Nemophora umbripennis Stringer 1930
Creators: name: Kozlov, Mikhail V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Adelidae
Nemophora
Nemophora umbripennis

description: Nemophora umbripennis Stringer, 1930   
(Figs. 41, 42, 81, 103, 120)  
 Nemophora umbripennis: Stringer 1930: 422. Holotype ♂: Japan; labelled: 8 mm circle with red border, print ‘ Holo- │ type’; 6 × 9 mm, print + black ink ‘ JAPAN. │ Pryer Coll. │...1886’; 8 × 10 mm, print ‘Walsingham │ Collection │ 1910-427’; 14 × 22 mm, black ink + print ‘ Nemophora │ umbripennis │ Strgr │ Ann Mag N. H. 10 S 6 p. 422 │ TYPE ♂ (1930)’ (NHM) [examined].   
 Nemophora umbripennis: Inoue 1954: 9; Issiki 1957: 12, pl. 1 fig. 24 (colour photograph of moth); Okano 1959: 277, pl. 183 fig. 8 (colour drawing of moth); Watanabe 1980: 18, pl. 8 fig. 1; Otsuka 1985: 2; Moriuti 1982: 53–54, 156, pl. 1 fig. 26 (colour photograph of moth); Kawamura 1984: 2; Hirowatari 1998: 29; Hirowatari 2000: 12 fig. 11.3 (colour photograph of male), 26–27; Oku 2003: 6; Yamazaki & Kato 2003: 290, 316; Hirowatari 2005: 320, 314 fig. 1o (colour photograph of male head); Owada et al. 2006: 44; Inoue et al. 2011: 58; Hirowatari et al. 2012: 104–105; Hirowatari 2013: 105, figs. 3-07-22, 3-07-23 (colour photographs of moths); Hayashi 2016: 69; Kataoa [Kataoka] et al. 2019: 195; Mishima 2021: 80; Liao et al. 2023: 8, 19, 25, 110 pl. 10 fig. 4 (colour photograph of holotype).   
 Other material. Myanmar. 2 ♀, Chin-Hills, 16 miles Camp, 2500 m, 10.x.2002 (Mey) (ZMB). Taiwan. 1 ♀, Nantou County, Tayuling, 2750 m, 10.–14.vi.1982 (Heppner) (FSCA); 1 ♂, Nantou County, Musha (between Puli and Wushe), 14.iii.1927 (Kato) (USNM). Japan. 3 ♂ 2 ♀, Hokkaido, Oshima, Hakodate, plains, 28.v.1902 (Wileman) (NHM); 1 ♂, Hokkaido, Sapporo, 25.v.1918 (Issiki); 1 ♂, ibid., 3.vi.1918 (Issiki); 1 ♂, Honshu, Osaka Prefecture, Nose, 24.iv.1952 (Issiki); 1 ♂, Honshu, Osaka Prefecture, Iwawaki Mt., 27.iv.[no year] (Ito); 1 ♀, ibid., 29.iv.1920 (Issiki); 1 ♂, Honshu, Tochigi Prefecture, Yumoto, 20.vi.1932 (Issiki); 1 ♀, Honshu, Nagano Prefecture, Tobira, 17.v.1955 (Mutuura); 1 ♂, Honshu, Nagano Prefecture, Karuizawa, 31.v.1945 (Inoue); 1 ♀, Honshu, Seibu, Kanmuriyama, 1.vi.1953 (Issiki); 1 ♀, Shikoku, Tokushima Prefecture, Iya, 4.vi.1950 (Issiki); 1 ♂, Shikoku, Kochi Prefecture, Kamigur, 7.iv.1950 (Issiki); 1 ♀, Kyushu, Kumamoto, Korimidake, 24.v.1952 (Kodama); 2 ♂, Kyushu, Minomo, 28.iv.1918 (Tozawa) (all in USNM); 1 ♂, Honshu, Osaka Prefecture, Mt. Kongousan, 11.v.1966 (Nigoro & Hirowatari); 1 ♂, Honshu, Nara Prefecture, Mt. Wasamata, 1.vi.1966 (Nigoro & Hirowatari) (both in MZH); 1 ♀, Kyushu, Unzen, 26.iv.1937 (Höne) (ZFMK).   
