I1 J. Aucr. en/. Soc.. 1973, 12: 11-23, A NEW FAMILY OF DACNONYPHA (LEPIDOPTERA) BASED ON THREE NEW SPECIES FROM SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA, WITH NOTES ON THE AGATHWHAGIDAE By 1. F. B. COMMON* [Manuscript received October 16. 19721 Ahytracr A new family Lophocoronidae is proposed in the Dacnonypha for the new genus Lophocorona, with three new species from southern Australia, L. pediasia, L. astiptica, and L. melanora. Comparative notes are given on the adult morphology of this and other families referred to the Dacnonypha, especially the Agathiphagidae. INTRODUCTION The suborder Dacnonypha is of special interest to those studying the phylogeny of the Lepidoptera, for both adult and pupa embrace some of the generalized characters of the Micropterigidae of the suborder Zeugloptera. Our knowledge of the adult morphology and relationship of these groups owes much to the recent comparative studies of Kristensen (1967-1971) and of Mutuura (1972). The Eriocraniidae, one of the four previously known families referred to the Dac- nonypha, are represented by a few closely related Palearctic genera, to which has been added the divergent Nearctic genus Acanthopterocretes Braun (Davis 1969). The Neopseustidae include two Indian genera Neopseustis Meyrick and Archepiolus Mutuura (Mutuura 1971). In the southern hemisphere the suborder was known previously from two small genera referred to the families Mnesarchaeidae and Agathiphagidae. Mnesarchaea Meyrick contains seven species from New Zealand, and Agathiphaga Dumbleton two species, one from Fiji and one from Queensland. It is of more than usual interest to report the discovery in southern Australia of a new genus and three new species of Dacnonypha, for which a new family is proposed. Family LOPHOCORONIDAE fam. n. Type genus: Lophocorona gen. n. Diagnosis Small homoneurous moths of wingspan 1 I .O to 14.5 mm, pale sometimes distinct pattern of non- metallic scales, head with long hair-scales. without sulci and ocelli, mandibles and short haustellum present, maxillary palpi 4-segmented, folded, fore tibia without epiphysis, tibia1 spurs 0-2-4. wings with Sc forked in forewing, simple in hindwing, R5 to termen in both wings, forewing with three anal veins. confluent distally, male with paired ventral organs on abdominal segment 5. Head (Figs. 1. 2) hypognathous, broader than long, cranial sulci vestigial or absent, tentorium with strongly sclerotized anterior arms with tapering sclerotized dorsal arms, corporotentorium a strong transverse bar joining bases of anterior arms, with slender posteromedian process present, no posterior arms; eyes relatively large, ocelli absent; antennae filiform, about one-half length of forewing, clothed with narrow appressed scales; labrum reduced and not differentiated from clypeus, without lateral groups of setae; mandibles a pair of small rounded tapering lobes with rounded apices, without condyles; maxillae (Fig. 4) with galeae modified to form a short haustellum about one-half length of maxillary palpus, slightly coiled in repose, with setose external surface and serrate margin representing linking mechanism; lacinia absent; maxillary palpus four-segmented, folded, segment 2 with constriction indicat- ing fusion of two segments; labium with prementum (Fig. 3) small, bilobed, with very long setae, post- mentum membranous, without Eltringham’s organ; labial palpus (Fig. 3) three-segmented, apical seg- ment with small rounded distal sensory invagination. Thorax clothed with imbricate scales; fore tibia (Fig. 5) with scattered fine setae, a small postmedian spine, and five apical spines, epiphysis absent; mid tibia (Fig. 6) with postmedian and apical spines and paired apical spurs; hind tibia (Fig. 7) with postmedian and apical spines and paired postmedian and apical spurs. *Division of Entomology, CSIRO, Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601. 12 I. F. B. COMMON x 5 05mm FIGS. 1-7.-Lophocoronu pediusiu gen. et sp. n. : (1) head capsule and mouthparts, posterior view; (2) head capsule, anterior view; (3) prementum and labial palpi; (4) maxilla; (5-7) fore, mid and hind --tibiae. Wings (Figs. 8, 9) aculeate, homoneurous; forewing with pigmented scales forming non-metallic pattern, scales (Plate I A-C) variably broad with irregular or scalloped apical margins, prominent striae projecting beyond apical margins, without transverse ribs; forewing with jugum small, humeral vein vestigial, Sc with two branches reaching costa at about one-third and two-thirds, R, simple, R, and R, short- or long-stalked, R3 sometimes connected to R,,, by a vestigial cross-vein, R, and R, stalked, R, to costa and R, to termen, stem of M present in discal cell, MI to CuA, separate, CUP present, 2A and 3A vestigial but confluent, joining 1A; hindwing with short frenular and postbasal setae, Sc and R, simple, R, and R, short- or long-stalked, R, sometimes connected to R,,, by a vestigial cross-vein, R, and R, stalked, R, to costa and R, to termen, stem of M present in discal cell, CUP present, 1A + 2A confluent, vestigial. Abdomen with paired ventral organs on fifth segment. Mule genitalia (Figs. 14-16).