Revision of the Australian Oenochroma vinaria Guenée, 1858 species-complex (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Oenochrominae): DNA barcoding reveals cryptic diversity and assesses status of type specimen without dissection
Author
Hausmann, Axel
Author
Hebert, Paul D. N.
Author
Mitchell, Andrew
Author
Rougerie, Rodolphe
Author
Sommerer, Manfred
Author
Edwards, Ted
Author
Young, Catherine J.
text
Zootaxa
2009
2239
1
21
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.190505
b5fc603f-0f16-49d2-996b-a63e661876f2
1175-5326
190505
Genus
Oenochroma
Guenée, 1858
All 20 species of the genus
Oenochroma
Guenée, 1858
as listed in
Scoble (1999)
are distributed in mainland
Australia
except one species which is restricted to
New Caledonia
(
Oenochroma unifasciata
Holloway, 1979
). From dissections, it is most likely that
Oenochroma hieroglyphica
(Warren, 1906)
, which was described from
Papua New Guinea
, Mt. Kaindi, is a junior synonym of
Oenochroma turneri
(Lucas, 1892)
, described from Toowoomba near Brisbane. Two species are known to occur both in mainland
Australia
and in Tasmania:
Oenochroma vinaria
and
Oenochroma vetustaria
(Walker, 1860) (
McQuillan 2004
)
. The
type
species of the genus,
Oenochroma vinaria
, boasts the violaceous red "wine" colour ("rose-lie de vin" in the original description) that may have suggested to Guenée the chosen denominations of the species and of the genus. Only
Oenochroma vinaria
and the new species described here are intended to fall in the “
vinaria
speciescomplex.” It is possible that they may group together, phylogenetically, with
Oenochroma pallida
and
Oenochroma decolorata
. However, both the definitions of infrageneric species-groups such as of the whole genus
Oenochroma
await an urgently needed major revision. Collection material (ANIC, ZSM, TASAG) suggests that the genus includes several other undescribed species.