Abstract
Brachodidae are a small family of day-flying, rarely collected cossoid moths. Here, the Brachodidae fauna of Sub-Saharan Africa and the neighboring Arabian Peninsula is reviewed with special attention to the species of the subfamily Brachodinae. The origin of the African Brachodinae and their relationship to the Palaearctic genus Brachodes are discussed, and a Gondwanan origin of the family Brachodidae sensu stricto is proposed. A total of 34 brachodid species are considered in this study, most of which are figured. Two new genera, Archaeotychia gen. nov. (type species Atychia quiris Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) and Nothobrachodes gen. nov. (type species Atychia infanda Meyrick, 1920) are described. Furthermore, 12 species are described as new to science: Archaeotychia semicuprea sp. nov., Archaeotychia dicksoni sp. nov., Archaeotychia khoisanorum sp. nov., Archaeotychia krooni sp. nov., Archaeotychia dentata sp. nov., Phycodes nigeriana sp. nov., Nigilgia scoblei sp. nov., Nigilgia agassizi sp. nov., Nigilgia ruwenzoriensis sp. nov., Nigilgia megabella sp. nov., Nigilgia arcana sp. nov. and Nigilgia crocea sp. nov. Moreover, Atychia metaspila Meyrick, 1926 syn. nov. is established as a new synonym of Archaeotychia albiciliata (Walsingham, 1891), and Atychia nycteropis Meyrick, 1920 syn. nov. as a new synonym of Nothobrachodes infanda (Meyrick, 1920). Atractoceros xanthoprocta (Meyrick, 1914) is transferred to the subfamily Phycodinae.
References
Arita, Y. (1989) Records of Two species of Phycodes Guenee (Lepidoptera: Brachodidae) from Thailand. Microlepidoptera of Thailand, 2, 15–21.
Common, I.F.B. (1990) Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 32 pls., 535 pp.
Diakonoff, A.N. (1984) Insects of Saudi Arabia. Lepidoptera: Fam. Tortricidae, Choreutidae, Brachodidae and Carposinidae. In: Wittmer, W. & Buttiker, W. (Eds.), Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 5, pp. 240–287.
Diakonoff, A.N. (1986) Glyphipterigidae auctorum sensu lato. (Glyphipterigidae sensu Meyrick, 1913). In: Amsel, H.G., Gregor, F., Reisser, H. & Roesler, R.-U. (Eds.), Microlepidoptera Palaearctica. Vol. 7. Braun, Karlsruhe, pp. 1–436, pls. 1–175.
Edwards, E.D., Gentili, P., Horak, M., Kristensen, N.P. & Nielsen, E.S. (1998) 11. The Cossoid/Sesioid Assemblage. In: Kristensen, N.P. (Ed.), Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies. 1. Evolution, systematics and biogeography. Handbook of Zoology, 4 (35). Lepidoptera. de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 181–197.
Felder, R. & Rogenhofer, A.F. (1875) Lepidoptera. In: Felder, C., Felder, R. & Rogenhofer, A.F. (Eds.), Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair, Zoologischer Theil 2 (2) [fascicle 5], pp. 20, pls 108–140.
Fletcher, T.B. (1920) Life-histories of Indian Insects. Microlepidoptera. V. Heliozelidae, Heliodinidae, Glyphipterigidae, Blastobasidae and Hyponomeutidae. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Entomological Series, 6 (5), 117–167, pls. 22–45. [Calcutta]
Gielis, C. (2008) Order Lepidoptera, family Brachodidae. Arthropod fauna of the UAE, 1, 444–446.
Gillett, M. & Howarth, B. (2004) The insects of Jebel Hafit. In: Aspinall, S. & Hellyer, P. (Eds.), Jebel Hafit, a Natural History. Emirates Natural History Group, Abu Dhabi, pp. 94–143.
Heikkilä, M., Mutanen, M., Wahlberg, N., Sihvonen, P. & Kaila, L. (2015) Elusive ditrysian phylogeny: an account of combining systematized morphology with molecular data (Lepidoptera). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15, 260.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12862-015-0520-0Heppner, J.B. (1981) Brachodidae. In: Heppner, J.B. & Duckworth, W.D. Classification of the Superfamily Sesioidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 314, 1–144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.314Heppner, J.B. (1984) Pseudocossinae: a new subfamily of Cossidae (Lepidoptera). Entomological News, 95, 99–100.
Kallies, A. (1998a) Erster Beitrag zur Kenntnis der palaearktischen Brachodidae Agenjo, 1966: Revision von Brachodes fallax mit Beschreibungen neuer zentralasiatischer Arten (Lepidoptera: Sesioidea). Nota lepidopterologica, 21, 170–193.
Kallies, A. (1998b) A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Oriental and Australian Brachodidae (Lepidoptera, Sesioidea). Tinea, 15 (4), 312–337.
