# Taxonomy of the Genus Ornativalva Gozmány, 1955 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) from China

## TL;DR

This paper identifies and describes 11 species of the moth genus Ornativalva from China, including four new species and six previously unrecorded in the country.

## Contribution

The study introduces four new species and provides the first records of six species in China, enhancing the understanding of Ornativalva taxonomy.

## Key findings

- Four new species of Ornativalva were described from China.
- Six species were newly recorded for the Chinese fauna.
- A checklist and identification key for Chinese Ornativalva species were provided.

## Abstract

This study is based on the examination of the specimens collected from nine sampling sites across three provinces (Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang) of China during the periods 2006 and 2024 to 2025, with a total of eleven species of the genus Ornativalva recognized. These specimens are deposited separately in the Insect Collection of Tianjin Natural History Museum (TJNHM), Tianjin and the Insect Collection of Kashi University (KSU), Xinjiang. The present research supplements the studies on the genus Ornativalva conducted from 1991 to 2005, and the relevant investigations in the arid and semi-arid regions. It not only facilitates the comprehensive improvement of the systematic research on Ornativalva in China, but also provides fundamental data for the global systematic studies of this genus.

This paper deals with eleven species of the genus Ornativalva Gozmány, 1955 from China based on the specimens collected in the northwest regions of the country. Four species are described as new: O. artuxiensis Li, sp. nov., O. dorsimaculata Li, sp. nov., O. longisaccula Li, sp. nov. and O. minutispina Li, sp. nov. Six species are firstly recorded for the Chinese fauna: O. afghana Sattler, 1967, O. levifrons Sattler, 1976, O. mongolica Sattler, 1967, O. pulchella Sattler, 1976, O. sieversi (Staudinger, 1871) and O. singula Sattler, 1967. The female of O. frontella Sattler, 1976 is described for the first time. Morphological features of the new species are described and illustrated, and diagnostic characters are given to the species newly recorded for China. A checklist of all the Chinese Ornativalva species is included, along with a key to distinguish these species.