BIOLOGIJA. 2021. Vol. 67. No. 2. P. 83–92 © Lietuvos mokslų akademija, 2021

Re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos and the consequent transfer of this species to Aristotelia, Gelechiidae, with a synonymisation of A. tyttha, syn. nov.

Oleksiy Bidzilya1, Recent morphological re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos Puplesis & Diškus, 1996 Jonas R. Stonis2* revealed that this species actually belonged to Aristotelia Hübner, Gelechiidae and resulted in the synonymisation of another Cen- 1 Institute of Evolutionary Ecology tral Asian species, A. tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003, syn. nov. of the National Academy The paper provides, for the first time, a photographic documenta- of Sciences of Ukraine, tion of the male genitalia of Aristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Academician Lebedev St. 37, Diškus) (comb. nov.). The female genitalia are also described and Kyiv 03143, Ukraine illustrated for the first time. 2 Institute of Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Keywords: Atraphaxis spinosa, , male and female Akademijos St. 2, genitalia, new combination, new synonymy Vilnius 08412, Lithuania

INTRODUCTION have been recorded in the Neotropical region (Becker, 1984) and about ten species in the Afro- Aristotelia Hübner, 1825 is a genus of Gelechii- tropical region (Vári et al., 2002); about 20 species dae that is characterised by a stout hook-shaped of Aristotelia are reported from the Oriental region distal sclerite of the gnathos, well-developed sac- and nearly 20 species from Australia (Edwards, culus, and the phallus often bearing short lateral 1996). Larvae of Aristotelia have been recorded to thorns in the male genitalia. In female genitalia, be feeding on Apiaceae, Ericaceae, Empetraceae, characteristic is the ductus bursae with a patch (or Lythraceae, Lamiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Fabace- patches) of minute spines. The genus has a cosmo- ae, Plumbaginaceae (Bidzilya, Budashkin, 2015), politan distribution: about 30 species of Aristote- and Polygonaceae (Falkovitsh, Bidzilya, 2003). lia are known from the Palaearctic and 35 from In 1996, on the basis of two specimens, Pu- the Nearctic (Lee et al., 2009); at least 50 species plesis and Diškus described Bucculatrix macrog- nathos (Puplesis, Diškus, 1996). Both specimens were with a well-preserved, ‘Bucculatricidae- * Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] type’ wing pattern, but without heads. Therefore, 84 Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas R. Stonis neither antennasnor palpi, very important ex- and Aristotelia tyttha are based on the material ternal features, were known at that time. It was deposited in the collection of the Zoological expected but not proven that broken antennas Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, might possess a scape, an enlarged first anten- St. Petersburg, Russia (ZIN). Additional, non- nal segment. The male genitalia were charac- type male and female specimens of A. tyttha terized by a well-developed, distinctive gna- are deposited in the collections of the Zoologi- thos. The Bucculatricidae species are usually cal Museum of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National not characterized by a gnathos, though a few University, Kyiv, Ukraine (ZMKU). species possess a gnathos and it is treated as Preparation of micro-mounts of the genital a plesiomorphy for the family (S. V. Baryshni­ structures of the former B. macrognathos and kova, pers. comm.). Moreover, four years ear- A. tyttha were undertaken following the me- lier, B. formosa Puplesis & Seksyaeva, 1992, thod by Stonis et al. (2014), as well as Puplesis, another Bucculatricidae species with a well-de- Diškus (2003). After maceration of the abdo- veloped gnathos was described from the same men in 10% KOH and subsequent cleaning, area in Kugitangtau in eastern Turkmenistan abdominal pelts were stained with Chlorazol (Puplesis et al., 1992). Black (Direct Black 38/Azo Black), but male Due to the unexpected placement of B. mac- genitalia were left unstained. The genital cap- rognathos in the family Bucculatricidae, B. mac- sules were removed from the abdomen and rognathos has been left neglected and not taken mounted ventral side uppermost in Euparal. into account during the description of Aristote- The permanent slide of the holotype of lia tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya. The latter spe- the former B. macrognathos was studied and cies was described on the basis of three males photographed using a Leica DM2500 micro- bred from Atraphaxis spinosa in the Kyzylkum scope and a Leica DFC420 digital camera. Desert of Uzbekistan (Falkovitsh, Bidzilya, Holo-type and paratype adults were photo- 2003). The larvae and the life history of A. tyt- graphed using a Leica S6D stereoscopic micro- tha have been described in detail (see Falko- scope with an attached Leica DFC290 digital vitsh, Bidzilya, 2003). camera. The photographs of adults and the gen- Recently, despite the misplacement of italia slides of A. tyttha were taken following B. macrognathos in Bucculatricidae, the first the description by Bidzilya et al. (2017: 482). author of this article has discovered that the male genitalia of B. macrognathos, illustrat- BUCCULATRIX MACROGNATHOS, A FOR- ed by Puplesis, Diškus (1996: Figs. 25, 26), fully MERLY BUCCULATRICIDAE SPECIES, matched those in Aristotelia Hübner, Gelechii- TRANSFERRED TO GELECHIIDAE dae. Therefore, a re-examination of the type se- ries of B. macrognathos and a comparison with Aristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus, the most similarly looking species, A. tyttha, 1996), comb. nov. was proposed. Additionally, two other speci- Bucculatrix macrognathos Puplesis & Diškus, mens, including previously unknown female of 1996: 188, 189, Figs. 25–27. A. macrognathos (former A. tyttha), were found Generic placement. The re-examination from the type locality in the Kyzylkum Desert of the male genitalia of the former holotype of in Uzbekistan. It has resulted in the current pa- Bucculatrix macrognathos (Figs. 7–16, 19, 20, per and a necessity of taxonomic changes. 24–29), along with a study of previously un- known female, revealed that this species fitted MATERIALS AND METHODS ideally the generic concept of Aristotelia Hüb- ner. Therefore, B. macrognathos has been trans- The examination and photographic documenta- ferred to Aristotelia, Gelechiidae. tion of the type series of the former Bucculatrix Diagnosis. Externally, Aristotelia macrogna- macrognathos (now transferred to Aristotelia) thos can be distinguished by a combination of Re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos... 85 a small size of an adult and bright and contrast- gular sacculus with a serrated ventral margin; ing forewing with a costal margin suffused with in the female genitalia, by the elongated signum brown, three yellowish brown irregular patches with distinctive lateral spines. centrally separated by white stripes. In the male Description. It is a medium small : genitalia, A. macrognathos differs from other forewing length 2.8–3.2 mm, wingspan 6.1– representatives of Aristotelia by the wide, trian- 7.0 mm (Figs. 1–3).

