REMARKS ON MATSUMURAESES ISSIKI, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES (LEPIDOPTERA, TORTRICIDAE, LASPEYRESIINI) by A. DIAKONOFF Rijksmuseum tutti Naluiirlijke Historie, Leiden Remarks on the value of specific characters in Malsumuraeses Issiki are made, four new species from Java and Nepal described and four other species recorded. Recent studies reveal more and more species that have to be attributed to the present natural genus; these are species either already described, but referred to wrong genera, or new species. Without doubt their number will continue to grow. The key species is "Seinasia" phaseoli Matsumura, 1900, described originally from Japan; for some time it has escaped attention of European students, so that the number of its synonyms is considerable. Still caution is required with synonymising already described species of Matsnnuiraeses. So Danilevsky & Kuznetsov (1968) pointed out that M. ochreocervina (Walsingham) is a distinct species; and I myself am claiming the same for M. metacritica (Meyrick). The important specific characters of the males are the peculiarities of the socii — even more so than the shape of the valva; but especially, the androconial modifications of the dorsum of the hind wings. The females, on the contrary, do not always show specific distinction of the genitalia and are often difficult to separate, the more so, because the colouring and markings of the two sexes may vary to a great extent. Malsumuraeses belongs to the same group as the large genus Cryptophlebia Walsing-ham, with a drcumtropical distribution. This group is a specialized off-shoot of the tribe Laspeyresiini. The development of their structures apparently followed the same direction as that in lower Eucosmini or higher Olethreutini. I would prefer to place this group at the very end of the Laspeyresiini and not at the place of the second Palaearctic genus, as in the monograph of Danilevsky & Kuznetsov (1968). A part of the present material originates from a series of recent collecting expeditions by the Munich Museum (Zoologische Sammlung des Bayerischen Staates), Germany, to Nepal. This material is exceedingly rich and is in excellent condition. I am greatly indebted to that Museum, especially to Dr. W. Died, for entrusting me with the study of this material and for the permission to retain certain duplicates for the Leiden Museum collection. 241
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