Cuphodes pyrochroma ( Turner, 1894 ), 2025

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 : 42-46

Cuphodes pyrochroma ( Turner, 1894) , comb. n.

“ Grac.[ilaria] [sic] pyrochroma , n. sp. ”—Turner,A.J., 1894. Descriptions of Micro-Lepidoptera from Moreton Bay. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia 18: 129. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16141967

Type locality: [ Australia, Queensland], Brisbane .

Type specimens: 5 syntypes (gender unknown), in ANIC (Canberra) .

Distribution: Australia: Queensland ( Turner 1894: 129), New South Wales ( Turner 1940: 54).

Diagnosis of the genus Cuphodes : Externally, Cuphodes is very different from other Ornixolinae genera, due to a unique shining-white background (it is common in Phyllocnistinae and in some species groups in Lithocolletinae , but not common in Ornixolinae ), with a subtle yellow ochreous pattern on the forewing. Moreover, the genus Cuphodes in particular is characterized by exceptionally pilose hind legs, equipped with erected sharply pointed spiniform scales.

Generic diagnostic characters in micromorphology are as follows: in males (i) subscaphium+gnathos is strongly developed, (ii) costa of valva very strongly sclerotised, (iii) subapical part of valva with a hanging semi-round flap or other sclerotisations of different sizes and shapes, (iv) transtilla complete, in case of absence the function of transtilla is taken by very long basal apodemes of valvae or sclerotised basal bow of vinculum; in female genitalia (i) apophyses anteriores either absent or rather short, (ii) papillae anales strongly fused and deeply nested in the cuticle of segment VIII, (iii) antrum/colliculum sclerotised, (iv) signa small, (v) bulla seminalis usually situated at anterior margin of segment VII or in segment VII, small with convoluted ductus seminalis.

BOLD data: https://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/TaxBrowser_TaxonPage?taxid=370259

GenBank data: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/?term= Cuphodes

Mitogenomic data: All our analyses of the mitochondrial data very strongly supported the monophyly of the Australian members of the genus Cuphodes . All analyses also placed the Australian Cuphodes species consistently as sister to Toowoomba gen. n. + ( Parectopa + Polysoma ), albeit with low to moderate statistical support. In contrast, the single and two Japanese representatives of Cuphodes included in the studies of Kawahara et al. (2017) and Li et al. (2022), respectively, were placed as sister to all other Ornixolinae , while Parectopa was placed very distantly ( Kawahara et al. 2017: single species) or was strongly polyphyletic ( Li et al. 2022: four species). We cannot rule out that the consistent placement of the Australian Cuphodes species in our study is incorrect, but it is also possible that the Japanese Cuphodes species included in Kawahara et al. (2017) and Li et al. (2022) are not congeneric with the Australian type species of Cuphodes .

Bionomics: Caesalpiniaceae : Caesalpinia sp. ( Cuphodes plexigrapha ( Meyrick, 1916a) .

Ebenaceae : Diospyros kaki L.f. ( C. diospyrosella ( Issiki, 1957)) , D. natalensis (Harv.) Brenan ( C. diospyri Vári, 1961 ), D. calycantha O. Schwarz ( D. drypette sp. nov., D. calycanthae sp. nov., C. niphadias ( Turner, 1913)) .

Fabaceae : Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., C. indicus Spreng. ( C. plexigrapha ( Meyrick, 1916a)) , Vachellia nilotica (L.) P.J.H.Hurter & Mabb. ( C. profluens ( Meyrick, 1916a)) .

Putranjivaceae : Drypetes deplanchei (Brongn. & Gris) Merr. , new host plant record and host plant family for Gracillariidae ( C. drypette sp. nov.).

Distribution: Afrotropical Region: Namibia, Seychelles: Silhouette, South Africa: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape.

Australian Region: Australia: Queensland, New South Wales (as Cyphosticha ), Northern Territory (as Cyphosticha ).

Neotropical Region: Guyana.

Oriental Region: India: Bihar: Tamilnadu, Karnataka (as Cyphosticha ), Sri Lanka (as Cyphosticha ).

Palaearctic Region: Japan: Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku, Pakistan.

Species richness: World: 29 species; Australian Region: 18 species.

Australian species

Based on mitogenomic data three monophyletic clades within the Australian species belonging to the genus Cuphodes are delineated: 1) Cuphodes niphadias clade; 2) C. pyrochrom a clade; 3) C. maculosa clade.

Six Australian species are included into the C. niphadias clade:

C. albomarginata ( Stainton, 1862)

C. calycanthae sp. nov.

C. drypette sp. nov.

C. holoteles ( Turner, 1913)

C. leucoptera sp. nov.

C. niphadias ( Turner, 1913)

Note 1: we do not have DNA data on the type species C. thysanota Meyrick, 1897 . Following the external morphology, there is a great probability that this type species might also belong to the C. niphadias clade.

