Telamoptilia cordati Triberti & Staude & Sharp & Lopez-Vaamonde 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Triberti, Paolo
name: Staude, Hermann
name: Sharp, Ian
name: Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Gracillariidae
Telamoptilia
Telamoptilia cordati

description: 25. Telamoptilia cordati Triberti & Lopez-Vaamonde sp. nov.
(Figs 20, 27, 47–49, 56, 74, 76)
Holotype: ♂, South Africa, Limpopo, Hoedspruit, Magalieskop farm, mn 22/xi/14, pup 25/xi/14, em 04/xii/14, Syzygium cordatum, A. & I. Sharp leg., (rearing: M944), CLV7581, genitalia slide TRB4491♂.
Paratypes: 5♀, labelled as holotype, genitalia slide TRB4462 ♀.
Additional material. 1♂, 1♀, 1 adult, mn 4/xi/48, em 12-20/xi.48, chenille mineuse de la feuille d’ Eugenia jambolana de Tsimbazaza, genitalia slide TRB1602 ♀, TRB1603 ♂, forewing venation slide TRB1668. [MNHN]
1 adult, Acrocercops loxias Meyrick (Fig. 24) Coll. B. M. 1938-290, Jodhpur, Rajputana, 6-16, E. Meyrick det. in Meyrick Coll., Syntype, BMNH(E) 1404873.
Etymology. The name of this new species is derived from the specific name of the hostplant, cordatum, declined in the genitive.
Diagnosis. The forewing pattern of T. cordati sp. nov. is almost indistinguishable from that of T. cathedraea and T. crux. However, it is easy to distinguish the genitalia of both male and female specimens. In the male, the vinculum of T. cordati has a long saccus, whereas in the female, the signum has a different shape with outlined projecting median processes. Interestingly, the male and female genitalia of T. cordati bear a striking resemblance to those of some Malagasy specimens that Pierre Viette determined and published in 1951 and 1956 (& Paulian) as Acrocercops loxias Meyrick, 1918b. These specimens were reared from leaf mines on Syzygium cumini (= Eugenia jambolana) collected at the Tzimbazaza botanical Garden in Antananarivo in 1948 and are currently deposited at the Natural History Museum of Paris. The species can be distinguished by its very short saccus and differently shaped anellus (Fig. 55) in males, whereas females of both species are indistinguishable. Additionally, the forewing pattern is quite different, with the two transverse white fasciae strongly narrowing on the costal margin (Figs 24, 28).
Description of adult. Forewing length 3.0−3.5 mm. Head. Vertex and frons white, the latter with some brownish scales. Labial palpus smooth, slightly upcurved, white, dark brown on outer surface of first and second segment, the third only weakly spotted; maxillary palpus white, first and third segment dark brown on outer surface. Antenna observable only in the third basal, with scape white and smooth dorsally, ventrally grey with a flap almost the same size as the scape; flagellum pale ochre, with pedicel dark brown and the first 4 flagellomeres white. Thorax. Dorsum and tegulae light ochreous brown, with white posterior margins. Legs mostly white; forecoxa dark brown basally and distally, femur and tibia dark brown; midcoxa fuscous distally, femur dark brown laterally with a thin, darker ring medially, tibia dark brown medially and distally; hindfemur with a fuscous blotch, tibia with a large medial ring; tarsus of all legs with 3 dark brown rings. Wings. The wing venation agrees to that reported by Kumata & Kuroko (1988: 57) in the description of the genus Telamoptilia. Forewing light ochreous brown with two white fasciae finely and irregularly edged with dark brown (Figs 20, 27); basally a very thin, often scarcely visible, whitish blotch, almost close to thorax; a first broad fascia at ¼ of costa, thinly margined in black on both sides, only slightly oblique and narrowing towards costa; a second white fascia just beyond middle, similar to previous one, slightly thinner; at 2/3 a small spot, comma shaped, with some scattered dark scales; a subapical white blotch on costa, touching dorsum; cilia at apex of wing dark brown on basal half enclosing a small irregular white spot, then dark grey in apical half, termen with two whitish sections. Hindwing dark grey, cilia ochreous grey. Abdomen. In the male grey above and white latero-ventrally, more opaque in female, each segment bordered with dark brown, terminal tuft dark brown. Segment VIII, widely incised ventrally and dorsocephalic apodeme not extending onto the tergum (Fig. 48). Male genitalia (Fig. 47). Tegumen moderately long, slightly shorter than valva, with setae along lateral margins, tuba analis without subscaphium. Valva very weakly sclerotized, more intensely along costal margin, slightly upcurved, widely round on ventral margin at postmedian area, densely covered with short setae on almost whole inner surface, long androconial scales on basal area of outer surface. Vinculum V-shaped with a saccus rather long. Phallus (Fig. 49) about 1.2 length of valva, slender, tubular, obliquely truncated at apex; phallobase undifferentiated; vesica with an aggregation of a number of needle-shaped spines. Female genitalia (Fig. 56). Posterior apophyses slightly longer or equal to anterior ones. Sterigma membranous, ostium bursae opened on anterior area of sternum VIII, moderate in opening size; antrum and posterior part of ductus completely membranous, median part slightly sclerotized, then remaining anterior part membranous, completely covered by micro-thorns, gradually widened towards corpus bursae; corpus bursae elongate-ellipsoidal, with a single long signum with a median projection and finely serrated in anterior half.
Biology. Syzygium cordatum (Hochst.) (Myrtaceae, fig. 74, 76).
Distribution. South Africa (Limpopo).
DNA barcodes. One barcode in an unique BIN BOLD:AEC1953 (Tables 1 & 2) at 9.46% from the nearest Gracillariidae barcode in BOLD (Table S1).
Remarks. We have transferred this species to the genus Telamoptilia based on the following characteristics, which are shared with other members of the genus: 1) wing venation; 2) the antennal scape has a small flap on the ventral side; 3) the pattern on the forewing is very similar to T. cathedraea, T. hemistacta, and T. pavoniae Davis & Davis, 2017, making it almost indistinguishable; 4) the male genitalia have a simple valva without any comb on the inner surface, and the costal margin is more sclerotized; 5) the phallus is tubular and straight, with the vesica containing a cluster of needle-shaped spines; 6) in the female, the signum has a rather similar shape. This species has a unique position within the genus Telamoptilia due to the following characteristics: 1) segment VIII has a bifurcated dorsocephalic apodeme at the apex, and its median sclerotization does not extend onto the tergum, similar to T. tiliae Kumata & Ermolaev, 1988; 2) the forewing is missing vein R5, as seen in T. grewiae Liu et al., 2015; 3) the caudal margin of female tergum VIII does not have elongations, again similar to T. tiliae.
The examination of the forewing pattern of the A. loxias syntype (Fig. 24) revealed an error in Viette’s identification of the Malagasy specimens. Unlike what Viette had suggested, A. loxias is characterized by two thin white streaks rather than wide bands making this species easily distinguishable. Additionally, distinct variations in both the forewing pattern and the male genitalia (refer to Diagnosis) suggest that the Malagasy species is new to science, and closely related to T. cordati and falls under the genus Telamoptilia. However, a detailed description of this new species will be included in a future study on Malagasy fauna.
description: Published as part of Triberti, Paolo, Staude, Hermann, Sharp, Ian & Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos, 2024, Exploring the diversity of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera) in South Africa: host plants, distribution, and DNA barcoding analysis, with the description of nine new species, pp. 1-51 in Zootaxa 5529 (1) on pages 22-23, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5529.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14021754