Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910

Sterling, Mark J., Price, Ben W. & Lees, David C., 2025, A revision of the hitherto neglected genus Topiris Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Xyloryctidae) with taxonomic notes on the genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910, ZooKeys 1229, pp. 297-368 : 297-368

Genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910

Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910: 457.

Type species.

Athrypsiastis phaeoleuca Meyrick, 1910: 458 .

Note.

Apart from the limited materials in the NHMUK, the only specimens of Athrypsiastis of which we are aware are the holotypes, both by monotypy, of Athrypsiastias chionodes Diakonoff, 1954 and A. delicata Diakonoff, 1954 . We have examined all the material described or previously identified as Athrypsiastis at the NHMUK. We produce here a fuller description of A. phaeoleuca . The type of A. salva designated by Meyrick is lost, but one of the two specimens from the Meyrick collection must be the other specimen referred to in the original description, and therefore syntypic. The genitalia of both these specimens clearly places them within Topiris and the taxon is combined as Topiris salva (Meyrick, 1932) . Athrypsiastis rosiflora is manifestly misplaced to genus (see Figs 22–29 and the species description). Genitalia examination shows that the material identified by Edward Meyrick as A. symmetra contained three different species. We describe the morphology of the putative male of A. symmetra based on topotypical material from Rossel Island, New Guinea and we describe the other two species, both from Papua New Guinea. We also describe some previously unexamined material from Sulawesi as A. penumbrella sp. nov.

Diagnosis.

Small to medium sized xyloryctid moths. R 3 is present in the forewing and R 3, R 4, and R 5 have a common stalk. M 3 and CuA 1 are also stalked. The presence of R 3 in the forewing distinguishes Athrypsiastis from Linoclostis and Metathrinca . In the male genitalia of Athrypsiastis , the medial plate of the gnathos strongly projects posteriorly from the lateral arms, is strongly sclerotised and in most species the projection is posteriorly scobinate. The saccular process is strongly curved towards the saccular margin. The aedeagus sheath is short, does not have a recurved, filament-like, distal projection and one or more cornuti are generally present. These characters distinguish Athrypsiastis from Topiris .

Description.

Adult. Head: Ocelli absent. Frons with appressed scales. Vertex with appressed scales medially, tufts of longer scales laterally and on posterior part of occiput, overlaying collar of long scales pointing posteriorly. Maxillary palps very short. Pilifers short and bristled. Labial palps long to very long (> 2.5–3.5 × diameter of eye), strongly recurved. Haustellum scaled basally. Antenna 2 / 3 to ¾ length of forewing, scape thickly scaled, no pecten, pedicel short, male usually with dark pectinations, reducing at ¾ with apical portion filiform, but occasionally filiform throughout. Thorax: Thorax with appressed lamellate scales. Tegulae short. Foreleg with tibial epiphysis. Tibial spurs 0–2 – 4. Hindlegs with tuft of long scales. Frenulum of male a single bristle from base of hindwing coupling with retinaculum under a scaled flap towards the base of Sc on the forewing. Forewing venation: R 1 from ~ ½ discal cell, R 3 present, R 3, R 4 and R 5 with a common stalk, R 3 pre-apical or apical, R 4 and R 5 stalked, R 4 usually post-apical, R 5 post-apical. M 1, M 2 and M 3 parallel and evenly spaced. M 3 and CuA 1 stalked. CuP present. Hindwing venation: Sc and Rs widely spaced, M 3 and CuA 1 connate or stalked (Fig. 63 ). Forewings broad, hindwings at least as broad as forewings. Dorsal surface of forewings unicolourous except for a small line of dark brown scales at the edge of the base of the costa and, in some species, a faint darker terminal line. In some species there is also a patch of thicker scaling on the dorsum which appears greyish or brownish. Forewing cilia without lines. The pre-genital abdomen is concolourous with forewings with patches of short thick orange-brown tergal spines pointing posteriorly on posterior part of T 2 – T 7 and occasionally a small patch on T 8 (Fig. 67 ).

