Keiferia azapaensis Vargas, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Vargas, Héctor A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gelechiidae
Keiferia
Keiferia azapaensis

description: Keiferia azapaensis sp. nov.
Materials
Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-25; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1837; associatedSequences: BOLD Process ID: NCMIC 015-24; occurrenceID: 0D8FBEFA-5B0D-5114-9712-32A1F039D8F6; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Azapa Valley, 42 km; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 35 ' 20 " S 69 ° 49 ' 29 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Male adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: May 2021; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-28; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1834; occurrenceID: EBFC653B-4CAB-55EA-B8A4-A890252D9844; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Azapa Valley, 42 km; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 35 ' 20 " S 69 ° 49 ' 29 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Male adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: May 2017; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-30; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1836; occurrenceID: FD869A96-5332-59E3-B967-A440604AC07B; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Azapa Valley, 42 km; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 35 ' 20 " S 69 ° 49 ' 29 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Male adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: May 2017; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-31; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1838; occurrenceID: 8AC21E20-7171-55B4-A08F-A379496BB167; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Azapa Valley, 42 km; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 35 ' 20 " S 69 ° 49 ' 29 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Male adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: May 2017; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-29; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1835; occurrenceID: 5967C16B-C91B-5984-BE5F-136677D2A1C4; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Azapa Valley, 42 km; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 35 ' 20 " S 69 ° 49 ' 29 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Female adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: May 2017; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-26; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1597; occurrenceID: 69D82B25-258E-50B5-9BAC-BFE14BEFCCCD; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Cuesta El Ágila; verbatimElevation: 1900 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 29 ' 08 " S 69 ° 51 ' 55 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Female adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: March 2011; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: IDEA-LEPI- 2024-27; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: Genitalia slide HAV 1598; occurrenceID: 50C1674C-1482-5BC1-9507-F3A041F9372B; Location: country: Chile; stateProvince: Arica; locality: Cuesta El Ágila; verbatimElevation: 1900 m; verbatimCoordinates: 18 ° 29 ' 08 " S 69 ° 51 ' 55 " W; Identification: identifiedBy: Héctor A. Vargas; Event: samplingProtocol: Male adult reared from leaf miner larva on Trixis cacalioides; verbatimEventDate: March 2011; Record Level: type: PhysicalObject; institutionCode: Colección Entomológica de la Universidad de Tarapacá (IDEA); basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen
Description
Male (Fig. 1). Head: Frons and vertex whitish-brown; maxillary palp whitish-brown; labial palp mostly whitish-brown with scattered dark brown scales; haustellum with whitish-brown scales. Antenna greyish-brown, filiform, length about two-thirds the forewing. Thorax: Greyish-brown dorsally, whitish-brown laterally; legs mostly greyish-brown with scattered whitish-brown scales. Forewing: Greyish-brown with scattered dark brown scales mostly on distal half; fringe similar in colour; length 6.1–6.2 mm. Hindwing: Whitish-brown with greyish-brown fringe. Abdomen: Mostly whitish-brown with terga I-III yellowish-brown. Tergum VIII (Fig. 2) tongue-like, elongated, progressively narrowing backwards, length in the middle about 1.1 times maximum width; anterior margin broadly concave, strongly sclerotised; posterior margin rounded. Sternum VIII (Fig. 2) elliptical, broad, length similar to tergum VIII, maximum length about 0.7 times the maximum width; posterior margin with two small rounded projections near the middle. Male genitalia (Fig. 3): Tegumen narrow; anterior margin smooth; posterior margin slightly sinuous. Uncus large, pointed, hook-shaped; length similar to tegument height. Gnathos with a small central plate. Vinculum with a trapezium-shaped posterior projection in the middle; vincular processes with slightly expanded, setose posterior half, separated by a semicircular plate. Saccus similar in length to uncus, flattened, separated from vinculum by a nearly straight transverse line, lateral margins slightly concave, tip rounded. Valva about twice the length of the saccus, narrow, sinuous, with a pointed subapical dorsal expansion with setose inner side. Phallus narrow, elongated, curved, length about 1.2 times the valva, with small terminal sclerite; coecum slightly swollen.