Figs. 1–6. Photographic documentation and comparison of the forewing pattern of Aristote- lia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.) and A. tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003 (syn. nov.) 86 Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas R. Stonis

Male genitalia (Figs. 7–16, 19, 20, 24–27): µm long, basally 105–110 µm wide. For capsule 300–305 µm long; tegumen 155 µm a primary description, see Puplesis, Diškus wide; valva 230–235 µm long; phallus 250 (1996).

Figs. 7–10. The first photographic documentation of male genitalia of the holotype ofAristotelia macrogna- thos (Puplesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.), genitalia slide no. AD1035 (ZIN) Re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos... 87

Figs. 11–18. The first photographic documentation and comparison of the male genitalia ofAristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.) and A. tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003 (syn. nov.): 11–16 – holotype of A. macrognathos, genitalia slide no. AD1035 (ZIN); 17, 18 – paratype of A. tyttha, genitalia slide no. 55/07 O. Bidzilya (ZIN) 88 Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas R. Stonis

Figs. 19–22. Comparison of the male genitalia of Aristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.) and A. tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003 (syn. nov.): 19, 20 – holotype of A. macrognathos (after Puplesis and Diškus, 1996); 21, 22 – paratype of A. tyttha, genitalia slide no. 194/20, O. Bidzilya (ZMKU) Re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos... 89

Figs. 23–27. The first photographic documentation and comparison of phallus of Aristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.) and A. tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003 (syn. nov.): 23 – A. tyt- tha, genitalia slide no. 55/07 O. Bidzilya (ZIN); 24–27 – holotype of A. macrognathos, genitalia slide no. AD1035 (ZIN)

