Astrotischeria andina Diskus & Stonis 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Stonis, Jonas R.
name: Diškus, Arūnas
name: Remeikis, Andrius
name: Orlovskytė, Svetlana
name: Katinas, Liliana
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Tischeriidae
Astrotischeria
Astrotischeria andina

description: Astrotischeria andina Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.
http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 9A4D6DD9-71FF-419C-96B3-309945CC1507
(Figs 7–10, 34–42, 45, 46, 53–59)
Type material. Holotype: 1 ♂, PERU, Cusco Province, Cusco (Saqsaywaman), 13°30'31"S, 71°58'45"W, elevation ca. 3,595 m, from feeding larva on Baccharis buxifolia, 24.x.2008, ex pupa xi.2008, field card no. 4952, leg. A. Diškus, genitalia slide no. AD1160 (MfN). Paratypes 2 ♂, 1 ♀, same label data as holotype, genitalia slides nos AD 748♂, AD1179 ♀ (MfN).
Diagnosis. Externally, this species is characterized by striking sexual dimorphism; the males are distinguished by a densely irrorated forewing, while the females exhibit an entirely yellowish cream forewing. In the male genitalia, the combination of an uncus with slender lateral lobes and pronounced rounded median lobes, sinuous, dentate dorsal valval lobes, and a phallus that is widely bilobed distinguishes the new species from all other species of the genus.
Male (Figs 7, 8). Forewing length 3.5–4.0 mm; wingspan 7.7–8.7 mm (n = 2). Head: frons and palpi ochre cream; frontal tuft ochreous brown to yellowish ochre laterally, dark ochreous brown distally; collar pale ochreous brown to ochre; antenna slightly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum glossy dark brown on the upper side, blackish brown on the underside. Thorax pale ochreous brown to ochre. Tegula grey-brown. Forewing pale brownish grey densely irrorated with dark brown ochre-tipped scales; fringe pale brownish grey to grey; fringe line absent; forewing underside grey-brown, without spots or androconia. Hindwing and its fringe pale brownish to grey, without androconia. Legs glossy grey; forelegs and midlegs densely covered with dark brown or dark grey scales on the upper side. Abdomen glossy grey on the upper side and underside.
Male genitalia (Figs 34–42). Capsule 540–595 µm long, 280 µm wide. Uncus with long, slender lateral lobes (Figs 36, 37, 41) and short but rounded median lobes; the gap between the median rounded lobes is distinctly wide and thickened (Fig. 38). Socii relatively small, membranous, covered with tiny spines. Valva divided: ventral lobe (main body) very slender and slightly sinuous (Fig. 41); dorsal lobe slightly sinuous, inwardly curved, strongly chitinized, distinctly pointed distally, dentate on the inner side (Fig. 40). Transtilla absent.Anellus weakly chitinized, indistinctive. Phallus (Figs 34, 35) 410–500 µm long, slender, divided apically, with two wide apical lobes.
Female (Figs 9, 10). Forewing length 3.2 mm; wingspan 7.1 mm (n = 1). Head: frons, palpi, and collar yellowish cream; frontal tuft yellowish cream, but grey-brown laterally; antenna slightly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum glossy grey. Thorax, tegula, and forewing yellowish cream; forewing underside pale brownishgrey, without spots or androconia. Hindwing and its fringe cream, without androconia. Legs brownish cream.
Female genitalia (Figs 45, 46) 1650 µm long. Ovipositor lobes large, distinctly flattened, clothed with short, modified setae (‘peg setae’); area between ovipositor lobes medium wide, with tiny indistinctive papillae and some short setae. Second pair of lobes, lateral and anterior to the ovipositor lobes, three to four times smaller than ovipositor lobes, but bearing setae. Anterior and posterior apophyses almost equal in length; prela comprised of three pairs of unique projections (Fig. 46). Corpus bursae with a very long and slender "neck" (Fig. 45); the main part small and oval-shaped, without distinctive pectinations or signum. Accessory sac absent. Ductus spermathecae short and very slender, with about 3 large coils and weakly chitinized, plate-like vesicle.
Bionomics (Figs 53–59). The host plant is Baccharis buxifolia (Lam.) Pers. (= Baccharis peruviana Cuatrec.), Asteraceae (identified by Liliana Katinas) (Figs 55–57). Larvae mine leaves in October. The leaf mine is blotch-like, pale brownish-yellow to brown (Figs 58, 59). Adults occur in November. Otherwise, the biology is unknown.
Distribution. This species is currently known from a single locality in Peru (Saqsaywaman, Cusco, at elevations of 3,595 –3,600 m) (Figs 53, 54).
Etymology. The species is named after the Andes, the mountain ridge where it occurs.
description: Published as part of Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Remeikis, Andrius, Orlovskytė, Svetlana & Katinas, Liliana, 2024, How high can trumpet moths occur: documentation of mountainous leaf-mining Tischeriidae, featuring a species from record-high elevations, pp. 201-223 in Zootaxa 5507 (2) on pages 207-208, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5507.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13757527