Kallies, A. (2001) Revision of the Brachodes pumila (Ochsenheimer, 1808) species-group (Lepidoptera: Sesioidea). Nota lepidopterologica, 24, 7–19.
Kallies, A. (2002) Brachodes flagellatus sp. n. from Tibet (Lepidoptera: Sesioidea, Brachodidae). Nachrichten des Entomologischen Vereines Apollo, 23, 159–160, 166. [Frankfurt]
Kallies, A. (2004) The Brachodidae of the Oriental region and adjacent territories (Lepidoptera: Sesioidea). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 147, 1–19.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22119434-900000131Kallies, A. (2013) New and little known Brachodidae from tropical Asia and Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera, Cossoidea). Zootaxa, 3641 (3), 241–259.
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3641.3.4Kallies, A. & Hilton, D.J. (2012) Revision of Cossinae and small Zeuzerinae from Australia (Lepidoptera: Cossidae). Zootaxa, 3454, 1–62.
Kallies, A. & Spatenka, K. (2002) Four species of Brachodidae new to the fauna of Europe (Sesioidea). Nota lepidopterologica, 25, 155–160.
Kallies, A., Arita, Y. & Wang, M. (2007) A new Phycodinae species (Lepidoptera, Brachodidae) from China. Transactions of the Lepidopterological Society of Japan, 58 (2), 157–161.
Kozlov, M.V., Kuznetzov, V.I. & Stekolnikov, A.A. (1998) Skeleto-muscular morphology of the pterothorax and the male genitalia of Synemon plana Walker (Castniidae) and Brachodes appendiculata (Esper) (Brachodidae), with notes on phylogenetic relationships of tortricoid-grade families (Ledpidoptera). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 12, 245–256.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/IT96014Kumar, R. & Ramamurthy, V.V. (2010) Morphology and bionomics of Phycodes radiata Ochsenheimer (Lepidoptera: Brachodidae) from New Delhi, India. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 153, 15–24.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22119434-900000287Meyrick, E. (1909) Descriptions of Indian Micro-lepidoptera, IX, Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 19, 410–437.
Meyrick, E. (1913) Glyphipterigidae. Lepidopterum Catalogue, 13, 25–58.
Meyrick, E. (1914) Glyphipterigidae. Genera Insectorum, 164, 1–39.
Meyrick, E. (1920) Descriptions of South African Micro-lepidoptera. Annals of the South African Museum, 17, 273–318.
Meyrick, E. (1921) New Microlepidoptera. Zoologische Mededelingen, 6, 145–202. [Leiden]
Meyrick, E. (1926) Glyphipterigidae. Exotic Microlepidoptera, 3, 301–308.
Meyrick, E. (1937) Glyphipterigidae. Exotic Microlepidoptera, 5, 123–126, 153.
Minet, J. (1991) Tentative reconstruction of the ditrysian phylogeny (Lepidoptera: Glossata). Entomologica Scandinavica, 22 (1), 69–95.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187631291X00327Moore, F. (1881) Description of New Genera and New Species of Asiatic Nocturnal Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1881, 326–380, pls. 37–38.
Moore, D. (2001) Insects of Palm flowers and fruit. In: Howard, F.W., Moor, D., Giblin-Davis, R.M. & Abad, R.G. (Eds.), Insects on Palms. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 233–266.
Mutanen, M., Wahlberg, N. & Kaila, L. (2010) Comprehensive gene and taxon coverage elucidates radiation patterns in moths and butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B: Biological Sciences, 277 (1695), 2839–2848.
Rebel, H. (1907) Zoologische Ergebnisse der Expedition der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften nach Südarabien und Sokotra im Jahre 1898/99. Denkschriften der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 71 (2), 31–129.
Snellen, P.C.T. (1901) Beschrijvingen van nieuve exotische tortricinen, tineinen en pterophorinen benevens aanteekeningen over reeds bekend gemaakte Soorten. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 44, 67–98, pls. 5–6.
Spatenka, K. & Kallies, A. (2001) Zur Taxonomie, Bionomie und Verbreitung zentralasiatischer Sesiidae und Brachodidae (Lepidoptera, Sesioidea). Entomologische Zeitschrift, 111 (7), 199–207.
Vari, L., Kroon, D.M. & Krüger, M. (2002) Classification and Checklist of the species of Lepidoptera recorded in Southern Afrika. Simple Solutions, Chatswood, 384 pp.
Viette, P.E.L. (1955) Nouveaux Tineoidea (s.l.) de Madagascar (Lep.). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 123, 75–114.
Walker, F. (1863) Tortricites & Tineites. In: List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Vol. 28. British Museum, London, pp. 288–561.
Walsingham, T.G. (1891) African Micro-lepidoptera. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1891, 63–192, pls. 3–7.
Yakovlev, R.V. (2011) Catalogue of the Family Cossidae of the Old World. Neue Entomologische Nachrichten, 66, 1–129.