Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)
Author
Heikkilä, Maria
Author
Brown, John W.
Author
Baixeras, Joaquin
Author
Mey, Wolfram
Author
Kozlov, Mikhail V.
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-03-13
4394
1
41
60
journal article
26761
10.11646/zootaxa.4394.1.2
96807e95-89bd-4f9c-8e64-dd44cf0ca98a
1175-5326
3066097
6AEE9169-0FC2-4728-A690-52FFA1707FC0
Electresia zalesskii
Kusnezov, 1941
Figs 3
a–c.
Excavation locality and depository:
Formerly, the fossil was in the private collection of B. V. Miloradovitsch,
Russia
, but it is currently in the collection of the PIRAS
Moscow
(
Holotype
: no. 20). In the original description the inclusion is reported to be in Baltic amber (Baltic Region, Prussian Fm./Lutetian, Middle Eocene), but Prof. A. Rasnitsyn has examined the specimen and concluded it is copal (pers. comm.). The surface of this specimen, as that of the fossil pyraloid
Glendotricha olgae
Kusnezov, 1941
, show greater deterioration than the other amber specimens dealt with in the same paper by
Kusnezov (1941)
and deposited at the PIRAS. In addition, solubility tests were conducted on small, detached pieces of
Glendotricha olgae
. In less than an hour in 95% alcohol, these particles turned into an opaque jelly-like mass, a reaction typical to copal but which never occurs when alcohol is applied to real Baltic amber (a succinite). Copal is younger than amber (
Poinar 1992
;
Labandeira 2014
), but a more precise age and origin of
Electresia zalesskii
are currently not known. The re-assessment of the fossil moth is based on the information and illustrations found in the original publication by
Kusnezov (1941)
and the examination of the specimen at the PIRAS (MH).
Published illustrations:
Kusnezov 1941: 63
, figs 50–52 (drawings) and reproduction in
Carpenter 1992: 374
, fig. 2 (drawing).
Condition:
The irregularly shaped copal piece (21 × 23 ×
8 mm
) shows signs of physical degradation. The surface has a dense network of small cracks making it very difficult to examine the moth (forewing length
4.2 mm
) within it (
Fig. 3
). The sex of the moth cannot be determined with certainty, but based on the absence of sensory setae on the flagellomeres of the antenna, it is likely a female. The wings are folded roof-like over the abdomen, so only the forewing venation can be observed; the legs are partly visible.
Comments:
Kusnezov (1941)
assigned this fossil to “
Eucosmidae
” (now considered a tribe of Olethreutinae), indicating that it is closely allied to the genus
Laspeyresia
Hübner, 1825
(now
Cydia
in the tribe Grapholitini). This placement was based on a variety of morphological characteristics, including the following: length of the antennae (slightly longer than half the forewing length); configuration of the labial palpi (a short basal segment, a longer second segment, and a short, obtuse third segment); the absence of (or inconspicuous) maxillary palpi; the overall forewing shape (trapezoidal, 2.5 times long as wide, with apex rounded and obtuse, and termen slightly incurved at M
1
) and venation (all veins present and separate beyond the discal cell, with well-developed chorda and M stem). The chaetosemata are not mentioned, and cannot be observed in this fossil. The scaling of the antennae is difficult to see, but it appears that there is only one row of scales. All of these features are highly consistent with the assignment of the specimen to
Tortricidae
, and the slightly undulate termen in forewings is certainly similar to that of many recent Olethreutinae (e.g.
Irianassa
Meyrick, 1905
,
Periphoeba
Bradley, 1957
).
The monophyly of Olethreutinae is strongly supported by morphological (e.g.
Horak 1998
) and molecular data (e.g.
Regier
et al.
2012
;
Fagua
et al.
2017
).
Horak (1998)
stated that Olethreutinae differ from
Tortricinae
in the retention of the M-stem and the chorda in the forewing discal cell, but these plesiomorphic features are also present in some
Chlidanotinae
(
Polyorthini
and
Hilarographini
). Regardless of its tribal and/or subfamilial assignment, we conclude that this fossil belongs to
Tortricidae
.