Shiraia tripartita

Shiraia tripartita (Leech, 1900) Tarache? tripartita Leech, 1900: 149, type locality: Chow-pin-sa (western China). Materials Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: JSM 692; recordedBy: Park et al.; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 29FE970E-91E1-5F61-AF37-5C3D6DFED32F; Taxon: scientificName: Shiraia tripartita; Location: country: South Korea; stateProvince: Gyeongsangbuk-do; locality: Gilgok-ri, Maehwa-myeon, Uljin-gun; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: D. Park; dateIdentified: 9/8/2024; Event: samplingProtocol: Light trap; eventDate: 8/8/2024; Record Level: language: en Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: JSM 693; recordedBy: Park et al.; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 84AE4F05-4411-5A91-B5BF-D305BBE151CC; Taxon: scientificName: Shiraia tripartita; Location: country: South Korea; stateProvince: Gyeongsangbuk-do; locality: Gilgok-ri, Maehwa-myeon, Uljin-gun; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: D. Park; dateIdentified: 9/8/2024; Event: samplingProtocol: Light trap; eventDate: 8/8/2024; Record Level: language: en Description Adult (Fig. 1). Wingspan 19–22 mm. Head frons brown; vertex white; ocellus circular; antennae scape slightly thicker than flagellum, white, scattered with brown; flagellum filiform in female, ciliated in male, covered with scales dorsally, white and dark brown alternately in approximately basal one-fourth, brown and dark brown alternately in distal three-fourths; proboscis naked; ratio of labial palpus 2: 5: 2, one and half times as long as of compound eye, directed forwards; first segment flattened longitudinally, covered with white and brown; second segment flattened longitudinally with slightly dorsally upward tufts, brown; third segment one-third as thick as first and second segment, cylindrical, brown, tipped distally with white apex. Thorax olivaceous-brown; legs light brown ventrally, dark brown dorsally, with white ends of all tarsal segments. Abdomen light brown. Fore-wing ground colour dark brown; costal region broadly olivaceous-brown; basal line slightly curved, thin, present at costal two-thirds, white, distinct, black-margined; adjacent region of basal line suffused with olivaceous-brown; antemedial line drastically curved outwards at middle, dark brown; medial fascia pure white; black dots semicircular or diffused at costal middle of medial fascia; black rod-shaped mark distinct at one-third region from costa near postmedial line; postmedial line zig-zag shaped, drastically angled inwards at two-thirds from costa, dark brown; costal margin of subterminal field dark brown with three regularly spaced tiny dots; white mark present at costal region adjacent to subterminal line; subterminal line diffused with white scales; terminal area dark grey; terminal dots minute, white at middle of cells. Hind-wing ground colour light brown; discal cell diffused, terminal field darker than base. Male genitalia (Fig. 2). Uncus robust, arched, sparsely setose in distal two-thirds, tapering at apex. Scaphium and subscaphium strongly sclerotised. Tegumen trapezoidal, slightly longer than uncus. Transtilla thin, strongly sclerotised. Juxta well developed, elongated. Vinculum strongly sclerotised, thin, approximately equal in length to uncus. Saccus symmetrical, triangular, slightly sclerotised. Valva slightly longer than one and a half times as long as uncus, strongly sclerotised at basal two-thirds with costal process; distal one-third membranous, roughened, rounded with sparse setae. Costal process robust, smooth with blunt apex, approximately one-fourth as long as uncus. Sacculus approximately triangular, developed, basally rounded, two-thirds as long as valva; costal margin slightly angled at one-fourth from base, strongly sclerotised with saccular process. Saccular process well developed at apex of sacculus, pouch-like. Aedeagus cylindrical, rod-shaped, slightly shorter than one and a half times as long as uncus; sclerite on carina present, triangular, minute, inwardly directed. Female genitalia (Fig. 3). Papillae anales densely setose, trapezoidal. Apophyses posterioris and apophyses anterioris thin, well-developed, apically tipped; apophyses posterioris slightly longer than ductus bursae, approximately three times as long as apophyses anterioris. Eighth segment trapezoidal, sparsely setose posteriorly. Antrum bifurcated with narrowed apex, rod-shaped, strongly sclerotised, approximately as long as apophyses posterioris. Ductus bursae robust, slightly thicker than antrum, tubular. Corpus bursae approximately two and a half times as long as antrum-ductus bursae complex, narrow in posterior one-fifth, ovate in anterior four-fifths; posterior part expanded, smooth, thicker than ductus bursae; ductus seminalis arising from posterior part; anterior part slightly sclerotised in distal two-thirds; sclerotised plate present in distal one-fourth, triangle-shaped. Distribution Korea (Gyeongsangbuk-do), western China, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Tsushima) (Leech 1900, Kishida 2011). Conservation According to previous literature, Shiraia tripartita appears to be rare and has been recorded from only a few localities (Sugi 1982). This species was also listed as Vulnerable (VU) in the Red Data Book of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (Fukuoka Prefectural Government 2025). The ecological information on the species remains extremely limited. Its host plants are unknown, although the species has been tentatively suggested to inhabit humid, rocky forest environments (Fukuoka Prefectural Government 2025). Furthermore, official occurrence data from China have not been recorded since its original description. Given the lack of records and ecological information, further surveys are needed to assess the conservation status of this species. Notes The wing pattern of Shiraia tripartita is relatively variable. The antemedial line and postmedial line of the fore-wing are fused in some specimens, thereby dividing the white band (Fukuoka Prefectural Government 2025). In the fore-wing, veins R 2, R 3 + R 4 and R 5 arise from the accessory cell above the discal cell and the hind-wing venation is quadrifine, typical of Erebidae (Fig. 4 a).