Sophronia alaicella Caradja 1920
Creators: name: Šumpich, Jan
name: Bidzilya, Oleksiy V.
name: Ponomarenko, Margarita G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Sophronia
Sophronia alaicella

description: Sophronia alaicella Caradja, 1920
(Figs. 9, 13–14, 36–38)
Sophronia sp.– Falkovitsh & Bidzilya 2009: 82
Type material examined. Lectotype, ♂, [Kyrgyzstan], Alai Mts. (MGAB). Paralectotypes, ♂♂, same data as lectotype (MGAB).
Additional material examined. Kyrgyzstan: 1♂, Tian-Shan, Mts. Suusamyr-Too, loc. Tshytshkan, alt. 1650 m, 3.vii.1999, lum (E. V. Rutjan) (gen. slide 168/ 18♂, O. Bidzilya) (ZMKU). Uzbekistan: 3♂, 2♀, Ajakguzhumdy, 40 km O Dzhingildy, Kyzylkum, 15.v.1976 (M. I. Falkovitsh); 3♂, 3♀, same data but 14,17, 18.v.1967.; 2♂, Kyzylkum desert, Kul’dzhuktau Mts., 30.iv, 1.v.1967 (M. I. Falkovitsh). 1♂, Kyzylkum desert, Zhamansai, 4.v.1967 (M. I. Falkovitsh) (all ZIN). Turkmenistan: 3♂, 4 ♀, Badkhyz, 25.iv.1958 (gen. slide 167/ 18, O. Bidzilya) (ZMKU). 2♂, 2♀, Badkhyz, Eroilanduz lake, 26.iv.1982, at light (V. I. Pechen) (gen. slide 165/ 18, 167/18, O. Bidzilya) (ZMKU).
Redescription. Adult (Figs. 13–14). Wingspan 11.0–15.5 mm. Head and thorax white to light grey. Labial palpi upcurved, segment II white mixed with brown, apex and inner surface white, with brush of very long hair-like scales beneath, segment III white mottled with brown, as long as segment II, very thin, acute (Fig. 9). Scape brown, flagellum brown with white rings. Thorax greyish brown. Forewing comparatively narrow, apex rounded, evenly covered with white grey to brown-tipped scales, long brown streak in middle, shorter single or paired brown streak mixed with ochreous on 2/3 length in mid-width, short brown blotch in half length close to dorsal margin, fold brown, suffused with orange-ochreous, one to three blackish-brown lines in corner of cell, white oblique streak from 2/3 of costal margin to mid-width, apex with black spot edged with light brown from below, fringes white, brown-tipped. Hindwing grey to brown, fringes of same shade.
Variation. In some specimens costal 1/3 almost entirely white with less distinct brown pattern, brown medial streaks nearly merged.
Male genitalia (Fig. 36). Uncus subrectangular in basal half, narrowed apically, posterior margin with narrow medial incision. Gnathos hook-shaped, curved at right angle before middle, distal portion of uniform width, apex pointed. Tegumen narrow with triangular anteromedial invagination extending to its 1/3 length. Valvae weakly Sshaped, narrow in basal half, distal portion gradually broadened, apex rounded, extending to half length of uncus. The valvella thin, as broad as basal half of valva, straight, aproximately 1/3 length of valva. Vinculum narrow, band-shaped. Ventral sclerite twice as long as broad, extending to middle of valva, densely spinosed in distal 1/3. Saccus subtriangular, apex rounded, slightly extending beyond top of pedunculus. Aedeagus straight, as long as tegumen, weakly broadened in 1/3 length, slightly constricted before subquadrangular apex.
Female genitalia (Figs. 37–38). Papillae anales subovate. Apophyses posteriores very thin, about twice as long as ductus and corpus bursae, apophyses anteriores aproximately half as long as apophyses posteriores. Segment VIII weakly sclerotized, three times as long as broad. Antrum slightly shorter than segment VIII, cylindrical, anteriorly weakly narrowed, with paired lateral sclerites. Ductus bursae membranous, two to three times narrower than antrum, slightly expanding toward bursa copulatrix, only sightly longer than antrum. Bursa copulatrix oval, as long as ductus bursae. Signum a narrow sub-hexagonal plate about ½ length of bursae copulatrix, medial ridge narrow, anterior and posterior lobes long and narrow, laterally dentated.
Diagnosis. Sophronia. alaicella can be separated superficially from the externally somewhat similar S. illustrella, S. gelidella, and S. salaganella by the comparatively narrow forewing with a rounded, rather than pointed, apex. The short sacculus and comparatively short and broad aedeagus are chracateristic for the male genitalia. The female genitalia are defined by very long and narrow lobes of signum and presence of paired sclerites in the antrum.
Biology. Early stages unknown. Adults have been recorded from late April to mid-May in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and in early July in Kyrgyzstan.
Distribution. SE Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan (Falkovitsh & Bidzilya 2009: 82).
Remarks. Sophronia alaicella was described on the basis of five males and two females collected in Alai mountains, most probably in Kyrgyzstan (the country is not stated either on the labels or original decription (cf. Caradja 1920: 116). We examined the type series (three males) and additional material from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and the deserts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
description: Published as part of Šumpich, Jan, Bidzilya, Oleksiy V. & Ponomarenko, Margarita G., 2019, Sophronia salaganella sp. n. from the Russian Altai and new data on Palaearctic Sophronia Hübner, [1825] species (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae), pp. 348-360 in Zootaxa 4577 (2) on pages 353-359, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4577.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/2629750