Thaumatographa fennchihwu Heppner & Arita 2025, new species
Creators: name: Heppner, J. B.
name: Arita, Yutaka
name: Bae, Yang-Seop
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Tortricidae
Thaumatographa
Thaumatographa fennchihwu

description: Thaumatographa fennchihwu Heppner & Arita, new species
LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: FB01099C-EFFD-4AD5-A3F5-B8DABCB82F82
(Figs. 3–4, 11, 14)
Type-locality: Taiwan: Fennchihwu, Chiayi Co.
Type material. Holotype. [Taiwan] ♂ “Fennchihhu” [Fennchihwu] (1400 m), Chiayi Co., 14 Jul. 1984, Y. Arita (adult photo 5570; gen. JBH-4646) (MGCL). Paratypes. (16♂, 15♀; n = 31). Taiwan, Chiayi Co.: same site as holotype, 14 Jul. 1984 (1♂, 2♀) (gen. YA-1158m); 16 Jul. 1984 (3♂, 7♀) (gen. JBH-4647 ♀); 18 Jul. 1984 (6♂, 1♀); 19 Jul. 1984 (5♂, 4♀) (gen. YA-1192f) (MGCL). Taiwan, Taipei Co.: Wulai (200 m), 2 Aug. 1988 (1♂) (adult photo 14171; gen. JBH- 3763m), J. B. Heppner (MGCL). Wulai (400 m), 14 Aug. 1985 (1♀), A. Kawabe (NSMT).
Diagnosis. A large species for the genus (Figs. 3–4), with forewings black-brown with orange-marked striae, and a large orange tornal patch with two black spots; the hindwings are black-brown with a prominent yellow patch on middle of wing to base and a narrow cubital narrow pale orange patch, and fringe is prominent and white; and both sexes with equal maculation. The male genitalia have the valvae oblong-quadratic, with a truncated termen, the uncus is short with a wide base, the hami are short and somewhat flattened, and the socii are short, wide and very setose. The female genitalia are typical for the genus but the ductus bursae has a large diverticular sac on its caudal end.
Description. Wing expanse: males12.8–19.0 mm (n = 17), females 14.8–19.8 mm (n = 15).
Head (Figs. 3a, 4a): dark brown, with orange-yellow scales laterally by neck and medially on vertex and frons; eyes large, black-brown; ocellus large, dark brown; antennal scape amber to brown; antenna brown (orange ventrally); labial palpus mostly white, with brown to yellow dorsally on basal segment and somewhat on middle segment, with bluish iridescence on apical segment; head venter white, with neck fringe yellow to orange-yellow.
Thorax (Figs. 3–4): dark brown, with light orange as lateral margin on prothorax, becoming more tawny orange on mesothorax and metathorax, with orange caudal margin; patagia dark brown with orange from prothoax; tegula dark brown with orange laterally; venter white; legs white, with black-brown markings, as in the related species.
Forewing (Figs. 3–4): black-brown, with orange striae and lines from costa and dorsal margin (in generic form like T. mesostigmatias but darker orange); five costal bars angled to termen, with pale orange-yellow on margin, then silvery toward middle of wing, and dull orange suffusion on dorsal 1/3 of forewing from middle to apex and interrupted by black curved preapical bar; forewing apex with an orange marginal line, sharply bent inwards before a pale yellow to white bar near mid-termen; tornus with a large elongated marginal orange patch with two black spots in middle and a pair of tiny black spots dorsad near white mark of termen; fringe brown with yellow at tornus and near mid-termen; venter dark brown with pale yellow in cell area and marks of dorsum very faintly repeated, except distinct on costa, with dorsal margin white.
Hindwing (Figs. 3–4): black-brown with a large oblong orange-yellow patch, narrowing to wingbase, and a similar more orange and narrower patch on the cubitus near wingbase; costa white; fringe widely white to pale yellow at wing margin, and pale orange along anal margin; venter like dorsum but more suffused, and costa brown.
Abdomen (Figs. 3–4): brown (dark brown on T-1), with orange posterior margins on tergites; venter tan; genital tufts light brown with tan-white venter; pregenital segment with sternite strongly invaginated caudally, with strong coremata from lateral base pouches; caudal tergite with similar median invagination.
Male genitalia (Fig. 11): tegumen quadratic, slightly narrowed dorsally with rounded dorsal corners; uncus short, narrowing to semi-acute decumbent apex from widened base; hamus short and widened, somewhat flattened; socius short but very wide and setose; gnathos membranous and rounded; transtilla relatively straight and narrow, with moderate ventral appendage each side of anellus with acute end; juxta small and spoon-like; anellus membranous, undeveloped; aedeagus small and short tubular, with small decumbent phallobase; vesica scobinate; cornuti undeveloped; ductus ejaculatorius short, with long proximal hood appendage; valva oblong quadratic, with round-blunt termen and dorsal apex slightly angular and more setose; saccular margin slightly convex near base; vinculum triangular; saccus very short, with blunt apex.
Female genitalia (Fig. 14): ovipositor very short (2/3 length of segment 7), with elongate-oval horizontal dorsal median flap; papilla anales large, setose and widened caudally; apophyses subequal in length; ostium (Fig. 14a), a deep funnel, gradually narrowing to junction with ductus bursae, with a band of sclerotized scobination on narrower section; sterigma a concave membranous margin; ductus bursae long and evenly narrow, with a prominent ventral diverticular sac (or small pouch) with internally spiculate walls and bifid distally from junction with antrum; ductus seminalis from ductus bursae proximal end; corpus bursae oblong-ovate, with one end more acute; oblong-ovate accessory diverticulum from thin tube to near ductus bursae base; signum a large typical form for the genus.
Etymology. The species is named for the type locality, “Fennchihwu” in Chiayi Co., Taiwan. There is some discrepancy with the English spelling of the village, but we use the spelling used by the Taiwan Museum (Heppner, 2012b, c, d). This locality, Fennchihwu, was formerly a Japanese logging camp and a railway stop on the Alishan rail line going higher to the town of Alishan, on the slopes of the high mountain of the same name (Mt. Ali portion of Yushan): this mountain has been heavily logged for over 100 years but small patches of original forest still remain and are now expanding with new conservation efforts.
Biology. Unknown. Recorded elevations in Taiwan range from 200 m to 1400 m in montane forest habitat. Flight period (n = 47 records): mid-July to mid-August.
Distribution. Known only from Taiwan, in Chiayi Co., and also the low mountain site near Taipei, in Taipei Co., called Wulai. The Wulai area has various elevations, with the main village elevation at 200 m and forest habitat going higher from there.
Discussion. This is one of the few Thaumatographa species with an ample specimen sample, and paratypes will be distributed also to other museum collections (RMNH, TFRI, USNM). The species is one of the larger species of the genus. Its habitus superficially resembles species of the tropical Asian tortricid genus Eucosmogastra Diakonoff, 1975 (Olethreutinae: Enarmoniini), which also have the yellow-patched hindwing, but differ in forewing maculation. The bifid ventral diverticulum of the caudal end on the ductus bursae has no known function but is possibly some kind of gland apparatus.
description: Published as part of Heppner, J. B., Arita, Yutaka & Bae, Yang-Seop, 2025, Review of Thaumatographa tortricids in Taiwan (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Chlidanotinae: Hilarographini), pp. 271-292 in Zootaxa 5583 (2) on pages 281-283, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5583.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/14798833