Epicephala nephelodes Turner, 1913

Prins, Jurate De, Hartley, Diana, Sruoga, Virginijus, Nicholls, James, Wallace, Jesse & Zwick, Andreas, 2025, Diversity of Australian Ornixolinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) with taxonomic and nomenclatural acts within the related taxa (Acrocercopinae and Gracillariinae) based on the evidence of museomics, bionomics, and mitogenomics, Zootaxa 5616 (1), pp. 1-340 : 163-164

Epicephala nephelodes Turner, 1913

( Figs 300, 301)

“ Epicephala nephelodes , n. sp. ”—Turner, A.J., 1913. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 38: 177. https:// www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6407206

Epicephala nephelodes — Turner 1940: xviii; Nielsen & Kumata 1996: 48; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 180.

Type locality: [ Australia], Q.[ueensland], Kuranda , near Cairns .

Type specimens: Holotype ♂, coll. Turner, in NKU ( Tianjin).

Specimens examined: Holotype (♂): [1] ‘Kuranda /N. Q. (north Queensland), 16 June 1911; [2] ‘ HOLOTYPE / Epicephala / nephelodes Turn. ’ [3] ‘ Epicephala TYPE/ nephelodes Turn. ’ [4] ‘AUST. NAT./INS. COLL.’, in NKU ( Tianjin).

Note: The holotype ♂ currently on loan in Nankai University , China .

Verified specimens: Queensland: Specimen 1: Kuranda , 16.8193°S 145.6360°E, No date, without abdomen, leg. Dodd F. P. Specimen 2(♂): without abdomen, idem collecting locality, 16-06-1911, leg. Nihil. Specimen 3: Dunk Island , North without abdomen (no specimen with abdomen), Barcode of Life , DNA voucher specimen, Sample ID: 11 ANIC-16213 , BOLD Proc. ID: ANICY213-11; Specimen 4: idem collecting data, 06-06-1928, Nihil , DNA sample (forewing) NULT023550 (not successful), ANIC Acc. no 31 053784. Specimen 5(♀): without abdomen, Crow’s Nest, 33.8241°S 151.2027°E, Barcode of Life , DNA voucher specimen, Sample ID: 11 ANIC-16212 , BOLD Proc.ID ANICY212-11, 06-04-1924, leg. Nihil, ANIC Acc. no 31 053783, ANIC (Canberra) .

Morphological diagnostic characterisation: Wingspan 7.0– 8.6 mm; length of the forewing 3.2–4.0 mm ( Figs 300, 301). Four specimens (two of them in very poor condition) present in the collection of ANIC and the holotype do not allow to perform a diagnostic analysis in detail. Here we present the diagnostic characters that are undoubtfully seen in the short specimen series of E. nephelodes .

Head: vertex white, occiput dirty white, covered by two tufts of piliform scales directed radially, frons white, maxillary palpus shorter by 1/3 of the length of labial palpus, porrect white, with blunt apices; labial palpus, porrect, slender, white with sharp apices, antenna slightly longer than forewing, scape with a tuft of rather long hanging pecten.

Thorax ( Figs300, 301):white, tegula fuscous beige with bronze shine, forewing with characteristic for E.colymbetella species group white dorsal stripe and thin oblique towards apex sub-apical dorsal lines; white strigulae on costal margin are indistinct but present; sub-apical fascia edged by a thin row of black scales, apical spot round, rather small but clearly noticeable, present in the more or less triangular apical area, defined by an edging line consisting of one row of black scales, femora and tibiae of legs beige, while tarsi white with strongly contrastive bands. The other species-linked diagnostic characters should be searched in genomic data sets.

Abdomen ( Fig. 300): dorsally light beige with a strong bronze shine, with a more intense lustre on anterior segments.

Male genitalia: No data.

Female genitalia: No data.

Bionomics: No data.

BOLD data: https://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxon= Epicephala+nephelodes &sea rchTax=Search+Taxonomy

GenBank data: No data.

Mitogenomic data: No data.

Distribution: Australia: Queensland ( Turner 1913: 177).