Parectopa mnesicala ( Meyrick, 1880 )

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 : 217-218

Parectopa mnesicala ( Meyrick, 1880)

( Fig. 445)

“ Grac.[ilaria] mnesicala , n. sp. ”—Meyrick, E., 1880. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 5 (1): 156–157. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6455821

Parectopa mnesicala — Nielsen & Kumata 1996: 48; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 220.

Type locality: [ Australia, New South Wales], Sydney.

Type specimens: Syntypes 2♂, in NHMUK (London). [one syntype is present in the collection, June 2023] .

Lectotype designation: Hereby, we designate as the lectotype of the species Gracillaria mnesicala Meyrick, 1880 the male specimen ( Fig. 445) without abdomen, belonging to the syntype series and carrying the following labels: [1] ‘Sydney/N. S. [New South] Wales‘/ 30 August 1848 (handwritten on dark beige paper), [2]’Meyrick Coll./B. M. 1938-290’ (printed on white paper), [3] ‘ mnesicala Meyr. ’ (handwritten on beige paper), [4] ‘Abdomen/missing’ (printed on blue paper), [5] ‘ Parectopa / mnesicala /1/1 Meyr./E. Meyrick det./in Meyrick Coll.’ (three upper lines handwritten with black Indian ink, two lower lines printed on white paper), [6] ‘BMNH(E) 1407070’, in NHMUK (London).

The lectotype is designated as part of our taxonomic work to enhance the stability of nomenclature (Declaration 44—Amendment of Article 74.7.3) with the purpose to delineate this species-group taxon Gracillaria mnesicala Meyrick, 1880 This designation will preserve stability in nomenclature ( ICZN Recommendation 74A). We gave preference to the specimen indicated as ‘1/1 Meyr.’ in the Insect Collection of the Natural History Museum (London) which is the only specimen found in the collection of the NHMUK (London, data from June 2023), without abdomen, but otherwise in good shape and curated by the former curator Dr. Jurate De Prins who provided it with the unique QR Code BMNH(E) 1407070 ( ICZN Recommendations 74B, C, D). The locality of the lectotype specimen is verified and included into the Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae https://www.gracillariidae. net/species_by_code/PAREMNES ( ICZN Recommendation 74E).

Morphological diagnostic characterisation: length of forewing ca. 3.3 mm. Wing span ca. 7.0 mm ( Fig. 445).

Head: covered with smooth snowy white, long piliform scales, directed anteriorly; occiput white, with two lateral bunches of very short piliform scales. Antenna just slightly shorter than the length of the forewing, consisting of beige flagellomeres with white apices; pedicel is short, beige, scape is thicker than the rest of the flagellomeres, snowy white.

Thorax ( Fig. 445): dirty white; tegula concolourous with the thorax. Forewing narrow, equally wide from base to apex; the ground colour white with numerous ochreous ornamentations as differently shaped patches at the basal half of the forewing, numerous narrow oblique strigulae and stripes on the apical half; dorsal margin is marked by ochreous oblique stripe with white interventions at mid of dorsum, sub-apical part of dorsum and at tornus; apical part is bored by white narrow, gently bent fascia, apex snowy white; fringe line absent; fringe long, creamy white, equally long along the apical part of dorsum. Hindwing narrow, shorter than the forewing, dirty white-creamy beige, costal half slightly darker than the dorsal half; fringe long, longer at dorsum, creamy white. Mid femur ochreous, mid tibia white with ochreous spots, mid tarsus white with ochreous apices; hind femur and hind tibia white apical half with, hind tarsi white with ochreous apices.

Abdomen: No data.

BOLD data: No data.

GenBank data: No data.

Mitogenomic data: No data.

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Australia: New South Wales, Sydney ( Meyrick 1880: 157).