Cuphodes holoteles ( 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 : 58-59

Cuphodes holoteles ( Turner, 1913)

( Figs 52, 53, 94, 95, 106, 119, 127, 637)

“ Phrixosceles holoteles , n. sp. ”—Turner, A.J., 1913. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 38: 185–186. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6407214

Cuphodes holoteles — Turner 1940: 53; Nielsen & Kumata 1996: 48; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 166.

Type locality: [ Australia], Q.[ueensland], Eumundi, near Nambour.

Type specimens: Holotype, 7 paratypes (♂ and ♀), coll. Turner, in ANIC (Canberra).

Specimens examined: Holotype: abdomen missing: [1] Eumundi/Q.[Queensland]/Mar.[arch]. [2] ANIC Database/31 010796. [3] Cyphosticha / holoteles . Turn. TYPE. [4] HOLOTYPE / Cuphodes / holoteles Turn. Drypetes / deplanchei, DNA sample (two legs) NULT023578 (not successful), in ANIC (Canberra) ( Fig. 52).

Paratypes 5 specimens: Paratype 1(♀): Queensland, Eumundi, March , DNA sample NULT022746, genitalia slide ANIC 6273 , ANIC Acc. no 31 075716 . Paratype 2(♂): same data, DNA sample NULT022861, genitalia slide ANIC 6274 , ANIC Acc. no 31 085617, in ANIC (Canberra) ( Fig. 53) . Paratype 3: same data, ANIC Acc. no 31 075814, Barcode of Life , Sample ID: 11 ANIC-16243 , BOLD Proc. ID: ANICY243-11 . Paratype 4: same data, ANIC Acc. no 31 053815, Barcode of Life , Sample ID: 11 ANIC-16244 , BOLD Proc. ID: ANICY244-11 . Paratype 5: same data, ANIC Acc. no 31 053816, Barcode of Life , Sample ID: 11 ANIC-16245 , BOLD Proc. ID: ANICY245-11, in ANIC (Canberra) .

Diagnostic notes: Cuphodes holoteles like other Australian Cuphodes species is characterised by contrastive oblique fasciae at the sub-apical margin of the forewing. Differently from C. drypette sp. nov., C. holoteles has a much darker colouration, predominantly dark ochreous brown, that makes this species easily diagnosable. The male genitalia are diagnosed by a spinulose band on the ventral margin of the valva. Female genitalia are diagnostic by a simplified sterigma, thick ductus bursae and sac-shaped corpus bursae without signum. This character set easily separates C. holoteles from other Cuphodes lineages nested in the mitogenomic tree ( Fig. 637). The sister taxon of C. holoteles is C. calycanthae sp. nov.

Morphological diagnostic characterisation: Highly externally distinctive species due to peculiar wing pattern as described below, that makes this species easily recognisable. Wingspan 5.0– 5.6 mm; length of the forewing 2.3–2.5 mm ( Figs 52, 53).

Head: vertex light ochreous, occiput ochreous, frons shining white, maxillary palpus short, stout, with sharp apices, white; labial palpus slender, white, distancing from each other with curved and upraised apical parts; antenna light ochreous with strong silver shine, scape slightly flattened, pecten not perceptible.

Thorax ( Figs 52, 53): light ochreous, tegula concolourous with thorax, forewing ground colour white, with oblique (variable) interchanging in width and colouration fasciae. Ground colour of basal half of forewing white with ochreous transverse fasciae of different width; apical half with very broad transverse ochreous fascia variable in shape and thickness in different specimens, apical area bears fine horizontal lines—a character diagnostic for the genus Cuphodes . Apical spot is not perceptible except a short vertical white stripe on the ultimate apex of forewing, apical line absent, fringe line is absent, but the hanging fringe piliform scales at apex and tornus are darker. Legs bicolourous ochrous-white, light grey with strong metal shine; hind tibia and basal segments of tarsus thickly covered with erected, stout, spiculose scales.

Abdomen ( Figs 119, 127): fuscous dorsally, tergites dark brown with orange shading. Margins of abdominal opening on sternum II narrowly but strongly sclerotised, ventral crossing joint is very narrowly sclerotised with broader unsclerotised margin abdominal plate, corners of abdominal opening sharply angulated, sternal apodemes initiating at the corners of abdominal opening are short, reduced, with sharp apices, hardly visible; tergal apodemes initiate at the margin on tergum I, with bent concavely at the mid part, terminating with sharp apices just beyond the mid of segment II. In males the anterior S8 is modified to triangular plate with gently rounded posterior part, androconial markings of two short brushes of piliform coremata and sclerotised semirings situated at the lateral sides of androconial anterior plate terminate the androconial sclerotisations. A bent melanised fold is present on sternum III in both sexes. Anterior margins of sterna IV–VI in females are slightly stronger melanised than the posterior ones.

Male genitalia ( Figs 94, 95). Tegumen narrow, as prolonged plate shaped with gently rounded anterior part, uncus developed as big bifolded plate shorter than tegumen, valvae sinoid, gently narrowing towards apex, with strongly sclerotised costa with gently rounded cucullus, cucullus is strongly setose, a small, but clearly visible lobe is present on apical ventral margin of valva, ventral margin especially the sub-ventral area covered with a row of thick strong setae of different length, transtilla complete, bow-shaped; vinculum strongly developed, V-shaped, with broad lateral folds, saccus short, with upraised sharp apex. Aedeagus long ca. as long as valva, with slightly narrower vesica, coecum small, smaller that the diameter of the aedeagus.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 106). Papillae anales flattened, fused and deeply immersed into segment VIII. Segment VIII, short reduced, weakly sclerotised; apophyses posteriores with broad bases and blunt apices, entering the posterior 1/3 of segment VII; apophyses anteriores rather long bent, initiating at the posterior margin of segment VII and almost reaching the anterior margin of segment VII; the sclerotisation degree of segment VII is medial, sterigma consists of narrow bow-shaped lamella post-vaginalis, lamella ante-vaginalis is a narrow sclerotised bow on the posterior margin of ostium bursae; ostium bursae opens at sub-anterior sector of sternum VII, antrum long, slightly sclerotised; the transition between corpus bursae and ductus bursae smooth; ductus bursae rather broad, widening towards corpus bursae, corpus bursae prolonged sac-shaped, signum absent; bulla seminalis small situated close the mid part of ductus bursae, ductus spermathecae very narrow, convoluted, enters ductus bursae just beyond the opening of ostium bursae.

BOLD data: Record List | Public Data Portal | BOLDSYSTEMS

GenBank data: No data.

Mitogenomic data: The single sequence of a paratype is weakly supported as sister to C. calycanthae sp. nov. + ( C. drypette sp. nov. + C. niphadias ) ( Fig. 637).

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Australia: Queensland ( Turner 1913: 186).