Female genitalia (Figs. 28, 29). Papillae anales a narrow postmedial emargination widened an- subovate, densely covered with hair-like setae; teriorly, plainly sclerotised, unmodified except apophyses posteriores straight, slender, about for a medial fold terminated into short pointed 1.5 times as long as papillae anales and twice as tips, anterior margin sclerotised and weakly long as apophyses anteriores. Sternum VIII with bent; ductus bursae of moderate width, weakly 90 Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas R. Stonis

Figs. 28, 29. The first photographic documentation of the female genitalia ofAristotelia macrognathos (Pu- plesis & Diškus, 1996) (comb. nov.), genitalia slide no. 55/07 O. Bidzilya (ZMKU): 28 – papillae anales and apophyses; 29 – bursae copulatrix widened near the entrance of corpus bursae, COMPARISON OF ARISTOTELIA colliculum slender, band-shaped; ductus semi- MACROGNATHOS AND A. TYTTHA, nalis arises from about 1/8 length of ductus SYN. NOV. bursae; bursae copulatrix egg-shaped; signum elongated, with distinct lateral spines, about 1/3 The examination and comparison of the fore- length of corpus bursae. wing pattern of the holotype and paratype of Material examined. 1 ♂ (holotype, without a Aristotelia macrognathos (Figs. 1–3), male head), eastern TURKMENISTAN, env. of Svint- paratype (Fig. 4), and two additional, non-type sovyy Rudnik (Kugitangtau ridge), 11.viii.1989, specimens of both sexes of A. tyttha revealed leg. V. Sruoga, genitalia slide no. AD1035 (ZIN). close similarity, and only a few differences were 1 ♂ (paratype, without a head, abdomen miss- found among the studied specimens. The differ- ing), same locality, 26.viii.1990, leg. R. Puplesis ences are insignificant and could be considered (ZIN). 1 ♂ (paratype of A. tyttha), UZBEKI- to be a result of an individual or geographical STAN, Ajakguzhumdy, 40 km of Dzhyngildy, variation between the specimens collected in 7.vi.1967, ex feeding on Atraphaxis spino- eastern Turkmenistan (A. macrognathos) and sa, leg. M. Falkovitsh, genitalia slide no. 194/20, adjacent Uzbekistan (A. tyttha). O. Bidzilya (ZIN). 1 ♂, 1 ♀, same label data, gen- The examination and comparison of male italia slide no. 55/07♂♀, O. Bidzilya (ZMKU). genitalia of the holotype of A. macrognathos Remarks. Here, we provide the first pho- with one paratype and one non-type male tographic documentation of A. macrognathos: specimen of A. tyttha (Figs. 7–27) showed Figs. 1–6 (forewing pattern), Figs. 7–18, 21–27 no significant differences between the stud- (male genitalia), and Figs. 28, 29 (female genitalia). ied specimens. Since the gnathos is movable, Re-examination of the previously neglected Central Asian Bucculatrix macrognathos... 91 it may look different due to the angle of view the Development of Priority Areas of Scientific or the slide mount (Figs. 9, 13, 15). In gener- Research’, Ukraine (Code: 6541230). al, we found that gnathos of A. macrognathos (Fig. 19) and A. tyttha (Figs. 18, 21) were al- Received 20 March 2021 most identical. The differences in the phallus Accepted 9 April 2021 between A. macrognathos (Figs. 19, 20, 24–27) and A. tyttha (Figs. 22, 23) could have oc- curred due to the preparation of the slides. References Otherwise, the structures of the male genitalia of A. macrognathos and A. tyttha are identical. 1. Becker VO. 29. Gelechiidae. In: Heppner JB, editor. Atlas of Neotropical . CONCLUSIONS Checklist: Part 1. The Hague: Dr W. Junk Pub- lishers; 1984. p. 44–53. 1. On the basis of the re-examination of type- 2. Bidzilya OV, Budashkin YI. New species of series specimens, the former Bucculatrix mac- Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) from Ukraine. rognathos Puplesis & Diškus, 1996, has been Zootaxa. 2015; 2374(2): 217–30. excluded from Bucculatricidae and transferred to Gelechiidae, and now it should be treated as 3. Bidzilya OV, Budashkin YI, Zhakov AV. Aristotelia macrognathos (Puplesis & Diškus), Check-list of scythridid (Lepidoptera, comb. nov. Scythrididae) of Ukraine with description 2. On the basis of the comparison of of two new species. Zootaxa. 2017; 4291(3): the forewing pattern and male genitalia, A. tyt- 481–503. tha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003, has been syn- 4. Falkovitsh MI, Bidzilya OV. Gelechiidae (Lep- onymised with A. macrognathos (Puplesis & idoptera) reared from the larvae collected in Diškus, 1996), with the holotype and paratype Kyzylkum desert, with descriptions of new deposited at ZIN. species. Proc Zool Mus Kiev Taras Shevchen- 3. The female genitalia of A. macrognathos ko Natl Univ. 2003; 1: 113–47. were described for the first time and character- 5. Lee S, Hodges RW, B r ow n RL. Checklist of Ge- ised by the elongated signum with distinctive lechiidae (Lepidoptera) in America North of lateral spines. Mexico. Zootaxa. 2009; 2231: 1–39. 4. The host plant of A. macrognathos is Atraphaxis spinosa L. (Polygonaceae) because 6. Puplesis R, Diškus A. Five new mining Lepi- this plant was earlier recorded as the host of doptera (Nepticulidae, Bucculatricidae) from the currently synonymised A. tyttha. Central Asia. Tijdschr Entomol. 1996; 139(2): 181–90. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7. Puplesis R, Diškus A. The & (Lepidoptera) – a global review, Jonas Rimantas Stonis thanks Arūnas Diškus with strategic regional revisions. Kaunas: for his generous help in preparing a permanent Lututė Publishers; 2003. 512 p. slide of the holotype of the former Bucculatrix 8. Puplesis R, Seksjaeva S, Puplesienė J. Buccula- macrognathos (slide no. AD1035) and for his trix formosa sp. n., a remarkable species from contribution to the list of references. the Kugitangtau Mountains (Central Asia) This research was partially funded by a grant (Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae). Nota lepidop- (S-MIP-19-30, ‘DiagnoStics’) from the Re- terol. 1992; 15(1): 41–6. search Council of Lithuania. The first author carried out his part of the 9. Stonis JR, Diškus A, Remeikis A, Navickaitė A. study within the framework of the implementa- Study methods of Nepticulidae: micro-mounts tion of the State Budget Programme ‘Support for of genitalia structures. In: Stonis JR, Hill SR, 92 Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas R. Stonis

