Stigmella lamiacifoliae Stonis & Remeikis & Diškus & Forero & Torres 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Stonis, Jonas R.
name: Remeikis, Andrius
name: Diškus, Arūnas
name: Forero, Dimitri
name: Torres, Nixon Cumbicus
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nepticulidae
Stigmella
Stigmella lamiacifoliae

description: Stigmella lamiacifoliae Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.
(Figs 1–17, 23–39)
Type material. Holotype: ♂, COLOMBIA, Cundinamarca Department, San Antonio del Tequendama Municipality, Parque Natural Chicaque, 4°36'21"N, 74°18'24"W, elevation 2550 m, 18.ii.2013, mining larvae on Salvia palifolia Kunth, A. Remeikis & J. R. Stonis, genitalia slide no. RA 602♂ (ZMUC). Paratypes: 5 ♂, 5 ♀, same label data, genitalia slide nos RA 600♂, RA 601♀, RA 662♀, RA 665♀ (LEU, with further re-deposition at MPUJ _ ENT); 7 ♂, 3 ♀, same label data, genitalia slide no. RA 652♀ (ZMUC).
Diagnosis. In the male genitalia, the new species differs from all other known Neotropical Stigmella in the combination of a distinctive apical cluster of spine-like cornuti (Fig. 26), four-lobed uncus, and valva possessing two slender apical processes. The host plant Salvia palifolia and the unicolorous scaling of the head (Fig. 16) also make this species distinctive.
Male (Figs 15–17). Forewing length 2.8–3.0 mm; wingspan 6.1–6.5 mm. Head: palpi cream, distally and laterally usually fuscous; frontal tuft, collar and scape unicolorous, ochre cream to yellowish cream; antenna distinctly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum with 37–38 segments, grey to brown on upper side and underside except brownish cream basal part on underside. Thorax and tegula dark grey-brown. Forewing coarsely speckled with dark grey-brown scales with purple iridescence and usually with three glossy cream spots: two postmedian (costal and tornal) and one apical; occassionally, tornal or (and) apical spot absent, or costal and tornal spots merged into a distincly postmedian fascia; fringe grey to pale grey; underside of forewing dark grey-brown, without spots or androconia. Hindwing pale grey on upper side, grey-brown on underside, without androconia; fringe pale grey to grey. Legs brownish cream, laterally dark grey to fuscous. Abdomen grey-brown on upper side, yellowish brown, glossy on underside; anal tufts grey, very short, indistinctive; genital plates brownish cream.
Female. Usually smaller than male; forewing length 2.2–2.5 mm; wingspan 5.1–5.5 mm. Frontal tuft occasionally with some brown piliform scales. Flagellum with about 30 segments. Costal and tornal spots of forewing usually merged into a postmedian fascia. Otherwise as in male.
Male genitalia (Figs 23–35). Capsule slightly longer (280–285 µm) than wide (215–220 µm). Vinculum with short triangular lateral lobes. Uncus thickened laterally, with four small, thickened, angular lobes caudally (Figs 23, 24, 30). Gnathos with two slender caudal processes and slender plate (Figs 23, 30). Valva (Fig. 23) 190–200 µm long, 75–80 µm wide, with two slender apical processes; transtilla without sublateral processes (Figs 24, 31). Juxta membranous, triangular (Figs 23, 30). Phallus (Figs 25–28, 30) 235–245 µm long, 90–95 µm wide; vesica with about 7–8 large spine-like cornuti (Figs 26–28, 34, 35) and apical cluster of about 13–15 slender cornuti (Figs 25– 28, 32, 33); additionally, some very small and weakly thickened cornuti may be developed near to cathrema (Fig. 25).
Female genitalia (Figs 36–39). Total length 620–710 µm. Anterior apophyses (30–45 µm long) slender distally; posterior apophyses much longer, 150–205 µm long (Figs 36, 38). Vestibulum without sclerites. Corpus bursae with weakly folded distal part and oval shaped basal part with comb-like pectinations. Accessory sac large; ductus spermathecae with 1.5 coils.
Bionomics (Figs 2–12). Host plant: Salvia palifolia Kunth, Lamiaceae (Figs 2, 5, 6). Larva pale green with brown-green intestine and brown head; feeds in February and probably in late January (note that in late February the most of leaf mines are empty). Leaf mine (Figs 7–12) is a very long, sinuous or contorted gallery; at the beginning, it is almost filled with dark green frass, further on, with a rather slender central line of black (occasionally blackish green) frass. Cocoon (Figs 13, 14) dark beige to blackish brown, 2.5–2.9 mm long, 1.5–1.9 mm wide. Adults probably fly in March (indoors, emerged in March).
Distribution (Fig. 1). This species occurs in the northern Andes (Colombia: Cundinamarca Department, SW of Bogotá) in the cloud forest habitat at altitude about 2550 m (Figs 2–4).
Etymology. The species name is derived from name of the host-plant family Lamiaceae and Latin folium (a leaf) in reference to the trophic specialization of the new species to mine in leaves of Salvia, Lamiaceae.
description: Published as part of Stonis, Jonas R., Remeikis, Andrius, Diškus, Arūnas, Forero, Dimitri & Torres, Nixon Cumbicus, 2017, A report on Lamiaceae-feeding Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from South America in Zootaxa 4338 (1), DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4338.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/1035604