Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta (2009) Vol. 2 : 17-19
Teleiodes luculella (Hübner, 1813), a new record for the Maltese Islands (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Michael ZERAFA1 ABSTRACT. Teleiodes luculella, is recorded for the first time from the Maltese Islands. A short description, information on life cycle and habitat preferences of Teleiodes luculella are included. KEYWORDS. Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Gelechiinae, Teleiodes luculella, new record, Maltese Islands. INTRODUCTION The family Gelechiidae comprises small to medium sized moths, with wing span ranging from 8 - 25 mm in length. The adults are recognized as gelechiid by their scaled proboscis and strongly recurved labial palps (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). The family Gelechiidae is distributed worldwide with more than 4,600 described species accommodated in about 500 genera. In Europe this family is represented by 105 genera with 699 species and 33 subspecies (Karsholt, 2004). In Malta 28 species in 23 genera are recorded (Sammut, 2000). The genus Teleiodes Sattler, 1960 has a Palaearctic distribution, with a single species introduced in North America (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). The Palaearctic species are small to rather large gelechiids, with slender recurved labial palps and simple antenna. The forewings are rather slender with tufts of erect scales. They also have broad hind wings with slightly emarginated termen before the short apex. The abdomen consists of three basal tergites (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). Sammut (2000) recorded Teleiodes paripunctella (Thunberg, 1794) from Malta, which has been recently transferred to the genus Pseudotelphusa Janse, 1958 (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999).
Teleiodes luculella (Hübner, 1813) Material examined: MALTA: Ħal Lija, 9.iii.2007, 1 ex., ex larva on Quercus robur L., leg. M. Zerafa (date indicates emergence of adult).
Short description: Adult (Fig. 1) with a wing span of about 11 mm. Head light ocherous with fuscous tipped scales. Labial palps ringed black and white. Antennae dark. Thorax blackish, sometimes mottled with grey (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). Fore wing blackish with three white costal spots; the two prominent ones merge in the center of the wing and encircle an orbicular or elongate yellow/orange spot. This is surrounded by three spots of slightly raised black scales. Hind wing brownish grey, with long scales on the basal portion of the fringe, and a pointed apex. 1
16, ‘Agape’, Triq l-Imagħżel, Naxxar, NXR 02. E-mail: family_zerafa@hotmail.com
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M. ZERAFA
Figure 1 - Teleiodes luculella. Distribution: Teleiodes luculella is found in most of central and north Europe. It is known also from Sardinia but not from Sicily. Outside Europe it is known from the Transcaucasia (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). Biology: T. luculella has been recorded from the following host plants: Quercus (Lhomme, 19461948), Castanea sativa Mill. (Hartig, 1964), Betula (Piskunov, 1990) and Acer (Sorhagen, 1886). The larva feeds between two spun leaves or on the underside of a leaf from a silken tube (Schütze, 1931). The species is double brooded and larvae can be found from June to July and again in September (Lhomme, 1946-48), but in northern Europe there is only one generation per year (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). Pupation takes place in spring under the bark or in moss (Sorhagen, 1886). Patocka (1987) indicated that the pupal stage overwinters. The adults are on the wing from May to August in deciduous forests (Huemer & Karsholt, 1999). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr Ole Karsholt of Copenhagen for confirming the identity of this species and Mr Paul Sammut of Rabat, Malta for his assistance. REFERENCES Karsholt, O. (2004) Fauna Europaea: Gelechiidae. In: Karsholt, O. & Nieukerken, E.J. van [eds.] (2004) Fauna Europaea: Lepidoptera, Moths. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http:// www.faunaeur.org Hartig, F. (1964) Microlepidotteri della Venezia Tridentina e delle regioni adiacenti. Parte III. (Fam. Gelechiidae-Micropterygidae). Studi trent. Sci. nat., 41 (3-4): 1-292. Huemer, P. & Karsholt, O. (1999) Gelechiidae I (Gelechiinae: Teleiodini, Gelechiini). In: Huemer, P., Karsholt, O. & Lynedorg, L. [eds]. Microlepidoptera of Europe, Apollo Books, Stenstrup. 3: 1-356. Lhomme, L. (1946-1948) Gelechiidae (pp. 649-808). In: Catalogue des Lépidoptères de France et de Belgique, 2(5): 649-808 [1948-1949]. Douelle (Lot). Le Carriol. Patocka, J. (1987) Über die puppen der mitteleuropäischen Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) 3. Teil. Tribus Teleiodini und benachbarte Gattungen. Vest. cs. Spolec. zool., 51: 286- 299. Piskunov, V.I. (1990) Gelechiidae. In: Medvedev, G.S. [ed.]: Keys to the Insects of the European part of the USSR. IV. Lepidoptera, 2: 889-1024. Leningrad. [English translation].