 Diagnosis. Nemophora umbripennis is similar to N. solstitiella (Walsingham in Walsingham & Durrant, 1900), from which it differs by larger occipital distance (0.3–0.4 × vertical eye diameter), absence of antennal pegs, longer PLB (1.6–1.9 × vertical eye diameter), glossy bronze to glossy golden frons, dark brown basal spot in forewing, shorter vinculum, and the absence of a deep recess on the ventral margin of valva.   
 Description. Male (Fig.41). FWL 6.4–7.7mm,WLR 0.30–0.36.Vertex with dark brown piliform scales interspersed with grey scales; frons glossy bronze to glossy golden. PLB 1.6–1.9 × vertical eye diameter (2.8–3.2 × length of scape), dorsally with appressed creamy scales, ventrolaterally with dense cover of raised piliform scales, which are white on internal side of palpus and dark brown on ventral and external sides. Proboscis brown, base with dense cover of brown piliform scales. Eyes enlarged, but not touching each other; interocular index 0.80–0.95; occipital distance 0.3–0.4. Antenna 2.7–3.1 × FWL, without pegs. Scape glossy bronze; basal 10–20 flagellomeres dark bronze to brown, ventrally with yellow scales, dorsally with slightly raised dark bronze scales; amount of yellow scales variable, increases gradually towards tip of antenna, and at about 0.3 × FWL colour of flagellum turns to pale yellow. Tegulae and thorax dark bronze. Forewing (Fig. 81) dark brown, densely scattered with bright yellow scales (proportion of dark brown and yellow scales approximately 1: 1). Dark brown basal spot from diffuse (in specimens from Japan) to distinct (in specimens from Myanmar). Yellow medial band of fascia narrow (0.04–0.07 × FWL), reaches costa at 0.5 × FWL; on both sides surrounded by pale dark brown and glossy dark bronze bands of about same width as yellow band. Fringe bronze. Hindwing dark brown; costal area grey; fringe brown. Legs dark bronze to dark brown; apices of tibiae and all tarsomeres pale yellow to white; fore tibia with tuft of dark brown scales; hind tibia with dense cower of brown piliform scales, medially with white spot. Epiphysis at 0.45, not reaching apex of tibia. Abdomen brown to bronze.   
Female (Fig. 42). FWL 4.8–6.5 mm. Vertex with pale yellow or creamy piliform scales interspersed with dark brown scales; ochreous in specimens from Myanmar. PLB with brown to black apical segment, raised scales mostly dark brown, with small addition of white scales; in specimens from Taiwan and Myanmar scales on basal segment of palpus are white. Antenna 1.1–1.2 × FWL, in specimen from Taiwan 0.9 × FWL, basal half of flagellum covered with dark bronze scales, which are slightly raised basally and more raised at distal end of scaled part of flagellum, forming characteristic scale-thickening; apical half of flagellum bronze, with yellow spots or rings; in specimen from Taiwan these rings are white. Abdominal sternites with rows of yellow scales on distal margins. Otherwise similar to male.  
Male genitalia (Figs. 103, 120). Tegumen dome-shaped, wide, with small medial ridge. Socii oval, 1.0 × diameter of phallus. Vinculum 2.0 × length of valva, U-shaped, with almost straight lateral margins, proximally wide (0.6 × width of distal part); distal margin almost straight, with small medial protuberance. Tip of tegumen extends beyond tips of valvae. Ventral valvar margin gently wave-shaped to nearly straight; dorsal margin almost straight, except for basal protuberance; tip of valva narrowly rounded. Valvae fused basally up to 0.3 × total length; internal valvar margins distinct. Anellus 0.3 × length of valva. Transtilla with long narrow medial process. Juxta 0.5 × length of phallus; arrow head extremely wide (WLR 1.3), with widely rounded tip and pointed lateral arms. Phallus 0.95 × length of vinculum, almost straight, except for base which is bent at nearly right angle (see from side); tip narrowly funnel-shaped, partially membranous; base widely funnel-shaped.  
 Biology. Moths were observed on flowers of Deutzia crenata Siebold & Zucc. (Hydrangeaceae) (Yamazaki & Kato 2003).   
 Distribution. Taiwan (this study), Myanmar (this study), Japan (Stringer 1930).   
 Comments. Two females from the mountains of Myanmar and one female from the mountains of Taiwan slightly differ from specimens from Japan. However, these differences are so minor that I have chosen to consider them as geographical variation.
description: Published as part of Kozlov, Mikhail V., 2024, Fairy moths of the genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg, 1798 (Lepidoptera: Adelidae) from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 5423 (1) on pages 37-39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5423.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10805789