Astrotischeria selvica Diskus, Carvalho-Filho & Stonis, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Jonas R. Stonis
name: Arūnas Diškus
name: Fernando Carvalho Filho
name: Owen T. Lewis
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Tischeriidae
Astrotischeria
Astrotischeria selvica

description: Astrotischeria selvica Diškus, Carvalho-Filho & Stonis, sp. nov.
(Figs. 8, 93–126, 230, 233, 236–238)
Type material. Holotype: ♂, BELIZE: Cayo District, Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Las Cuevas, 16°43'58"S, 88°59'06"W, elevation 580 m, mining larva on Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski (Asteraceae), 4.xi.1997, O. T. Lewis, genitalia slide no. AD 920♂ (BMNH). Paratypes (9 ♂, 12 ♀): 2 ♂, 7 ♀, same label data as holotype, 1.x.– 4.xi.1997 and 10.vi.–3.vii.1998, O. T. Lewis, genitalia slide nos AD0298♂, AD919 ♂, AD921♀ (BMNH); 3 ♂, 3 ♀, BRAZIL: State of Pará, Belém, MPEG campus, 1°27'09"S, 48°28'37"W, elevation ca. 330 m, mining larvae on Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn. (Asteraceae), F. Carvalho Filho, genitalia slide nos AD928♂, AD924♀; 2 ♂, 1 ♀, same locality, mining larva on Tilesia baccata (L.) Pruski (Asteraceae), 20.vii.2017, F. Carvalho Filho, genitalia slide nos AD926♂, AD941♂ (ZMUC); 1 ♂, 1 ♀, GUATEMALA: Petén region, Tikal National Park, 17°13'28"N, 89°37'10"W, elevation 290 m, 6.ii.2012, field card no. 5073, A. Diškus, genitalia slide nos AD765♂, AD917♀ (ZMUC); 1 ♂, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS: St. Thomas, ex pupa 2.iv.1894, Güdman 7178, Lord Walsingham Collection, genitalia slide no. 28950 (BMNH).
Diagnosis. From the most similar species, A. maya, it differs by the horn-like, apically pointed dorsal lobe of valva and the distinctly wide gap between median lobes of uncus. The fact that it feeds on Synedrella, Sphagneticola, and Tilesia also makes this species rather distinctive.
Male (Figs. 96, 97). Forewing length: 2.6–3.0 mm; wingspan: 5.6–6.5 mm. Head: face and palpi ochre cream; frontal tuft yellow cream to ochre cream; pecten very prominent, ochre cream with a few pale brown scales; antenna with about 32–35 segments, distinctly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum pale yellow to pale grey anteriorly, dark grey distally; sensillae very long and fine. Thorax, tegula and forewing vary in coloration, usually yellowish ochre, irregularly speckled with pale brown and blackish brown scales, sometimes with little purple iridescence; fringe ochre-grey on costal margin, pale grey to grey on tornus, yellow-ochre on termen; fringeline sometimes distinct, formed by blackish brown scales; forewing underside dark brown, without spots or androconia. Hindwing pale grey to brownish grey on both upper and underside, without androconia; fringe brownish grey. Legs ochre cream to pale yellow-ochre, speckled with dark brown scales on upper side. Abdomen grey-black to brown on upper side and laterally (but ochre cream in the specimen from U.S. Virgin Islands), ochre cream to brown on underside; tufts indistinct, ochre cream.
Female (Figs. 93–95, 98). Similar to male.
Male genitalia (Figs. 8, 99–111). Capsule 510–520 µm long, about 250 µm wide. Uncus consisting of two long, slender, lateral lobes, and two very short, rounded, median lobes (Figs. 105, 106). Valva divided (Figs. 8, 110): ventral lobe slightly curved, about 330–360 µm long and rather wide (Figs. 99, 100); dorsal lobes consisting of two elements: an inwardly strongly curved, distally pointed horn-like process (Figs. 99, 110) and wide, distally almost rounded lobe; transtilla absent; basal process of valva long (Figs. 99, 110). Anellus rather long, with 5 setae, thickened laterally (Fig. 107). Phallus 490–560 µm long, distally bifurcated and without numerous slender spines (Figs. 101, 111).
Female genitalia (Figs. 112–118). Total length about 1240 mm. Ovipositor lobes small; the area between ovipositor lobes triangularly shaped or trapezioid (Fig. 117), with tiny papillae and some setae. Second pair of lobes, lateral and anterior to the ovipositor lobes, significantly smaller, bearing very long, slender setae. Anterior and posterior apophyses very long and stout (Figs. 116, 118); anterior apophyses connected with a heavily chitinized transverse bar (Figs. 112, 115); prela with three pairs of processes; one pair of processes articulating with anterior apophyses and connected with each other by a heavily chitinized transverse bar (Figs. 117, 118). Vestibulum without antrum, however vestibulum may look thickened laterally because the prela (Fig. 115). Ductus bursae widened posteriorly, with very indistinct pectinations. Corpus bursae small, elongated (Fig. 112), without spines or signum. Ductus spermathaecae with many large and very large coils (Figs. 113, 114); utriculus absent or broken (Fig. 112).
Bionomics (Figs. 119–126). Host plants: Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn. (Figs. 119, 120) and Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski; in Brazil also Tilesia baccata (L.) Pruski (Asteraceae) along with the main host plant Synedrella nodiflora. Mining larvae have been recorded from February, June–July, and October–November. Blotch mine (Figs. 121–126) either without frass or with little brown-black loose frass. Silk-lined nidus (Fig. 124) distinct. Larva pale green, with dark green intestine and brown head (Figs. 123, 126). Pupation inside of the leaf mine, in a silk-lined nidus, without cocoon; pupa pale brown (Fig. 125). Adults known from February and April.
Distribution (Fig. 233). Widely distributed in the Neotropics; known from Belize (Figs. 237, 238), Guatemala (Fig. 236), U.S. Virgin Islands, and equatorial Brazil (State of Pará, Belém) at the elevation of about 50– 600 m.
Etymology. The species name is derived from latinized Spanish selva (forest) in reference to the occurrence of the species in the moist tropical forest of Belize (Chiquibul Forest Reserve) and Guatemala (Tikal National Park).
Remarks. Scaling of the type specimens from Brazil is severely rubbed. Forewing yellowish ochre distally, with a rather distinct fringe-line of brown-black scales.
description: Published as part of Jonas R. Stonis, Arūnas Diškus, Fernando Carvalho Filho & Owen T. Lewis, 2018, American Asteraceae-feeding Astrotischeria species with a highly modified, three-lobed valva in the male genitalia (Lepidoptera, Tischeriidae), pp. 1-69 in Zootaxa 4469 (1) on pages 36-37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4469.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1454525