Elegia occultalis Plant, sp. nov. (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Phycitinae) is described from the Balkans and compared with related species. Adults and male and female genitalia of the new species are illustrated.

As part of an ongoing project to inventory Lepidoptera in the Balkan countries of Europe (The Balkans Moth Project), microlepidopteran material from light traps operated by SB and AN are routinely passed to CWP for recovery and naming of Pyraloidea in particular. Material collected from 2017 to 2019 was examined by CWP between October 2019 and February 2020. This exercise revealed approximately 2000 specimens that were attributable to Phycitinae. Many specimens of Elegia species were found amongst these and preserved for later examination. Unfortunately, the combined effects of mould, “grease” and simple mechanical damage rendered almost all material unrecognisable without examination of features of the genitalia.

Slamka (2019) raised Elegia atrifasciella Ragonot, 1887 from synonymy under fallax Staudinger, 1881 and asserted that it was the prevalent species in the southern Balkans. This invalidates the results presented by Plant (2016), in which atrifasciella was treated as a synonym of fallax; it is also unsupportive of the more recent work by Kemal et al. (2020) in which it is asserted that E. fallax is the prevalent species. These data clearly required critical re-evaluation. Consequently, during February 2020, CWP dissected the genitalia of all Balkan Elegia material at his disposal. The wider results concerning the status of the taxa atrifasciella and fallax are to be published separately, but during the course of this study CWP was surprised to discover a number of male Elegia specimens from a site in Albania with a distinctive broad, spatulate gnathos, quite unlike the acute gnathos of all expected members of the genus.

Further investigation revealed additional males from the same site on the Ionian Coast, all with the unusual gnathos and also several females with identical genital structures that did not fit precisely to the three expected candidates of E. fallax, E. atrifasciella or E. similella (Zincken, 1818). Additionally, both sexes were found in samples from another area, quite separated from the first and further inland, in North Macedonia. There are no other European species of Elegia that have the distinctive spatulate gnathos. For other regions, Slamka (2019) lists E. iozona (Meyrick, 1937) from Asiatic Turkey and the Balkan material shares a number of similarities with that taxon, including the broad gnathos, but a detailed comparison with the type specimen and its associated genitalia slide at Natural History Museum, London NHML, reveals a number of differences. This slide is reproduced in Slamka (2019), on page 173, top centre image, along with the culcita to its left. Further, the known distribution of E. iozona affects Asiatic Turkey (with no reports from west of the Bosporus) and thence eastwards across Iraq and Iran; its presence in the Southern Balkans would be rather surprising.

Kemal et al. (2020) described two new species of Elegia (E. feminina and E. saecula) from Asiatic Turkey, both with a broad, spatulate gnathos. However, the overall shape of the gnathos, as well as a number of other features, in both these taxa shows that they differ from the Balkan specimens. It is clear that the material from Albania and North Macedonia represents a new, previously undescribed species. Its description is given below.

Genitalia were dissected broadly following the methodology of Robinson (1976). Terminology of the genitalia follows Slamka (2019). Adult moths (Figs 3, 4) were photographed using a Nikon D3300 DSLR camera fitted with a Nikon DX VR 18–55mm 1:3.5–5.6G II lens. Genitalia (Figs 1, 2) were imaged using a: Nikon D90 DSLR camera body, mounted on a Nikon Eclipse E55i Compound microscope then using Helicon Focus stacking software before processing using Photoshop Elements. The habitat photographs at Figs 5, 6 were captured using a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX400V digital camera.

Figure 1. 

Habitat of Elegia occultalis Plant, sp. nov. Albania, coast below Ilias, near the St. Theodor monastery, 140 m. Maquis with Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae), Quercus macrolepis Kotschy, Q. coccifera L., Q. ilex L. (Fagaceae), Arbutus unedo L., Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull (Ericaceae), Pistacia lentiscus L., P. terebinthus L. (Anacardiaceae), Cupressus sp., (Cupressaceae), Ficus carica L. (Moraceae), Cistus sp. (Cistaceae), etc. Photography by Stoyan Beshkov, 2019.

Figure 2. 

Habitat of Elegia occultalis Plant, sp. nov. North Macedonia: Vardar River Valley, above Demir Kapija, 244 m. Pseudomaquis with Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb., Juniperus oxycedrus (L.) (Cupressaceae), Paliurus spina-christi Mill. (Rhamnaceae), Pistacia terebinthus L. (Anacardiaceae), Phillyrea latifolia L., Fraxinus ornus L. (Oleaceae), Quercus pubescens Willd. (Fagaceae), Astragalus sp. (Leguminosae), Astracantha spp. (Fabaceae), Silene sp. (Caryophyllaceae), etc. Photography by Stoyan Beshkov, 2019.

This discovery, in this region of the Balkan peninsula at two physically different localities, one on the coast of Albania and the other inland in North Macedonia, is most unexpected. Known members of the genus may be restricted, in the larval stage, to a diet of deciduous Quercus L. (Fagaceae) leaves; it is at least of interest, therefore, that Quercus trees are present at both trap sites. The dates of capture in May 2017 in Albania and July 2019 in North Macedonia, indicate at least two generations per year. Other members of the genus are typically on the wing from about May to October in two or more generations (personal observations).

It seems probable that E. occultalis might be more widespread, at least in the southern part of the Balkans. There are depressingly few active lepidopterologists in North Macedonia and whilst those few that exist are highly competent, there is a rather low priority given by them to nocturnal Lepidoptera, especially the Phycitinae. As far as we are aware there are no active lepidopterologists resident in Albania – nor have there been for many decades.

The new species may occur, undetected, in other parts of the Balkans, at least, and should be sought in all areas where deciduous Quercus trees are present. Adult Elegia can be recognised “by eye”, but whilst freshly emerged adults might be identified by more experienced entomologists, examination of the genitalia is still critical in support of correct identification of individual species.

We are most grateful to Graeme J. Smith (Bishops Stortford, UK) for photography of the adult moths.

Peter Hall (Worcester, UK), who manages the web site https://mothdissection.co.uk/, is thanked for the photography and photo-stacking of the genitalia of the Balkan moths, including the creation of Figures 5, 6, from the glass microscopes slide prepared by CWP. Dr Ahmet Koçak (Ankara, Turkey) e-mailed helpful comments on Elegia feminina and E. saecula in Turkey. Martin Honey, Scientific Associate at NHML, is specifically thanked for his ongoing helpful comments and constructive criticism and for making useful comments on a draft of this paper. Our friend Barry Goater (Chandlers Ford, UK) also commented on an earlier draft and we are grateful for this. Two peer-reviewers have waived their right to anonymity and so we are most pleased to be able to acknowledge the helpful critiques undertaken by František Slamka and Matthias Nuss.