Corresponding author: Peter Huemer (
Academic editor: Bernard Landry
Analysis of wing pattern, genital morphology and results of DNA barcoding indicates that the name
With currently 62 species records
In 2006, the first author collected two superficially similar fresh male
Two male
Already more than a decade earlier the junior author found similar discrepancies in the context of material from Austria and Germany. However, there was no intensive processing of the problem at the time because these genital differences had already been described in detail and figured by
The history of this taxon, however, is characterized by confusion and misunderstandings:
Sometime before 1843, the Austrian entomologist Josef Emanuel Fischer von Röslerstamm captured an unknown tortricid at Gscheidt in the Rax mountain range, in the Austrian province of Styria. He sent it under the name “
Herrich-Schäffer (1849) provided another description based on Zeller’s diagnosis, whereupon two mistakes occurred: he identified his illustration 193 as “
Thus, in short: “
Unfortunately almost simultaneously with [
As of today,
We will subsequently prove that this view does not follow the regulations of
In the course of this study, a total of 104 male and 12 female specimens of “
Specimen repositories:
Research collection Jürg Schmid, Ilanz, Switzerland;
Research collection Tiroler Landesmuseen, Hall, Austria (
Research collection Rudolf Bryner, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland;
Research collection Wolfgang Wittland, Wegberg-Dahlheim, Germany.
The following specimen characteristics were analyzed:
The genital preparations were photographed with a Canon EOS 7D digital camera, using a Zeiss Primo Star microscope with a 4× and 10× plan-achromat lens.
Most of fresh specimens of both sexes could be grouped into two main categories: those with olive ground colour and irregular silvery lines on their forewings and those with more brownish ground colour and a more or less conspicuous bright triangular mark arising from dorsum and extending beyond mid-wing. A few specimens, however, presented a pattern/colour not easily assignable to either group.
The serial dissection of alpine “
Group I, associating a broad phallus ending in a very dominant, acute tooth with a distinct projection at the inner valval border, corresponding to Fig.
Group II with a rather broad, bi- or multi-teethed phallus with a straight inner valva border, corresponding to Fig.
DNA sequencing resulted in full barcode fragments for 35 specimens of "
Sequences of the
Neighbor-Joining tree of species in European
Intraspecific mean K2P (Kimura 2 Parameter) divergences, maximum pairwise distances, nearest species, nearest neighbor and distance to nearest neighbor (%).
Species | Mean Intra-Sp % | Max Intra-Sp % | Nearest species | Nearest Neighbour | Distance to NN % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0.37 | 1.87 |
|
BTLBP376-11 | 4.83 |
|
1.32 | 5.08 |
|
LON5763-17 | 0.46 |
|
0.39 | 0.64 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 4.18 |
|
0.72 | 2.5 |
|
PHLAD201-11 | 3.96 |
|
1.54 | 3.1 |
|
BTLBP451-11 | 1.4 |
|
0.92 | 1.99 |
|
FBLMT309-09 | 2.5 |
|
4.54 | 9.34 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 4.16 |
|
0.17 | 0.17 |
|
LEASV661-19 | 7.94 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
PHLAF568-11 | 5.65 |
|
0.78 | 1.87 |
|
FBLMZ645-12 | 4.92 |
|
1.23 | 2.44 |
|
LEAST411-17 | 6.4 |
|
0.86 | 1.24 |
|
CGUKC685-09 | 2.76 |
|
0.27 | 0.58 |
|
PHLAD710-11 | 4.92 |
|
0.15 | 0.31 |
|
LEASU278-18 | 4.47 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
LASTS800-15 | 4.23 |
|
0.58 | 1.44 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 2.05 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
LEATJ1152-16 | 5.91 |
|
0.13 | 0.25 |
|
LPAB581-08 | 0.15 |
|
0.23 | 0.46 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 3.1 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 3.47 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
BTLBP373-11 | 0.93 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
BTLBP451-11 | 0.93 |
|
1.17 | 1.76 |
|
NOELE683-20 | 4.42 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
PHLAC013-10 | 0 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 4.18 |
|
0.83 | 1.72 |
|
CGUKC685-09 | 3.6 |
|
0 | 0 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 2.82 |
|
0.73 | 1.55 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 3.11 |
|
0.32 | 1.04 |
|
BTLBP382-11 | 2.76 |
|
1.26 | 3.65 |
|
PHLAC013-10 | 0 |
|
0.89 | 0.89 |
|
TDAAT820-19 | 4.8 |
|
0 | 0 |
|
BTLBP451-11 | 3.64 |
|
0 | 0 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 3.82 |
|
0.27 | 1.24 |
|
PHLAJ255-14 | 0 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
PHLAC013-10 | 0.15 |
|
0.44 | 0.92 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 5.31 |
|
1.29 | 3.46 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 4.92 |
|
0 | 0 |
|
LEEUA626-11 | 4.57 |
|
0.79 | 2.18 |
|
PHLAC013-10 | 0 |
|
0 | 0 |
|
FBLMT309-09 | 2.05 |
|
N/A | 0 |
|
PHLAE559-11 | 4.47 |
|
0.11 | 0.33 |
|
BTLBP389-11 | 0.15 |
|
0.05 | 0.31 |
|
PHLAB566-10 | 3.96 |
Thus, based on male genital, wing pattern characteristics, and DNA barcode divergences the existence of two well defined species was postulated. However, the search for valid names of these two taxa was challenging.
