Harmaclona tephrantha explained

Harmaclona tephrantha is a moth of the family Tineidae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1916.[1]

Distribution

It is found from India, Sri Lanka,[2] to Bhutan, through Thailand and Indonesia as far as Brunei. It is also recently found from South China.[3]

Description

It is a gynandromorphic species with imperfect division. Like in most Lepidoptera, the female is larger than the male. The gynandromorph is almost equally divided into a male right side and a female left side. Its right forewing is 10 mm long and 2.0 mm broad. A single large frenulum is present on the right side and two smaller frenula on the left side. Antennae are also dimorphic, where shortly bipectinate on the male side and filiform on the female side. Abdominal sclerites show dimorphism, where the female side has a large mat of fine hairs, whereas in the male side, it is unmodified and quadrate.[4]

Host plants are Dipterocarpus turbinatus and Buchanania latifolia.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Species Details: Harmaclona tephrantha (Meyrick, 1916) . Catalogue of Life . 29 May 2018.
  2. Koçak . Ahmet Ömer . Kemal . Muhabbet . 20 February 2012 . Preliminary list of the Lepidoptera of Sri Lanka . Cesa News . 79 . 1–57 . Centre for Entomological Studies Ankara . Academia.
  3. Web site: Some tineid moths (Lepidoptera, Teneidae) newly recorded from China . CABI. 28 March 2018.
  4. A bilateral gynandromorphic Harmaclona tephrantha from Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) . Tropical Lepidoptera Research. 28 March 2018.
  5. Web site: HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants . The Natural History Museum. 28 March 2018.