Table Of ContentInfurcitinea ignicomella (Lepidoptera: Tineidae, Meessiinae), new to the
Belgian fauna
DanSlootmaekers
Abstract. OnJune 17th, 2012 a singlespecimen ofInfurcitineaignicomella (Zeiler, 1852) was caught in a lighttrap at
Kalmthout (prov. Antwerp, Belgium). This is the first record ofthis species for Belgium. Information on the geographical
distributionandbiologyofthespeciesisprovidedaswellasabriefcomparisonwiththethreeotherBelgianrepresentativesof
theMeesiinaesubfamily.
Samenvatting.Infurcitineaignicomella(Lepidoptera:Tineidae,Meessiinae),nieuwesoortvoordeBelgischefauna
Op17juni2012werdeenenkelexemplaarvanInfurcitineaignicomella(Zeiler,1852)meteenlichtvalgevangenteKalmthout
(prov.Antwerpen,België).HetisdeeerstekeerdatdezesoortinBelgiëwerdwaargenomen.Informatieoverdegeografische
verspreidingendebiologiewordtgegevenendesoortwordtvergelekenmetdedrieandereMeessiinaesoortendieinBelgië
voorkomen.
Résumé.Infurcitineaignicomella(Lepidoptera:Tineidae,Meesiinae),espècenouvellepourlafaunebeige
Le17juin2012unseulexemplaired'Infurcitnieaignicomella(Zeiler, 1852)futcapturédansun piègelumineuxa Kalmthout
(prov. d'Anvers, Belgique). II s'agit de la première mention de cette espèce en Belgique. Des informations concernant la
distribution géographique et la biologiede l'espècesontfournies, et l'espèce estcomparéeauxtroisautres représentants
beigesdelasous-familledesMeessiinae.
Keywords:Infurcitineaignicomella-Faunistics-Lepidoptera-Newrecord-Belgium.
Slootmaekers,D.:Kijkuitstraat17,2920Kalmthout,[email protected]
Introduction
Taxonomy
On June 17th, 2012 a moth trapping night was
organizedatKalmthout(prov.Antwerp, Belgium)aspart TheTineidae are a ratherlarge, cosmopolitan family
of the moth inventory project of Grenspark De Zoom- in which about 3000 species are described. Atypical for
KalmthoutseHeide.Weatherconditionsweresuboptimal Lepidoptera larvae, they do not consume live plant
formothtrappingsinceitwasarelativelycoldnightwith material, but feed on detritus, fungi, lichen or keratine
minimaaround 12°C,amildbreezeof2-3 Bft.comingin (Scoble 1992). I. ignicomella belongs to the Meessiinae
from South/South-West. The sky remained cloudy but subfamily, which is one of the larger fungus moth
dry. subfamilies. However, only three species of this
subfamilyarefoundinBelgium.
Eudarciapagenstecherella(Hübner,1822),averyrare
species in Belgium ofwhichthe larva lives in a portable
case and feeds on lichens or algae growing on rocks in
shadow places. The adults fly in one generation a year
andhavebeenobservedfromlateMaythroughlateJuly.
Stenoptinea cyaneimarmorella (Millière, 1854) is a very
rare and local species in Belgium. The larva lives on
lichens on Prunus, or its rotten wood. The adults have
been observedfrom late Maythrough earlySeptember.
Observations are mentioned in Antwerp, Brabant,
HenegouwenandNamen.
The 76-species rich genus Infurcitinea was hitherto
represented in Belgium only by Infurcitinea
argentimaculella (Stainton, 1849) of which the only
verified records are known from the provinces of
Figure 1. Infurcitinea ignicomella (Zeiler, 1852) at Kalmthout Antwerp and Brabant and are dated before 1980 (De
(Antwerpen,België)17.vi.2012 (Photo:DanSlootmaekers). Prins & Steeman 2012). There are no known recent
recordsofI.argentimaculellainBelgium.
A single, fresh specimen of Infurcitinea ignicomella Distribution
(Zeiler, 1852) (fig.1)wastrapped in askinner-type moth
trap using a 250W mercury vapour light bulb. The trap Throughout Europe observations of I. ignicomella
was positioned along the border between Scots Pine have been recorded. This is the first record for the
forest and a large, old dune patch where ample open Belgian fauna, although the species is considered to be
sand remains but vast areas are covered by short locally common in the Netherlands (Stichting
heathlandvegetation(Natuurpunt2012). Natuurinformatiie 2012). In NL the species has
ISSN0771-5277 Phegea41(1)01.iii.2013:17
historically been noted on most of the inland sandy Biology
areas.Therecentsightings(after2000)areconcentrated
around heathland areas in the Provinces ofGelderland, I. ignicomella is considered to rely on matter from
Friesland and Drenthe. The nearest mention of the animal origin, such as keratin, in its larval stage, as do
speciesinthe Netherlands, in a heathlandarea nearthe some othermembers oftheTineidaefamily.The adults
city of Bergen-Op-Zoom in 1987 (Stichting ofthespeciesflyfromlateMaythroughearlyAugust.
Natuurinformatie2012,Telmee2012), isonly 10-15 km
awayfromtheBelgianobservation.
Characteristics
As most Tineidae, the species is small at only 8.0-
11.0mm and can be confused with members of the
generaTriaxomeraandNemapogon.Theforewinghasan
indistinct grey-brown ground colour, covered with Figure 2. Infurcitinea ignicomella (Zeiler, 1852), mounted specimen
scattered white scales. Faint spots can be seen on the (stichtingTinea).
costal and terminal sides of the forewings of fresh
individuals (fig. 2). These lighter patches are poorly Acknowledgements
defined, are paler than the ground colour (Kuchlein
1993) and can be seen as a set of three bands that Thanks to fellow monitors Joris Eist, Régis Nossent
connectdorsalandcostalsideoftheforewing.Thehead and Stijn Baeten. Thanks to Chris Steeman and Luc De
ismorenotableduetothedensecoverofochreoushairs Bruynfordirectionsonwritingthearticle.
onfronsandvertex.
Literature
DePrinsW.&SteemanC.2012.CatalogueoftheLepidopteraofBelgium.—www.phegea.org[accessedon 20November2012],
KuchleinJ.H.1993.Dekleinevlinders;handboekvoordefaunistiekvandeNederlandseMicrolepidoptera.—Pudoc,Wageningen,
715pp. —
Natuurpunt2012.Zandkroeskopje.Infurcitineaignicomella. www.waarnemingen.be[accessedon22November2012],
ScobleM.J.1992.TheLepidoptera.Form,functionanddiversity.—NaturalHistoryMuseumPublications,OxfordUniversityPress,
404pp. —
Stichting Natuurinformatie 2012. Zandkroeskopje. Infurcitineaignicomella. www.waarneming.ne [accessed on 22 November
Telm2e0e122]0,12.Zandkroeskopje.Infurcitineaignicomella.—www.telmee.nl[accessedon22November2012].
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