In the “Muséum national d’histoire naturelle” in Paris, Mr. Patrice Leraut kindly checked the
The lectotype of
As synonyms of
1)
Mr. Kevin Tuck from the British Museum-Natural History kindly informed us, that in the collection of his institution, there is no material of
In the Berlin Museum, Dr. Wolfram Mey allowed us to screen the Palaearctic
The Senckenberg Museum at Frankfurt, however, owns two specimens of
Dr. Wolfgang Nässig kindly allowed us to examine these specimens which, judging from wing pattern, all clearly represent
Finally Mr. Daniel Bartsch informed us that there is no European type material from Herrich-Schäffer in the Stuttgart Museum.
2)
The description of this species mentions “...
3)
4)
The description says: “dorsal blotch triangular, oblique, pointed at the apex” [...] “Readily distinguished from the allied species by its pointed wings and distinct, pointed dorsal blotch..”, thus, referring it to
5)
In the description of this species, Kennel mentions: “... ohne dass ein scharfer, heller Dorsalfleck gebildet wird...” [without there being formed a sharp, bright dorsal blotch], but the concomitant illustration depicts a male with such a blotch.
6)
The description of this new species is very detailed and particularly mentions the special form of the end of phallus with its marked curled peak. Mr. Daniel Burckhardt of the Basel Museum allowed us to study the two males labelled as “types” in the Müller-Rutz collection. Their wing pattern corresponds well with
7)
Rebel, in 1927 published a description and a photograph of his
8)
Specimens of the type series were examined at the Basel Museum (Müller-Rutz collection). These specimens, originating from the Zermatt region, correspond well with the taxon of group I. However, the name was used infrasubspecifically for an alpine form and subsequently not adopted as the valid name of a species or subspecies. Following article 45.6.4 of
9)
According to Obraztsov, Danilevsky described this taxon in order to give a valid name to the unavailable name “
Further additional synonyms of
According to our inquiries Zeller´s description of
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Conclusion: Despite the fact that several authors introduced names within the “
In male genitalia, the most obvious and constant differences are found in the shape of the phallus and the inner lobal line of the cucullus which both allow the unambiguous separation of the two taxa. In female genitalia, no clear differences could be ascertained.
“velatus” Latin, meaning “veiled” with respect to its confused history.
Germany: 2♂: Immenstadt, Mittag [
Austria: Tirol, Umhausen [
Italy: 1♂: Gr. St. Bernhard [
France: 1♂: Rhône-Alpes, Le Corbier [
Wingspan 12.8–16.5 mm (n = 25) mean: 14.6 mm. Forewing length: 6–8 mm. Head light grey, mixed with ochreous scales. Labial palpi dark grey, conspicuously ochreous at base. Proboscis pale yellow, antennae ochreous. Thorax and tegulae yellowish grey mixed with ochreous scales. Legs and abdomen grey with ochreous scales. Forewing ground colour olive brown or beige brown. Costal fold about one fourth of costal length. Costal strigulae darker brown alternating with creamy-white marks. Along termen variable number (3–5) of dark dots. Dorsal blotch faintly brighter than ground color, usually inconspicuous, pyramidal, with faint irregular darker strigulae. Silvery lines irregular, usually two more pronounced lines running parallel to termen. Cilial area composed of a line of short dark scales in front of a line of longer dark-tipped creamy-white scales. Hindwing grey, paler at base, with a dark-white-dark banded cilial line.
Male genitalia (Figs
Forewing ground color dark brown, suffused with ochreous scales. Markings like in male but darker and more contrasting. Dorsal blotch variably conspicuous.
Female genitalia (Figs
CH-Sedrun
BIN:
Proved records of
Contrarywise
In some localities in Switzerland and Italy both species have been observed in sympatry.
Furthermore, published genitalia preparations prove the occurrence of
Austria: Niederösterreich, Sonnwendstein [
Nearly 30 years ago it became evident that “
The initial claim by
While wing phenotype is a good indicator of taxon identity in most fresh specimens, in single cases and especially when specimens are worn, this trait may be doubtful. Thus, genitalia preparations and/or DNA barcode results are needed for unambiguous identification.
In male specimens, shape and number of phallus end-thorns are very good differentiating characteristics. Unfortunately, in female genitalia, no clear distinguishing features could be detected so far; clearly more material will be necessary for future research.
The present geographical distribution, as far as it is known, suggests one or several south-eastern glacial refugia of
The authors would like to thank Kevin Tuck, Natural History Museum London for very valuable information, Wolfram Mey, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin for his kind hospitality in his museum, Wolfgang. Nässig, Senckenberg Musum Frankfurt for allowing us to see the collections, Daniel Burckhardt, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel for his hospitality and the loan of material, Daniel Bartsch, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart; Patrice Leraut, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle Paris for information, Christian Gibeaux for providing photographs of the