Vangatinea Heppner & Bae 2023, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Heppner, John B.
name: Bae, Yang-Seop
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Tineidae
Vangatinea

description: VANGATINEA Heppner & Bae, gen. nov.
(Figs. 1–2)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7F849327-272A-4D3B-AC32-5D4ED7D5CA33
Type species: Vangatinea sontraensis Heppner & Bae, sp. nov.
Diagnosis. The genus is distinguished by the apically acute wings, with the hindwing costal margin abruptly arcuate at midwing (Fig. 1), and the colorful orange (to golden-orange) forewing maculation, with dark blue-black to purple-brown basal and distal patches, pale brown hindwings, golden-yellow head, and slightly thickened filiform antennae. The male genitalia are strongly sclerotized in compact and rounded tegumen-vinculum conical shell, with very short saccus (or undeveloped), with complicated and small mandible-like valvae; aedeagus with single tubular cornutus as long as aedeagus; male abdomen with small lateral pregenital coremata of spiculate setae (or lacking). The female genitalia have an extremely long and thin ovipositor with simple papillae anales (small and setose), and a strongly sclerotized acute bifurcate sterigma that seems to be a piercing structure; corethrogyne absent; bursa small and ovate; and signum absent.
Description. Wing expanse: 10.7–16mm (n = 5). Head (Fig. 2): vertex medially conical, with short epicranial suture; transverse suture indistinct; long golden-yellow to orange piliform scales on vertex and frons; eyes medium to large (smaller in female), with simple facets; ocellus absent; chaetosema absent; maxillary palpus short, 5-segmented (total length subequal to basal segment of labial palpus); labial palpus drooping (more upturned in female), segments slender and distal two segments nearly subequal in length, basal segment shorter, with only 2–3 ventral or lateral bristles on middle segment; vom Rath's organ on apical segment; haustellum short (galeae free, length subequal to apical labial palpus segment), held straight ventrally (with minute lateral filaments); mandible minute stub; pilifer minute (with single long seta); antenna filiform, average length (ca. 2/3 forewing length), with single row of scales per barrel-shaped segment; scape of median length (ca. 3–4 antennal segments in length), with indistinct narrow pecten field of 20–22 minute stubby bristles (6–8 of which are stouter); pedicel barrel-shaped (ca. 1.5x in width and length of remaining antennal segments). Thorax: average for body size, smooth-scaled; tegula average; patagia undeveloped; legs average length for body. Forewing (Fig. 1): very narrow elongated (4x longer than wide), having acute apex (female forewing slightly less narrow, see Fig. 5); Sc very close to costal wing margin, to midwing; radius basally vestigial; R1 long, from basal 1/3 of wing; R2–5 evenly spaced from discal cell, with R2 somewhat more distant from R3, and with R5 to before apex; discal cell long, with chorda present but indistinct; median veins evenly spaced, but M3 slightly more approximate to M2 at cell than M1 to M2; cubitus basally vestigial; CuA1 and CuA2 short and parallel to tornus; CuP short at tornus, but stronger from base to near tornus; A1+2 strong, with convex bulge of A1 after basal segment; A2 weak in basal fork; A3 indistinct; tornus straight (slightly rounded after termen); dorsal margin convex; anal margin short-rounded; maculation bright orange with golden iridescence, and black-brown wing base and distal patches; fringes long on termen; retinaculum normal (elongated triangle with rolled apex). Hindwing (Fig. 1): narrow (4x longer than wide), with acute attenuated apex and costal margin concave from midwing to apex (female hindwing slightly less narrow, see Fig. 5); Sc strong, to post-midwing arcuate costal margin; Rs weak until before intersection with transverse vein, then stronger to before apex; M1 to just dorsad of apex; M2 divergent of M1 at termen; M3 and CuA1 nearly parallel; CuA1 and CuA2 short, parallel to tornus; CuP strong to wing base; A1+2 short, to basal dorsal margin, medially concave, with indistinct or vestigial basal fork;A3 short; tornus convex and evenly merging to termen; dorsal margin relatively straight; anal margin turned abruptly from dorsal margin before wing base; maculation pale to brown, with long fringes on termen to anal margin; frenulum of average length for wing size. Abdomen: average size for body; normal scaling; with or without small lateral pregenital coremata in males; female corethrogyne absent. Male genitalia (Fig. 9): complicated structure, with compact tegumen-vinculum conical cylinder strongly sclerotized; uncus projected as bifurcate arms, or reduced; gnathos absent; tuba analis short or undeveloped; subscaphium absent; saccus very small or absent (or with internal spur); valva short, quadratic, and strongly sclerotized (sclerotized more along the saccular margin); valval shape mandible-like with saccular tooth-like spines, or with setose field and more dense setae on saccular margin, and with or without basal appendage; juxta-anellus a short tubular structure, with or without basally lateral pad-like termini; aedeagus long and slender; cornutus a single very long tubule (subequal to length of aedeagus and nearly as wide as aedeagus); phallobase undeveloped; seminal vesica short. Female genitalia (Fig. 11): ovipositor extremely long and thin (ca. 3x segment VI, and longer when ovipositor is fully extended); papillae anales small, slightly setose (not formed strongly for piercing); apophyses anteriores twice thickness of long apophyses posteriores (and 2.3x length of apophyses posteriores); ostium simple, membranous; sterigma divided into proximate and extremely acute asymmetrical caudal knife-like projections, with ventro-lateral carinate edges; ductus bursae a membranous long tube (ca. 1.5x bursa length); corpus bursae small and ovate (ca. 1/2x length of segment VI); signum absent.
