Argyresthia (Argyresthia) pygmaeella
Creators: name: Liu, Tengteng
name: Wang, Shuxia
name: Li, Houhun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Yponomeutidae
Argyresthia
Argyresthia pygmaeella

description: 43. Argyresthia (Argyresthia) pygmaeella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
(Figs. 53, 54, 121, 177, 233, 279)
Tinea pygmaeella [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775:141. TL: [Austria], Vienna district. Tinea rudolphella Esper, 1791: 43.
Tinea semifasciella Haworth: Stephens, 1835: 252.
Argyrosetia [sic] semifasciella (Haworth): Stephens, 1829: 205. Argyresthia pygmaeella ([Denis & Schiffermüller]): Hübner, 1825: 422. Argyresthia pygmaeella (Hübner): Stainton, 1854: 187.
Description. Adult (Figs. 53, 54) wingspan 12.0̄ 15.5 mm. Forewing with two different patterns: one with several golden dots on costa, with dense golden spots below basal 2/3 of costa, dorsal fascia slightly narrowed anteriorly, reaching distal 2/3 of costa, distal 1/3 of wing suffused with golden dots, tornus with a golden dot extending to apex (Fig. 53); the other with ground color silvery grayish white, dorsal fascia from before middle of wing, wide on basal 1/3, narrower on distal 2/3, reaching before distal end of cell, tornus with a golden dot not extended (Fig. 54).
Male genitalia: As in Figs. 121, 177 and 233.
Female genitalia: As in Fig. 279.
Material examined. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region: 19Ƌ, 38♀ (1 ex. without abdomen), Hemu Village (47.71°N, 86.87°E), Buerjin County, 1114 m, 21̄ 24.vii.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang, slide nos. LTT12054Ƌ, LTT12088 ♂, LTT12722 ♂, LTT12723 ♀, LTT12054W, LTT1302W; 1♂, 3♀, Buerjin (47.71°N, 86.87°E), 504 m, 21, 28.vii.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang; 24♂ (3 exs. without abdomen), 37♀ (2 exs. without abdomen), Baihaba Village (48.53°N, 86.71°E), Habahe County, 1264 m, 27.vii.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang, slide nos. LTT12039Ƌ, LTT12040 ♀, LTT12093 ♀, LTT12724 ♀; 2♂, 4♀, Kanasi (48.50°N, 87.10°E), Buerjin, 1407 m, 25̄ 26.vii.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang, slide no. LTT12092 ♂; 1♀, Balian (43.59°N, 82.07°E), Mohe Town, Kongliu County, 1206 m, 5.viii.2007, leg. Xinpu Wang; 1♀, Nalati (43.31°N, 84.17°E), Xinyuan, 1562 m, 7.viii.2007, Xinpu Wang; Gansu Province: 1Ƌ, Mt. Xinglong, Yuzhong County (35.80°N, 104.07°E), 2120 m, 30.vii.1993, leg. Houhun Li, slide no. LTT12726.
Host plants: Salix capera Linn. and Salix spp. (Salicaceae) (Friese 1969, Agassiz 1996).
Distribution. China (Gansu, Xinjiang), Europe, Russia, America, Canada.
Diagnosis. Argyresthia (A.) pygmaeella superficially resembles A. (A.) brockeella (Hübner, [1805]); the two share a forewing with golden streaks. The two species differ remarkably in features of the male genitalia: A. (A.) pygmaeella has a subrectangular valva, a subtriangular saccus obtuse apically, and coremata (Fig. 121); A. (A.) brockeella has a subovate valva narrowed at the base and widened towards the apex, a band-shaped saccus nearly uniform in width, and lacks coremata (Fig. 122).
description: Published as part of Liu, Tengteng, Wang, Shuxia & Li, Houhun, 2017, Review of the genus Argyresthia Hübner, [1825] (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea: Argyresthiidae) from China, with descriptions of forty-three new species, pp. 1-135 in Zootaxa 4292 (1) on page 54, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.827746