Note 2. We are not in the possession of sufficient molecular data to group the following species: C. didymosticha Turner, 1940 , C. lechriotoma ( Turner, 1913) , C. lithographa ( Meyrick, 1912b) , C. microta ( Turner, 1894) , C. profluens ( Meyrick, 1916a) , C. zophopasta ( Turner, 1913) .

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. niphadias monophyletic clade based on external morphological characters

(1) ground colour of forewing beige ochreous..................................................... C. albomarginata

- ground colour of forewing white or predominantly white...................................................... 2

(2) ground colour of forewing white without any pattern except a few tiny ochreous dots, apical pattern absent................................................................................................. C. leucoptera sp. nov.

- forewing with strigulae, dotted patches, apical pattern present.................................................. 3

(3) apical pattern very broad, occupying apical half of forewing, the colour of apical pattern and subapical fascia dark ochreous........................................................................................... C. holoteles

- apical pattern occupies no more than apical 1/3 of forewing, ground colour of apical pattern brightly yellow............. 4

(4) a broad fuscous fascia, consisting of many short lines of different length present at mid of forewing, subapical sector of forewing without any decoration....................................................... C. calycanthae sp. nov.

- mid area of forewing with strigulae, subapical sector of forewing with decoration.................................. 5

(5) in mid area of forewing costal and dorsal strigulae touch each other, subapical sector of forewing with short tiny costal strigulae............................................................................. C. drypette sp. nov.

- in mid area of forewing costal and dorsal strigulae do not touch each other, a transverse fascia is present in subapical sector of forewing................................................................................... C. niphadias

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. niphadias monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of males

(1) gnathos with two huge spiniform socii, cucullus with trapezoid flap, apical part of ventral margin of valva spine shaped, aedeagus tubular, straight................................................................. C. albomarginata

- socii absent, cucullus without a flap, digitiform or rounded, aedeagus sinusoid.................................... (2)

(2) subscaphium setose, cucullus protruded, digitiform, apical part of ventral margin of valva with big semi-round flap, aedeagus short with one long cornutus............................................................. C. drypette sp. nov.

- subscaphium glabrous, cucullus gently rounded, apical part of ventral margin of valva with small hardly visible flap, aedeagus long, without cornuti......................................................................... C. holoteles

Note: no data on internal male micromorphology of C. calycanthae sp. nov., C. leucoptera sp. nov. and C. niphadias .

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. niphadias monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of females

(1) corpus bursae without signum................................................................... C. holoteles

- corpus bursae with signum or signa....................................................................... 2

(2) corpus bursae with single ring-shaped signum, ostium bursae opens at mid of sternum VII, sterigma oval C. drypette sp. nov.

- corpus bursae with other shapes of signum or signa, ostium bursae opens in other parts of sternum VII with otherwise shaped or without sterigmatic sclerotisations..................................................................... 3

(3) corpus bursae with a melanised patch and the sclerotised signal frame............................................ 4

- corpus bursae without melanised patch, signum is sickle shaped................................................ 5

(4) ductus and corpus bursae clearly differentiated, signal frame is irregular pyriform shaped, occupying less than half of basal part of corpus bursae, ostium bursae opens on anterior margin of sternum VII................................ C. niphadias

- ductus and corpus bursae smoothly transit into each other, signal frame huge, covering ductus bursae and more than half of corpus bursae, ostium bursae opens on posterior margin of sternum VII........................ C. calycanthae sp. nov.

(5) ostium bursae opens at the ultimate posterior edge of segment VII.................................. C. albomarginata

- ostium bursae opens in segment VII...................................................... C. leucopter a sp. nov.

Three species are included into the C. pyrochroma clade:

C. callimacha ( Meyrick, 1920)

C. pandoxa ( Turner, 1913)

C. pyrochroma ( Turner, 1894)

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. pyrochroma monophyletic clade based on external morphological characters

(1) ornamental pattern on dorsal margin dirty white or white............................................ C. callimacha - ornamental pattern on dorsal margin bright yellow........................................................... 2 (2) ornamental pattern on dorsal margin consists of three parts, basal part M-shaped with two indentations......... C. pandoxa - ornamental pattern on dorsal margin consists of four parts, basal part triangular-shaped as sharply triangular tip...........

........................................................................................ C. pyrochroma

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. pyrochroma monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of males

(1) cucullus as narrow long appendage, anterior part of valva gently rounded, aedeagus long, slender............ C. callimacha - anterior area of valvae are split into two almost equal parts, aedeagus short, thick.................................. 2 (2) apex of uncus long, spiniform, transtilla present, saccus with sharp, anterior tip, aedeagus short with thick bulbed vesica....