Male genitalia. Uncus broad anteriorly with anterior margin of dorsal surface usually weakly emarginate or straight, occasionally strongly emarginate, generally tapering strongly towards posterior apex, sometimes posteriorly spatulate or bifid. Gnathos fused medially with large, strongly sclerotised medial plate with single medial projection, strongly projecting posteriorly (Fig. 76 ). Band of tegumen of variable width, lateral extensions of tegumen generally long, occasionally short. Vinculum U or V shaped, generally projecting substantially beyond base of valvae. Valva large and broad with setose ventral membrane from costa, sometimes with ridge at anterior margin. Sacculus large, longer than broad. Saccular process developing from distal part of sacculus, folded ventrad, large and distinctive, basally curved strongly towards saccular margin, setose and strongly bristled. Aedeagus short and simple, generally with small cornutus / i.

Female genitalia. Unknown.

Biology and early stages.

Athrypsiastis symmetra is reported from Cinnamon Cinnamonum verum J. Presl (= zeylanicum Blume ) ( Lauraceae ), Rambutan Nephelium lappaceum L. ( Sapindaceae ) and Cocoa Theobroma cacao L. ( Sterculiaceae ) ( Yunus and Ho 1980; Robinson et al. 2001: 70).

Distribution.

The genus is known from Papua New Guinea, and Sulawesi and Halmahera Island, Indonesia.

Figures

Figures 22–31. Dorsal images of Topiris, Athrypsiastis and Paralecta spp. 22 Topiris RMNH. INS. 20000 23 Athrypsiastis phaeoleuca Meyrick, 1910, holotype ♂ 24 A. cheesmanae sp. nov., paratype ♂ 25 A. edelweissella sp. nov., holotype ♂ 26 A. halmaherella (Lvovsky, 2014), comb. nov., holotype ♂ 27 A. penumbrella sp. nov., holotype ♂ 28 A. symmetra Meyrick, 1915, ♂ 29 Paralecta rosiflora (Meyrick, 1930), comb. nov., holotype 30 Topiris salva (Meyrick, 1932) ♀ 31 T. salva ♀. Scale bars: 10 mm (22–29).

Figures 57–65. Female genitalia of Topiris and Linoclostis spp., wing preparations 57 Topiris candidella Walker, 1863, slide no. NHMUK 014331340 58 T. schneeweissella sp. nov., paratype, slide no. NHMUK 010316451 59 T. salva Meyrick, 1932, comb. nov., slide no. NHMUK 014331352 60 A T. albidella sp. nov., paratype, slide no. NHMUK 010316865 60 B corpus bursae imaged during preparation 61 Linoclostis gonatias Meyrick, 1908, type, slide no. JFGC 7678 62 T. candidella, Brunei, slide no. NHMUK 014331889 63 Athrypsiastis cheesmanae sp. nov., paratype, slide no. NHMUK 014331890 64 T. salva, forewing venation slide no. NHMUK 010316844 65 L. gonatias, type, forewing venation, slide no. JFGC 7678. Scale bars: 2 mm (57–61).

Figures 66–77. Topiris and Athrypsiastis, pre-genital abdomens and selected genitalia characters (enlarged) 66 Topiris candidella Walker, 1863, Brunei, slide no. NHMUK 014331344 67 Athrypsiastis phaeoleuca Meyrick, 1910, slide no. NHMUK 010316398 68 T. meyricki sp. nov., holotype, aedeagus, slide no. NHMUK 010316359 69 T. cinderella sp. nov., aedeagus, slide no. NHMUK 010316448 70 T. albidella sp. nov., aedeagus, slide no. NHMUK 014331359 71 A. phaeoleuca Meyrick, 1910 holotype, aedeagus, slide no. NHMUK 010316398 72 T. salva (Meyrick, 1932), antrum, slide no. NHMUK 014331352 73 T. salva (Meyrick, 1932), corpus bursae, slide no. NHMUK 014331352 74 T. albidella sp. nov., holotype, uncus and gnathos, slide no. NHMUK 010316354 75 T. schneeweissella sp. nov., holotype, uncus and gnathos, slide no. NHMUK 010316358 76 Athrypsiastis phaeoleuca Meyrick, 1910, holotype, uncus and gnathos, slide no. NHMUK 010316398 77 T. cinderella sp. nov., holotype, vinculum, slide no. NHMUK 010316400. Scale bars: 2 mm (66, 67).