Etymology. This genus is named for the colorful golden-orange adult moths, thus "vang" in Vietnamese ("golden" in English); the moths having orange forewings with golden iridescence, and golden-yellow to orange head scaling. Biology. Unknown. Adults are likely day-fliers, although all specimens were collected at lights.
Distribution. Only known from mainland Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam) (Fig. 12 map).
Discussion. Pending further studies, based on the character spectrum of Vangatinea we tentatively assign this new genus to the subfamily Erechthiinae, with possible relationship to Erechthias Meyrick 1880 and Pyloetis Stainton 1859, but lacking some relational characters like the female signum of the latter two genera (Common 1990, Davis and Robinson 1998, Miyamoto et al. 2007, Moriuti and Kadohara 1994, Robinson 2009, Robinson and Nielsen 1993, Robinson et al. 1994, Zimmerman 1978).
Typical erechthiine genera have an elongated antennal scape, acute narrow wings, lateral male coremata on sternum VI, and females lacking a corethrogyne, as does Vangatinea. The most comprehensive and detailed modern review of tineid genera thus far is by Robinson and Nielsen (1993; slightly updated for subfamilies in Davis and Robinson 1998), but this is already from 30 years ago and encompasses only the limited Australian fauna (only 44 genera present out of a world fauna of 320 genera); so, in this work Vangatinea keys out best to Erechthiinae. The more recent paper by Regier et al. (2014) likewise has no solution for these various unassociated genera.
The short maxillary palpi, the minute pilifers with single setae, the radically complex yet compact male genitalia, and the elongated acute forewings, as well as the costal arcuation of the hindwings, would also indicate a possible placement in Meessiinae (Davis and Robinson 1998; Robinson and Nielsen 1993; Zagulajev 1977, 1979). However, meessiine tineids are mostly dull marked to white in forewing maculation. One African meessiine genus (Merunympha Gozmány 1969) has genitalia like Vangatinea, with a female ovipositor that also is very long and with a strongly sclerotized and caudally acute sternum VII sterigmal plate (Gozmány and Varí 1973, Janse 1968). The tineid generic keys of Zagulajev (1981) for Russia key out to Meessiinae, but again it covers only a limited fauna in European Russia of only 38 genera, and no tropical genera but only temperate Palearctic genera (see also Petersen 1957 -58). Regier et al. (2014) provisionally elevated the subfamily Meessiinae to family status, as Meessiidae, but they suggest further studies are needed and this 'family' status is not followed herein.
There is superficial resemblance in wing form to the Southeast Asian genus Tineovertex Moriuti (1982) (Myrmecozelinae), but basic characters differ greatly (maxillary palpi long and male genitalia more typically of tineid form in Tineovertex, with vinculum having a long saccus) (Huang et al. 2011); however, both genera have a greatly elongated female ovipositor with setose papillae anales.
There is some similarity to the Perissomasticinae as well, for their lustrous forewings, the ubiquitous yellow head vertex of erect piliform setae, the compact and strongly sclerotized male genitalia with bifurcate uncus, and the small lateral coremata with spiculate scales in the male abdomen segment VI (Gozmány and Vári 1973, Yang et al. 2014), characters especially evident in some African genera like Sphallesthasis Gozmány 1959, but the subfamily characteristic corethrogyne of the females and the typical stubby labial palpus are lacking in Vangatinea (labial palpus slender and long in Vangatinea).
Wing venation and female genitalia have resemblance also to the Philippine, Sulawesi and Solomons tineid genus Ischnuridia Sauber 1902, except the ovipositor has a spear-like cutting papillae anales (setose in Vangatinea) and an otherwise typical very long male saccus as in most tineids (versus the short or obsolete saccus in Vangatinea) (Davis and Heppner 1987, Diakonoff 1968). While female Vangatinea have what appears to be a non-piercing ovipositor, in its place the sterigma is extremely sharp (Fig. 11a) (paired knife-like projections but asymmetrical in size), and likely serves as the piercing structure for egg deposition. Ischnuridia females may pierce into a soft hostplant like banana (Musa sp.) since an unnamed Ischnuridia from the Solomon Islands was captured on a banana plant (Davis and Heppner 1987). Vangatinea likewise has a long ovipositor and what appears to be a piercing structure on the sterigma, so possibly also for oviposition into a relatively soft hostplant. Ischnuridia is one of many tineid genera unplaced to subfamily.
The characters for the new genus description may need revision, since only a single female from the three species is available for the female characters, and likewise the male characters are from only two of the species: however, the overlap of characters of several subfamilies, as noted above, makes subfamily placement in Erechthiinae still tentative. Tineidae as a whole still require considerable further study on a world basis, and as noted above, such odd new discoveries as Vangatinea do not always fit neatly into existing subfamilies, such that current subfamilies may need revision.As also noted by Robinson (2009), out of 340 named tineid genera worldwide over 200 genera remain of uncertain subfamily placement, especially so for tropical genera. Thus, the family requires a thorough revision of the subfamilies to account for all the unassociated genera, but such a task will take decades yet given the few taxonomists who could even venture to tackle such a quest.
description: Published as part of Heppner, John B. & Bae, Yang-Seop, 2023, New species of colorful tineids from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam in the new genus Vangatinea (Lepidoptera: Tineidae: Erechthiinae), pp. 369-380 in Zootaxa 5264 (3) on pages 370-372, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5264.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/7836798