Female. Similar to male in wing pattern and size. Female genitalia (Fig. 4): Papillae anales broadly rounded posteriorly, with a few scattered setae. Posterior apophyses rod-shaped, length about three times the papillae anales. Anterior apophyses rod-shaped, length about half the posterior apophyses. Tergum VIII as a fine stripe ventrally continuous with the posterior tip of the anterior apophyses and outer tip of the sternum VIII. Sternum VIII as a short fine stripe with inner tip continuous with the antrum. Ostium bursae at the posterior end of the antrum. Antrum flattened, progressively narrowing forwards, length about 1.5 times the anterior apophyses; ventral part projecting posteriorly as a semicircular plate with margin serrated in the middle and two divergent curved lines arising from the two central teeth. Ductus bursae mainly membranous, about one-third the length of the antrum; a small colliculum close to anterior tip of the antrum; inception of ductus seminalis near the anterior margin of the colliculum. Corpus bursae pear-shaped, mostly membranous, length similar to the antrum, with a stout, slightly curved signum with rounded tip.
Diagnosis
Keiferia azapaensis sp. nov. is recognised by the trapezium-shaped posterior projection of the vinculum, the vincular processes separated by a semicircular plate and the valva with a pointed subapical dorsal expansion in the male genitalia and the antrum with a semicircular posterior projection with margin serrated in the middle and the stout, slightly curved signum with rounded tip in the female genitalia. Although the male genitalia of K. azapaensis sp. nov. resemble those of K. lobata Povolný, 1990 from Bolivia (Povolný 1990; fig. 71), the latter lacks a semicircular plate separating the vincular processes and has a prominent straight terminal spine on the valva. Furthermore, the uniformly sclerotised vincular processes of K. azapaensis sp. nov. contrast with those of K. lobata, which have strongly sclerotised margins. The female of K. lobata remains unknown, impeding comparisons. However, the two species also differ in forewing pattern, as the forewing of K. azapaensis sp. nov. is greyish-brown with scattered dark brown scales mostly on the distal half, while that of K. lobata is ferruginous with whitish admixture basally, followed by a striking black spot before the middle and a mixture of ferruginous, whitish and black on the distal half and black scales in tornal and apical areas (Povolný 1990).
Etymology
The specific epithet derives from the type locality.
Distribution
Keiferia azapaensis sp. nov. has been recorded only in two localities of the Atacama Desert, the Azapa Valley (Fig. 5) and Cuesta el Águila, between about 1200 and 1900 m elevation in the Arica Province of northern Chile.
Host plant
Trixis cacalioides (Fig. 6) is the only host plant documented for K. azapaensis sp. nov. This shrub also occurs in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru (Katinas 1996, GBIF 2023); its Chilean range is restricted to the Arica y Parinacota and Tarapacá Regions, in the northernmost part of the country (Moreira-Muñoz et al. 2012).
DNA barcoding
Genetic divergence between the new species and other members of Keiferia ranged from 9.3 % (K 2 P), with K. glochinella (Zeller, 1873) and K. lycopersicella, to 11.2 % (K 2 P), with K. elmorei (Keifer, 1936) and K. powelli Povolný, 2004. Genetic divergence between other members of Keiferia ranged from 3.1 %, between K. georgei (Hodges, 1986) and K. powelli Povolný, 2004, to 9.4 %, between K. inconspicuella (Murtfeldt, 1883) and K. powelli. The alignment was suitable for phylogenetic analysis, as no evidence of stop codons was detected and the Xia test found an index of substitution saturation smaller than the critical value (ISS <ISS. C; p <0.001). The ML analysis (Fig. 7) placed all the members of Keiferia into a well-supported cluster (97 % SH-aLRT, 95 % UFBoot), including the new species. However, the relationships of the latter with other representatives of the genus were poorly resolved.
description: Published as part of Vargas, Héctor A., 2025, Keiferia azapaensis sp. nov., the first representative of the New World micromoth genus Keiferia Busck (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) associated with a member of Asteraceae, pp. e 141827 in Biodiversity Data Journal 13 on page e141827, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.13.e141827