Zootaxa 4577 (2): 348–360 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4577.2.7 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EBB9B17D-BC4D-44C0-A424-13808D4E062B Sophronia salaganella sp. n. from the Russian Altai and new data on Palaearctic Sophronia Hübner, [1825] species (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) JAN ŠUMPICH1,5, OLEKSIY V. BIDZILYA2 & MARGARITA G. PONOMARENKO3,4 1National Museum, Natural History Museum, Department of Entomology, Cirkusová 1470, CZ-193 00 Praha 9 - Horní Počernice, Czech Republic; E-mail. [email protected] 2Institute for Evolutionary Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 37 Academician Lebedev str., 03143, Kiev, Ukraine. E-mail: [email protected] 3Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia. E-mail: [email protected] 4Far Eastern Federal University, Russky Island, Vladivostok, 690922, Russia 5Corresponding author Abstract Sophronia salaganella Šumpich & Bidzilya, sp. n., is described based on specimens collected in the mountains of the Altai Republic and Buryatia in Russia. The new species is most similar to S. illustrella (Hübner, 1796) and S. orientalis Li & Zheng, 1998 from which it can be reliably distinguished by characters of the genitalia. Sophronia iciculata Omelko, 1999, syn. n., is a junior synonym of S. orientalis; and S. marginella Toll, 1936, syn. n., is a junior synonym of S. consanguinella Herrich-Schaffer, [1854]. Sophronia alaicella Caradja, 1920 is redescribed, and the adult and the male and female geni- talia are illustrated. Sophronia illustrella (Hübner, 1796) is recorded from Russia for the first time. A checklist of Sophro- nia Hübner, [1825] of the world is provided. Key words: taxonomy, new species, new synonym, Russia, Altai Mountains, East Sayan Mountains Introduction The species of Sophronia Hübner, [1825] are defined externally by the presence of a long brush of hair-like scales on the underside of segment II of the labial palpus, and the forewing with a white pattern along the costal margin, a white oblique subapical costal streak, and the apex usually distinctly falcate. The narrow cuculli, an elongated tube- shaped ventral sclerite fixed to the aedeagus distally, is characteristic for the male genitalia. The female genitalia are recognized by a well-defined cap-shaped or tubular antrum, usually well-developed signum with long arms, and very long apophyses posteriores. The position of Sophronia within Gelechiidae is rather controversial. In two recent well supported clasifications of Gelechiidae (Ponomarenko 2005, Karsholt et al. 2013) the genus was placed either in Anacamsinae or Gelechiinae. Ponomarenko (2005) suggests that affinity of Sophronia with Anacampsinae (namely Anacampsini) is supported by the presence of a ventral tube-shaped sclerite that is formed by the ankylosed sacculi and juxta merged with the vinculum. The homology of this sclerite was established on the basis of functional morphological investigations of the male copulative apparatus (Ponomarenko 2005: 35–38, 2009: 76–81). This tube-shaped sclerite surrounding the aedeagus limits its mobility to rotation to the dorsoventral plane. These morphological transformations are characteristic for Mesophleps Hübner, [1825], Anacampsis Curtis, 1827, Stomopteryx Heinemann, 1870 and other „traditional“ genera of Anacampsini (Ponomarenko 2005: 76–77; 2009: 164–165). In an alternative classification of Gelechiidae proposed by Karsholt et al. (2013) based on molecular data and supported by morphological characters, the laterally separated tergum VIII and sternum VIII was considered a synapomorphy of this subfamily (Karsholt et al. 2013: 345). In that classification Sophronia is placed near Mirificarma Gozmány, 1955 in the subfamily Gelechiinae, tribe Gelechiini. 348 Accepted by J.W. Brown: 5 Mar. 2019; published: 5 Apr. 2019 Corley (2001) separated Pseudosophronia Corley, 2001 from Sophronia based on differences in wing venation and characters of the genitalia (e.g., the shape of the aedeagus in the male, and the absence of a signum in female); for details see Corley (2001: 214). Its position within the family requires clarification (Corley 2001: 224). Currently, Sophronia comprises 23 described species: 17 are known only from the Palaearctic region, three from the Nearctic, one from the Neotropical, and one from the Afrotropical region (Gaede 1937). Sophronia gelidella Nordman, 1941was recently documented as Holarctic by Landry et al. (2013). Because the entire genus has not been subject to revision, correct assignment of some of the species to Sophronia or Pseudosophronia remains unresolved (see also Corley 2001: 221), therefore the checklist of the species of Sophronia presented in this work is consider provisional. The fauna of Europe was partially revised by Elsner et al. (1999) and Corley (2001). Nine species of Sophronia were reported by Ponomarenko (2008) from Russia. In the Altai mountains we repeatedly collected a Sophronia species that externally resembles S. gelidella, S. illustrella (Hübner, 1796), and S. iciculata Omelko, 1999. A subsequent, precise comparative study of external and genitalia characters of this group of species showed that the specimens from Altai represent a separate, undescribed species. Within the study we examined the little known species Sophronia alaicella Caradja, 1920 and realised that it is broadly distributed both in mountain and desert areas of Central Asia. We also discovered that Sophronia marginella Toll, 1936 is conspecific with Sophronia consanguinella Herrich-Schäffer, [1854] and Sophronia iciculata is a junior synonym of Sophronia orientalis Li & Zheng, 1998. Below we describe a new species from Altai, establish two new synonyms, redescribe S. alaicella and S. orientalis, and provide an updated list of Sophronia species. Material and methods The present study is based on the material from the following collections: Abbreviations of museums and privat collections: DVI Private collection of Ivo Dvořák, Jihlava, Czech Republic FSCB Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia MGAB Muzeum Naţional de Istorie Naturală "Grigore Antipa", Bucureşt, Romania NKU Insect Collection of College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China NMPC National Museum, Natural History Museum, Prague, Czech Republic NUPP Private Collection of Kari & Timo Nupponen, Espoo, Finland TLMF Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria ZIN Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia ZMKU Zoological Museum, Kiev Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine ZMUC Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark Examples of the new species were collected by the first author using portable light traps (with ultraviolet 8W/ 12V tubes) or attracted to ultraviolet light 250W/220V. The second author collected the new species at the light of a “Petromax” gasoline lamp and by netting adults in grass in the morning just after sunrise. The study of moth specimens and preparation of genitalia slides were made by traditional methods as described by Huemer & Karsholt (2010). The genitalia of both sexes were studied in glycerol, in some cases mounted on a glass slide in Euparal and subsequently examined using Nikon SMZ–10, Olympus SZX16 and Olympus BX41 stereomicroscopes. Photographs of adults and genitalia were made with Nikon Coolpix 8700, Olympus DP74 and Canon EOS 1100D digital cameras. In the descriptions, the terminology for genitalia structures follows Klots (1970) with modifications according to Ponomarenko (2005) on the base of functional morphological investigations. Most of the photographs were edited in Helicon Focus 6.3.5 Pro and Adobe Photoshop CC. A NEW SPECIES OF SOPHRONIA Zootaxa 4577 (2) © 2019 Magnolia Press · 349 Results Sophronia salaganella Šumpich et Bidzilya, sp. n. (Figs. 1–7, 17–22) Type material. Holotype ♀: ‘Russia, Altai Republic | Kosh-Agach Distr. | Kurai env. (15 km SW) | Dzhangyskol lake (or | SALAGANA lake) | 50°10’49’’N; 87°44’19’’E | coniferous forest/steppe | 24.–25.vi.2015, 1830 m | Jan Šumpich leg.’ | ‘Photo / | Gen. prep. | J. Šumpich | 18/419’ | ‘HOLOTYPUS ♀ | Sophronia salaganella | Šumpich & Bidzilya, 2018’ [red label] (NMPC). Paratypes: Russia, Altai Mts. 4♂♂, 2♀♀, the same data as holotype. 1♂, 1♀, Aktash village, 50°19’12’’N, 87°36’00’’E, grassy steppe, rocks, 1400 m, 11.vii.2014 (J. Šumpich) (gen. prep. 18425♀, Jan Šumpich); 1♂, 1♀, the same locality, but 21.vi.2015 (J. Šumpich) (gen. prep. 18424♂, J. Šumpich). 1♂, 1♀, Belyashi (Dzhazator) environs (25 km NW), confluence of Argut and Karagem rivers, 49°51'56"N, 87°10'22"E, 1400 m, rocky steppe, 27.‒28.vii.2017 (J. Šumpich). 1♂, Shebalino distr., 8 km W of Cherga, rocky slopes, steppe, 580 m, 7.vii.2015 (J. Šumpich) (all NMPC). 1♂, Kuraiskiy khrebet near Aktash, Jarly-Jary upper stream, mountain tundra, 2600 m, 8.vii.1976 (Yu. A. Kostjuk) (gen. slide 164/18, O. Bidzilya). 1♂, Kuraiskiy khrebet near Aktash, Jarly-Jary middle stream, south mix-grass steppe slope, 2400 m, 5.vii.1976 (Yu. A. Kostjuk). 4♂♂, Kosh-Agatch distr., Ukok plateau, 11, 20, 22.vii.2001, 2200 m (O. Bidzilya). 4♂♂, Kosh-Agatch distr., Tjurgun river near Tchuja road, 1500 m, 7.vii.2001, on light (O. Bidzilya). 1♀, 15 km S Ongudai,