Stigmella calceolarifoliae Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Stonis, Jonas R.
name: Diškus, Arūnas
name: Remeikis, Andrius
name: Gerulaitis, Virginijus
name: Karsholt, Ole
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nepticulidae
Stigmella
Stigmella calceolarifoliae

description: Stigmella calceolarifoliae Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.
(Figs 20, 25–27, 245–255)
Type material. Holotype: Ƌ, BOLIVIA, Copacabana (southern shore of Lake Titicaca), 16°09'42"S, 69°05'19"W, elevation 3930 m, mining larvae on Calceolaria sp. 28.iv.2014, ex pupa v.2014, field card no. 5170, A. Diškus, genitalia slide no. AD650Ƌ (ZMUC). Paratype: 2 ♀, same label data as holotype, genitalia slide nos AD649♀, AD702♀ (ZMUC).
Diagnosis. The combination of a speckled forewing, distally four-lobed uncus, pointed apical processes of valva, long lobes of vinculum, and specific set of four large horn-like cornuti distinguishes S. calceolarifoliae sp. nov. from all other Stigmella species. The host-plant Calceolaria (Calceolariaceae) also makes this species distinctive.
Male (Fig. 245). Forewing length 2.5–2.8 mm; wingspan 5.5–6.2 mm. Head: palpi grey cream; frontal tuft fuscous brown on frons, grey-ochre on vertex, or entirely fuscous brown; collar and scape golden cream to yellow cream; antenna slightly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum with about 25–26 segments, fuscous grey on upper side, grey on underside. Thorax, tegula and forewing: cream golden background densely speckled with grey-brown scales (with little or without purple iridescence); underside of forewing dark grey-brown, except scaleless area at base; fringe grey to pale grey. Hindwing grey to pale grey, without spots or androconia. Legs brownish cream, darkened dark grey on upper side. Abdomen dark grey to fuscous on upper side, golden cream to grey cream on underside; tufts short, cream; genital segments cream to grey cream.
Female. Similar to male. Postmedian area of forewing near costa and tornus little specled. Underside of forewing with a scaleless area at base (similar to male). Abdomen silver grey on upper side, golden cream on underside, with distinct, long and slender ovipositor covered with setae.
Male genitalia (Figs 246–248). Capsule longer (235 µm) than wide (135 µm). Uncus with four small caudal lobes. Gnathos with two caudal processes. Valva 150 µm long, 45–50 µm wide, with two pointed apical processes; transtilla with angular corners, without sublateral processes. Juxta membranous, triangular, widening caudally. Vinculum with very short ventral plate and long triangular lateral lobes. Phallus (Fig. 246) 145–160 µm long, 50– 55 µm wide; vesica with four horn-like cornuti.
Female genitalia (Fig. 249). Total length about 655 µm. Anterior and posterior apophyses almost equal in length. Vestibulum with small lobe-like sclerites. Corpus bursae relatively short (270 µm), with little folded distal part and 120 µm wide in basal part, without pectinations or signa. Accessory sac relatively large; ductus spermathecae with 3.5–4 indistinctive convolutions and small curved sclerite. Abdominal tip greatly tapering into an ovipositor.
Bionomics. (Figs 250–255). Larva mines in leaves of Calceolaria (Calceolariaceae) (Figs 250, 251). Larva greyish white; mines in April. Leaf-mine as a gallery strongly widening in distal part (therefore resembling a blotch) (Figs 252–255). In the beginning, beige to dark brown frass filling the whole width of the gallery; further the gallery widened to a blotch with dark brown to brown-black frass distributed irregularly, with very wide unfilled areas of the gallery left. Larval exit slit on upper side of the leaf. Cocoon pale beige to beige; length 2.0– 2.2 mm, maximum width 1.0– 1.1 mm.
Distribution (Figs 20, 25–28). This species occurs in the Altiplano of the Bolivian Andes (Bolivia: southern shore of Lake Titicaca) at altitudes about 3930 m.
Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin Calceolaria (the host-plant, with its distribution centre in the Andes), and Latin folium (a leaf) in reference to the larval feeding in leaves of Calceolaria.
description: Published as part of Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Remeikis, Andrius, Gerulaitis, Virginijus & Karsholt, Ole, 2016, Leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from record high altitudes: documenting an entire new fauna in the Andean páramo and puna, pp. 1-94 in Zootaxa 4181 (1) on pages 79-85, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4181.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/164243