........................................................................................ C. pyrochroma - apex of uncus is short, truncate, transtilla absent, saccus short, digitiform appendage with rounded apex, aedeagus with narrow tuberculose vesica........................................................................... C. pandoxa

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. pyrochroma monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of females

(1) ostium bursae opens at the ultimate posterior edge of segment VII, segment VII strongly sclerotised with two semi-circular lateral folds............................................................................... C. pyrochroma - ostium bursae opens at the anterior sector of segment VII, segment VII moderately sclerotised without semicircular folds...

........................................................................................... C. pandoxa

Note: no data on internal female micromorphology of C. callimacha

Two species are included into the C. maculosa clade:

C. habrophanes Turner, 1940

C. maculosa Turner, 1940

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. maculosa monophyletic clade based on external morphological characters

(1) ground colour white, apex of forewing with dark brown horizontal sickle-shaped ornament, dorsal margin of forewing with short dark stripes.......................................................................... C. habrophanes

- ground colour white, apex of forewing with short vertical comma-shaped stripe, dorsal margin of forewing with long brightly yellow irregular ornamental stripes.............................................................. C. maculosa

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. maculosa monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of males

(1) sacculus with very long narrow fold, short spiniform scales present on sub-apical area of dorsal margin and on apex of valva, vinculum broad, basal long spines absent, aedeagus short, straight with indented coecum................ C. habrophanes

- sacculus with short, flap like, hanging appendage, short thick spiniform scales are absent on valval surfaces, vinculum narrow, two bunches of basal long spines are present, aedeagus is long, sinusoid, coecum gently rounded............. C. maculosa

Key to the Australian Cuphodes species belonging to C. maculosa monophyletic clade based on internal morphological characters of females

(1) ostium bursae opens in sub-anterior sector of VII, sterigmatic fold absent, ductus bursae not sclerotised, signum on corpus bursae a broad light ochreous stripe consisting of numerous tubercules............................... C. habrophanes

- ostium bursae opens in the anterior part of segment VII, partially “hidden” by sternum VI in ventral view, horizontal sterigmatic fold in sub-posterior area of segment VII present, ductus bursae sclerotised, signum on corpus bursae as a thin thread-like loop with planted short spines...................................................................... C. maculosa

Type species: Cuphodes thysanota Meyrick, 1897 ( Fig. 43)

“ C.[uphodes] thysanota , n. sp. ”—Meyrick, E., 1897. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 22: 314. https:// www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3344951

Cuphodes thysanota — Fletcher 1929: 61; Turner 1940: 53; Nielsen & Kumata 1996: 48; De Prins & De Prins 2005: 167.

Type locality: [ Australia], Queensland, Rosewood .

Type specimen: Holotype ♀, genitalia slide 4542 ♀, BMNH(E) 1055696, in NHMUK (London).

Specimens examined: Holotype ♀: [1] ‘[ Australia], Rosewood/ Queensland /30/9/[18]79’; [2] ‘Meyrick Coll/B.M. 1938-290’; [3] ‘Holotype’; [4] ‘B.M. ♀ /Genitalia slide/No. 4542’; [4] ‘Right wings/missing’; [5] ‘ Phrixosceles Meyr. / thysanota Meyr. ’; [6] ‘BMNH(E)1055696’; [7] ‘ Phrixosceles / thysanota /1/1 Meyr./E. Meyrick det./in Meyrick Coll., in NHMUK (London).

Morphological diagnostic characterisation: Length of the forewing ca. 3.2 mm. ( Fig. 43).

Head: vertex with a tuft of shining snowy white, smooth piliform scales. Antenna slightly (ca. 1/5×) longer light ochreous dorsally, scape shining white.

Thorax ( Fig. 43): snowy white, tegula white with golden ochreous bases. Forewing narrowly elongated, costal and dorsal margins run parallel, forewing slightly narrowing at apex, ground colour white with faint small, hardly visible, golden markings at the sub-basal sector of the dorsal margin of the forewing. The fringe line is not defined. Fringe ochreous, matte, without shine, shorter at tornus, the longest at sub-apical part absent at the sub-dorsal sector of the forewing. Hindwing narrow, elongate, sharply pointed, ground colour dark ochreous, fringe long, ca. 6×

longer than the width of hindwing at the base, concolourous with the colour of hindwing, the longest scales hanging at the base of the dorsum of the hindwing that are ca. 5× longer than the broadest part of hindwing. Hind femur white, hind tibia covered with long shiny white spiniform scales of different lengths; median spurs long, as long as about 2/3 of tibia length, apical spurs slightly short, tarsus with ochreous tarsomeres with white sub-apices/apices. Abdomen: No data.

Male genitalia: No data.

Female genitalia: B.M. Genitalia slide ♀ 4542.

BOLD data: No data.

GenBank data: No data.

Mitogenomic data: No data.

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Australia: Queensland ( Meyrick 1897: 314).