TACHYSTOLA MULLIGANAE SP. NOV. (LEP.: OECOPHORIDAE), A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SPECIES ADVENTIVE IN WEST LONDON.

We describe here a new species of oecophorid moth from specimens found in West London and Western Australia. This taxon is part of the Tachystola hemisema (Meyrick, 1885) DNA barcode complex, which consists of at least five different clusters, each with a distinct Barcode Index Number (BIN) on the Barcode Database of Life (BoLD). Illumina sequencing and bioinformatic processing techniques were applied to the lectotype of T. hemisema (collected in 1884) and the designated holotype of the new taxon (collected in 1886) and all 13 mitochondrial protein coding genes were recovered. Recent specimens from West London were DNA barcoded and compared to the BoLD clusters. The morphology of these specimens was compared to the extent possible (both historical specimens lack abdomens). The pairwise distance between typical T. hemisema and the new taxon measures 3.65% for CoI-5P, while there are some amino acid differences in CoI-3P and eight other genes. We also identify morphological differences for the new taxon. The generic placement of the new taxon and T. hemisema with respect to Tachystola acroxantha (Meyrick, 1885) is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]