Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5446 No. 2: 30 Apr. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-04-30
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5446.2.11
Page range: 288-294
Abstract views: 6
PDF downloaded: 1

Rediscovery of the mysterious Taiwanese micromoth Pachyrhabda citrinacma Meyrick, 1936 (Stathmopodidae) in museum and field, with notes on the fern-spore feeding larva

Biodiversity Research Center; Academic Sinica; Taipei; Taiwan; Department of Life Science; National Taiwan Normal University; Taipei; Taiwan; Biodiversity Program; Taiwan International Graduate Program; Academia Sinica and National Taiwan Normal University; Taipei; Taiwan
Department of Entomology; National Taiwan University; Taipei; Taiwan
Department of Life Science; National Taiwan Normal University; Taipei; Taiwan
Lepidoptera Type depository New life history Fern spore feeding Formosa Syuti Issiki

Abstract

Pachyrhabda citrinacma Meyrick, 1936, an endemic species to Formosa (Taiwan), was named by Edward Meyrick based on two specimens collected by Syuti Issiki. Despite some newly discovered stathmopodids exhibiting characteristics matching the original description, the lack of information regarding the type specimen depository led to the species remaining elusive since its initial naming. In this study, we successfully rediscovered a P. citrinacma specimen at the Insect Museum of National Taiwan University, where Syuti Issiki used to conduct research. The present article provides comprehensive morphological details for both sexes, as well as unveiling the genitalia characters and life history of this species for the first time. Larvae feed on spores of a range of fern species belonging to a few different families.

References

  1. Clarke, J.F.G. (1955) Catalogue of the type-specimens of Microlepidoptera in the British Museum (Natural History) described by Edward Meyrick. Vol. 1. Natural History Museum (London) Publications, London, 332 pp. [pp. 1–3]
  2. Common, I.F.B. (1990) Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 535 pp. https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643101227
  3. Fuentes-Jacques, L.J., Hanson-Snortum, P., Hernández-Ortiz, V., Díaz-Castelazo, C. & Mehltreter, K. (2022) A global review and network analysis of phytophagous insect interactions with ferns and lycophytes. Plant Ecology, 223, 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01187-5
  4. Frago, E., Dicke, M. & Godfray, H.C.J. (2012) Insect symbionts as hidden players in insect-plant interactions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 27 (12), 705–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2012.08.013
  5. Klots, A.B. (1970) Lepidoptera. In: Tuxen, S.L. (Ed.), Taxonomist’s glossary of genitalia in insects. Munksgaard, Copenhagen, pp. 115–130.
  6. Koster, J.C. & Sinev, S.Y. (2003) Family Stathmopodidae. In: Huemer, P., Karsholt, O. & Lyneborg, L. (Ed.), Microlepidoptera of Europe. Vol. 5. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, pp. 1–387. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004473850_007
  7. Lees, D.C. & Zilli, A. (2019) Moths, Their biology, biodiversity and evolution. Natural History Museum, London, 57 pp.
  8. Meyrick, E. (1930–1936) Exotic Microlepidoptera. Vol. IV. Taylor and Francis, Marlborough, 617 pp.
  9. Mitter, C. & Winkler, I.S. (2008) The Phylogenetic Dimension of Insect-Plant Interactions: A Review of Recent Evidence. In: Tilmon, K. (Ed.), Specialization, Speciation, and Radiation. University of California Press, Los Angeles, California, pp. 240–263. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520251328.003.0018
  10. Robinson, G.S. (1986) Edward Meyrick: an unpublished essay on phylogeny. Journal of Natural History, 20 (2), 359–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222938600770261
  11. Sánchez-Bayo, F. & Wyckhuys, K.A.G. (2019) Worldwide decline of the entofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation, 232 (2019), 8–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020
  12. Sawamura, M., Kawakita, A. & Kato, M. (2009) Fern-spore-feeder interaction in temperate forest in Japan: Sporing phenology and spore-feeding insect community. American Journal of Botany, 96 (3), 594–604. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0800256
  13. Shen, Z.Y. & Hsu, Y.F. (2023) Rediscovering a species not seen for a hundred years, Stathmopoda tacita (Meyrick, 1913) (Lepidoptera, Stathmopodidae), with its unusual fern-spore-feeding life history. Biodiversity Data Journal, 11, e101468. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e101468
  14. Shen, Z.Y., Terada, T., Landry, J., Hoare, R.J.B., Kuo, L.Y., Chou, M.H., Hsu, Y.F. & Huang, J.P. (2024) Systematics and evolutionary dynamics of insect-fern interactions in the specialized fern-spore feeding Cuprininae (Lepidoptera, Stathmopodidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 194, 108040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108040
  15. Shirozu, T. (1978) Remembering Professor Syuti Issiki. The Lepidopterological Society of Japan, 95–96, 3–5.
  16. Sinev, S.Y. (2015) World catalogue of bright-legged moths (Lepidoptera, Stathmopodidae). Zoological Institute of Russian Academy pf Science, St. Petersburg, 84 pp.
  17. Zimmerman, E.C. (1978) Insects of Hawaii. Vol. 9. Part 2. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, 1903 pp. [pp. 883–1903]