Diškus A, Auškalnis T, editors. Selected ab- Oleksiy Bidzilya, Jonas Rimantas Stonis stracts and papers of the First Baltic Interna- CENTRINĖS AZIJOS BUCCULATRIX MACRO- tional Conference on Field Entomology and GNATHOS PERKELTA Į ARISTOTELIA, GELE- Faunistics. Vilnius: Edukologija Publishers; CHIIDAE, O A. TYTTHA TAPO A. MACRO- 2014. p. 32–35. GNATHOS JAUNESNIUOJU SINONIMU 10. Vári L, Kroon D, Krüger M. Classification and checklist of the species of Lepidoptera record- Santrauka ed in southern Africa. Australia: Chatswood; Pakartotinai ištyrus tipinę seriją, Bucculatrix macro- 2002. 384 p. gnathos Puplesis & Diškus, 1996 buvo perkelta iš Bucculatricidae šeimos į Gelechiidae. Aristotelia tyttha Falkovitsh & Bidzilya, 2003 tapo A. macro- gnathos jaunesniuoju sinonimu, o Astrophaxis spi- nosa L. (Polygonaceae) – A. macrognathos mitybi- niu augalu, nes šis augalas anksčiau buvo nurodytas kaip šiuo metu sinonimizuotos A. tyttha mitybinis augalas. Straipsnyje pirmą kartą aprašytos anks- čiau nežinomos A. macrognathos patelės genitalinės struktūros ir pirmą kartą pateiktos A. macrognathos patino genitalinių struktūrų nuotraukos. Raktažodžiai: Atraphaxis spinosa, Bucculatric­ idae, nauja taksonominė kombinacija, naujas sino- nimas, patino ir patelės genitalijos