A part of Japanese species of the genus Thiotricha Meyrick, 1886 are reviewed. Three species described by Omelko (1984) in the genus Cnaphostola Meyrick, 1918 are placed in combination with Thiotricha; Thiotricha
biformis, T.
angustellacomb. nov. and T.
venustaliscomb. nov. These species are redescribed, and two new species, T.
elaeocarpiella Kyaw, Yagi & Hirowatari, sp. nov. and T.
flavitermina Kyaw, Yagi & Hirowatari, sp. nov. are described based on external morphological characters of adults and genitalia of males and females. Thiotricha
chujaensis (Park, 2016), comb. nov. described in Cnaphostola from Korea, is newly recorded in Japan feeding on Mallotus
japonica (Euphorbiaceae). One of the new species, T.
elaeocarpiellasp. nov. has been associated with two different plants, Elaeocarpus
zollingeri (Elaeocarpaceae) and Rhaphiolepis
indica (Rosaceae). This paper presents the first comprehensive description of the morphology, pupal morphology and biology of species previously treated in the genus Cnaphostola and their relatives in Japan.
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.
As one of the largest single-radiation sources of phytophagous insects, the higher level phylogeny of lepidopteran lineages has been debated for decades, especially the early divergences of nonditrysia. Here, we use 74 mitochondrial genomes representing seven nonditrysian superfamilies, including the newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of eight families and 30 species. Four datasets were constructed and used for a phylogenetic analysis based on maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. The results reveal that (1) nonditrysian lineages presented typically nested relationships with the family Micropterigidae as the sister-group to the remaining Lepidoptera, (2) monophyly of major clades in Lepidoptera, including Glossata, Heteroneura, Eulepidoptera and Ditrysia, was strongly supported, and (3) Neopseustoidea formed the sister of the remaining Glossata. Divergence-time analysis estimated that Lepidoptera originated c. 222 Mya during the Middle Triassic and that most superfamilies/families of nonditrysia originated from the Early Cretaceous to the Early Palaeogene, which largely coincided with the radiation of angiosperms. Additionally, three novel gene rearrangements in the gene cluster ‘MIQ’ and ‘TP’ were found in nonditrysian groups. Further mitochondrial genome data will help us to better understand the evolution of early nonditrysian lineages.
Asian species of the genus Vespina Davis, 1972 (Lepidoptera, Incurvariidae) are mainly reviewed. Vespina meridiana Hirowatari & Yagi sp. nov. from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and Vespina sichuana Hirowatari, Huang & Wang sp. nov. from Sichuan, China, are described. The previously known Vespina species are associated with plants from the Fagaceae family on the western coast of the USA and East Asia and with Sapindaceae (Aceraceae) in eastern Europe. The two new species described here are associated with Fagaceae and Myricaceae, respectively, in warm temperate areas in Asia. Vespina nielseni Kozlov, 1987, which was only known from East Asia, is newly recorded from South China. A checklist for the genus is provided herein. Morphological information of the immature stages of the two new species is partially provided. The absence or reduction of a female frenulum and presence of approximately 20 thin pseudofrenular bristles, the dorsoventrally flattened pupa, and the minute tergal spines scattered on abdominal segments 3–8 are considered as possible autapomorphies of Vespina.
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