-Ninth abdominal segment forming a broad, strongly sclerotized ring, not differentiated into tegumen and vinculum, bilobed posterodorsally, each lobe studded above and beneath with stout short setae; anal tube membranous with fine lateral setae; valva bilobed distally, inner surface of both lobes with stout, strongly sclerotized setae, ventral lobe with a strong apical seta; aedeagus long, more or less cylindrical, vesica with strongly sclerotized cornutus about one-half length of aedeagus, aedeagus supported by membranous diaphragma, with strongly sclerotized plate beneath, and with a row of three long curved setae arising at base of each valva. LOPHOCORONIDAE FAM. N. (LEPIDOPTERA: DACNONYPHA) 13 Comments Head-The head in Lophocorona is smaller than in the Palearctic genera of Eriocraniidae and of a different shape, with relatively large eyes and no ocelli. The Nearctic genus Acanthopteroctetes, referred to the Eriocraniidae by Davis (1 969), also lacks ocelli, and differs in so many other respects from Palearctic Eriocraniidae that its inclusion in that family seems questionable. The shape of the head in Lophocorona is more comparable with that of Mnesarchaeidae, in which there are also no ocelli and only a trace of sulci. The head in Eriocrania Zeller and related genera is sparsely clothed with woolly hair-scales, whereas in Lophocorona the hair-scales of the head are dense, long and nearly straight. The anterior arms of the tentorium in Lophocorona, as in Eriocraniidae, Neopseustidae and Mnes- archaeidae, have well-sclerotized dorsal arms, although in more advanced erio- craniid genera (Kristensen 1968c) the anterior arms are greatly reduced posterior to the junction of the dorsal arms. In Agathiphaga dorsal arms are absent and the anterior arms are reduced to thin, weak and non-sclerotized strands. As in other Dacnonypha, and in Zeugloptera, a posteromedian process of the corporotentorium is also present in Lophocorona. The well-developed labrum found in Agathiphagidae, Eriocraniidae and Neopseustidae is reduced in Lophocoronidae and Mnesarchaeidae. Except in Agathiphagidae, the mandibles in all adult Dacnonypha, including Lophocoronidae, are reduced to nonfunctional lobes or are lost entirely, and the galeae are modified to form a short haustellum or proboscis. The four-segmented maxillary palpi in Lophocoronidae show some reduction from the primitive five-segmented condition found in Agathiphagidae, Eriocraniidae and Neopseustidae. However, Kristensen (1968a) noted that in Eriocrania the maxillary palpi show a slight reduction from the five-segmented condition of the Zeugloptera in that the flexor muscle between segments 2 and 3 has been lost. In Lophocorona it is clear that reduction has proceeded even further and these two segments have fused, although the composite segment still shows a constriction at about one-third of its length. The prementum is bilobed or deeply indented in Lophocoronidae and carries the three-segmented palpi characteristic of Dacnonypha. It is probable, as pointed out by Kristensen (19671, that the basal segment of the so-called four-segmented labial palpi of Agathiphagidae represents the lateral portions of a very deeply indented prementum, and that the palpi have in reality only three segments. The postmenturn in Lophocoronidae lacks the Eltringham’s organ found in Aga- thiphagidae, Eriocraniidae and Mnesarchaeidae. However, the invaginated sensory area of the apical palpal segment in Lophocoronidae is similar in size to that of the Eriocraniidae, and much smaller than the very elongate area found in Agathi- phagidae. This invaginated sensory area is missing in both Mnesarchaeidae and Neopseustidae (Kristensen 1968b). Legs.-As in Eriocraniidae and Mnesarchaeidae the epiphysis of the fore tibia is absent in Lophocoronidae, whereas it is present in both Agathiphagidae and Neopseustidae. The Agathiphagidae have, in addition, an apical spur on the fore tibia, known nowhere else in the Lepidoptera. The mid tibia in Lophocoronidae, Mnesarchaeidae and Neopseustidae carries a pair of apical spurs, whereas in Eriocraniidae there is a single apical spur and in Agathiphagidae paired median and apical spurs, as on the hind tibia of all Dacnonypha. Wings.-In the forewing the jugum is prominent in Agathiphagidae and Eriocraniidae, much smaller in Lophocoronidae and Mnesarchaeidae, and is stated not to project at all in Neopseusris, although there is a small projecting jugum in