochidion zeylanicum var. lanceolatum (Hayata) and G. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum (Gaertn.) A. Juss (Phyllanthaceae). Thiotricha acrophantis Meyrick, 1936 is newly synonymized with T. gemmulans. Images of the adults of Thiotricha lumnitzeriella sp. nov. and T. gemmulans including genitalia, and images and illustrations of the larval chaetotaxy and pupa for both species are provided. Larval feeding habits are described in detail.

Taxonomic study of Palumbina Rondani (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Thiotrichinae) in Japan: biology, immature stages, and a new species

“…Noticeably, it can be assumed that the larvae of Palumbina make a portable case by utilizing the leaf, although we could not reveal the biology of the remaining two Japanese species, P. operaria and P. macrodelta . This feeding habit making portable case has also been observed in Thiotricha and Pulchrala ( Kyaw et al 2019 , 2021 ). However, in our study, the circular and flattened portable case was not observed in other Thiotrichinae species.…”

“…Compared with Thiotricha species (e.g., T. prunifolivora Ueda & Fujiwara, 2005, T. lumnitzeriella Kyaw, Ueda & Hirowatari, 2021, T. gemmulans Meyrick, 1931, and Calliprora leucaenae Lee & Hiden, 2019 ( Ueda and Fujiwara 2005 ; Lee and Hayden 2019 ; Kyaw et al 2021 ), the larval chaetotaxy of P. pylartis and P. grandiunca were mostly congruent with that of Thiotricha . However, in the head region of the two Palumbina species, AF1 is shorter than AF2, whereas in some Thiotricha species with equal length of AF1 and AF2 ( Ueda and Fujiwara 2005 ; Kyaw et al 2021 ). In Calliprora leucaenae , AF1 is longer than AF2 ( Lee and Hayden 2019 ).…”

“…The morphological characteristics of P. grandiunca , P. muraseae sp. nov., and P. pylartis are mostly shared with Thiotricha prunifolivora , T. lumnitzeriella , and T. gemmulans ( Ueda and Fujiwara 2005 ; Kyaw et al 2021 ) as follows: projections at the anterolateral corner of prothorax developed; vertex with many minute spines; tergite A7 with a transverse row of tergal spinules directed posteriorly on the anterior margin and sternite A7 with a pair of oval pad armed with a row of spinules directed anteriorly. However, in the three Palumbina species, there are some exceptional characteristics in the abdominal segments of A7 and A10: the absence of a transverse row of short tergal spinules on A7 caudally and the absence of a pair of triangular tergal projections on A10.…”

“…In the three Palumbina species whose pupae are known, projections at the prothorax are prominent and may, thus, certainly be related to their mode of making a portable case similar to that of Thiotricha species ( Ueda and Fujiwara 2005 ; Kyaw et al 2019 , 2021 ), not as in Calliprora leucaenae ( Lee and Hayden 2019 ). It can be assumed that these projections may function to protrude to escape from its case, as in the genus Thiotricha .…”