Conopomorpha chionochtha Meyrick, 1907

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 : 25-26

Conopomorpha chionochtha Meyrick, 1907

( Figs 11, 12)

“ C.[onopomorpha] chionochtha , n. sp. ”—Meyrick, E., 1907. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 32: 59. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6383138

Conopomorpha chionochtha — Nielsen & Kumata 1996: 48; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 157.

Acrocercops chionochtha — Turner 1940: 60.

Type locality: [ Australia], South Australia, Quorn.

Type specimens: Syntypes 2♀, in NHMUK (London) .

Lectotype designation: Hereby, we designate as the lectotype of the species Conopomorpha chionochtha Meyrick, 1907 the female specimen ( Fig. 11) with abdomen, belonging to the syntype series and carrying the following labels: [1] ‘Quorn/S.[outh] Australia‘/ 23 October 1882 (handwritten on dark beige paper), [2]’Meyrick Coll./B. M. 1938-290’ (printed on white paper), [3] ‘Syntype’ (printed on white paper with blue ring on the outer margin’ [4] ‘ chionochtha Meyr. ’ (handwritten on beige paper), [5] ‘ Acrocercops / chionochtha /2/1 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) 1405880’, in NHMUK (London).

Paralectotype: 1 specimen: Paralectotype 1(♀) ( Fig. 12), without abdomen: belonging to the syntype series and carrying the following labels: [1] ‘Quorn/S.[outh] Australia‘/ 23 October 1882 (handwritten on dark beige paper), [2]’Meyrick Coll./B. M. 1938-290’ (printed on white paper), [3] ‘Syntype’ (printed on white paper with a blue ring on the outer margin’ [4] ‘Abdomen/missing’ (printed on blue paper), [5] ‘ Acrocercops / chionochtha /2/2 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) 1405886’, 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 of delineating this species-group taxon Conopomorpha chionochtha Meyrick, 1907 . This designation will preserve stability in nomenclature ( ICZN Recommendation 74A). We gave the preference to the specimen indicated as ‘2/1 Meyr.’ in the Insect Collection of the Natural History Museum (London) which is with the abdomen, in good shape and curated by the former curator Dr. Jurate De Prins who provided it with the unique QR Code BMNH(E) 1405880 ( ICZN Recommendations 74B, C, D). The locality of the lectotype specimen is verified and included in the Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae https://www.gracillariidae. net/species_by_code/CONOCHIC ( ICZN Recommendation 74E). The syntype specimen with the label data of the type locality and the QR Code BMNH(E) 1405886 is designated as the paralectotype ( ICZN Recommendation 74F).

Morphological diagnostic characterisation: length of forewing ca. 3.2 mm. Wing span ca. 7.5 mm ( Figs 11, 12).

Head: covered with smooth snowy white, long piliform scales, directed anteriorly, light beige shading is present on the mid sector of vertex; occiput white, with two lateral bunches of very short piliform scale. Antenna just slightly longer than the length of forewing, thin, consisting of dark brown unicoloured flagellomeres, without annulation; pedicel short, dark brown, scape thicker than the rest of the flagellomeres, snowy white.

Thorax: snowy, unicolourous white; tegula dark brown with lighter apical parts, strongly contrastive from the colour of thorax. Forewing rather broad in comparison with the forewing width of the type species, equally wide from base to apex; the shape is more compact than that of the type species; the ground colour is dark brown with snowy white prolonged spot at apex, and dirty white irregular longitudinal stripe on dorsal margin, with tiny triangular insertions at mid and at the subapical part of the dorsal margin; apical spot not perceptible, absent; fringe line absent; fringe long, light beige with the longest scale at mid part of dorsum. Hindwing narrow, shorter than the forewing, light beige; fringe long, on both sides of hindwing, concolourous with hindwing; the longest scales are at mid of dorsal margin. Hind femur light beige, hind tibia light beige with a dirty white apical half with quite some erect, piliform scales, hind tarsi are dirty white with grey apices.

Abdomen: dark beige with lighter shading on the top of tergites, anterior genital segment dirty white with strong yellowish shading. The lateral sides of abdominal segments dark beige.

Male genitalia: No data.

Female genitalia: No data

BOLD data: No data.

GenBank data: No data.

Mitogenomic data: No data.

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Australia: South Australia ( Meyrick 1907: 59).