Stigmella ziziphifolia Rociene & Stonis 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Stonis, Jonas R.
name: Remeikis, Andrius
name: Diškus, Arūnas
name: Navickaitė, Asta
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Nepticulidae
Stigmella
Stigmella ziziphifolia

description: Stigmella ziziphifolia Rocienė & Stonis, sp. nov.
(Figs 7, 8, 33, 34, 94–102)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 5D6AD8F5-D9A8-45DF-9972-028312298598
Type material. 3 ♂ (holotype & paratypes): India, Uttarakhand, Dehradun Distr., Dhanaulti, 30°25’17”N, 78°15’05’’E, 16.viii.2010, A. Šimkevičiūtė, genitalia slide nos AD130 (holotype), AG131, AG132 (ZIN).
Diagnosis. Stigmella ziziphifolia sp. nov. belongs to the Stigmella lapponica group. Externally, and in the male genitalia, this new species is the most similar and obviously related to S. maloidica (see above). However, S. ziziphi-folia sp. nov. differs from S maloidica in the long, slender lateral lobes of the vinculum (Fig. 100), unsplit, usually slender, caudal process of the gnathos (Figs 94, 96), and the presence of some large, spine-like cornuti in the male genitalia (Figs 99, 102). This species also differs from S. maloidica and all other species of the group in its biology: larvae of S. ziziphifolia feed on Ziziphus Mill., Rhamnaceae (S. maloidica feeds on Cotoneaster Medik. and Malus Mill., Rosaceae), produce slender leaf mines with an uninterrupted frass line (S. maloidica produces gradually widening, often contorted leaf mines with an interrupted frass line). Additionally, S. ziziphifolia occurs in the humid subtropical habitats of the Himalaya, and S. maloidica occurs in temperate, semi-arid areas in Central Asia.
Male (Figs 33, 34). Known from three adults in pupal skin. Forewing length about 1.5–1.7 mm; wingspan 3.3–3.7 mm (n = 3).
Head. Palpi golden cream; frontal tuft ochreous orange; collar and scape golden cream; flagellum grey.
Thorax. Tegula, thorax and forewing covered with grey-black scales with some purple iridescence; fascia of forewing cream, median, sometimes interrupted in the middle; fringe dark grey; forewing underside black. Hindwing and fringe dark grey with some green and purple iridescence. Legs glossy golden cream with dark grey scales on upper side.
Abdomen. Colour of scaling unknown. Genitalia (Figs 94–102) with capsule 275 µm long, 150 µm wide. Vin-culum with long and slender lateral lobes (Fig. 100). Uncus with two small triangular lobes (Figs 94, 96). Gnathos with one long, distinctly slender, apically pointed caudal process (Figs 94, 96); occasionally caudal process can be split. Valva (Figs 98, 101) about 155 µm long, with a slender and curved apical process; inner lobe of valva heavily papillated. Transtilla (Fig. 95) with short, triangular corners, without sublateral processes. Phallus (Figs 99, 102) about 185 µm long; vesica with numerous tiny cornuti and some large, spine-like cornuti (Fig. 99).
Female. Unknown.
Bionomics (Figs 7, 8). Host plant is Zizyphus Mill., Rhamnaceae (Fig. 7). Larvae mine in leaves in August. Leaf mine is a long, slender gallery with an interrupted central line of black frass. Cocoon ochre-beige, 2.5–2.8 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Adults fly in late August and possibly over a much longer period.
Distribution. Known only from a single locality in the western Himalaya (Uttarakhand: Dhanaulti), at the elevation of ca. 2200 m (Fig. 1: wHi)
Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin name of the host plant Ziziphus in combination with Latin folium (a leaf), in reference to the feeding habit of the new species. Acording to E. J. van Nieukerken (pers. comm.), “there are many names ending in -foliae, but linguistically it is wrong. The Latin folium is neuter and has no form ending in ae ”. Therefore we chose ziziphifolia, a noun in apposition.
description: Published as part of Stonis, Jonas R., Remeikis, Andrius, Diškus, Arūnas & Navickaitė, Asta, 2020, Documenting new and little known leaf-mining Nepticulidae from middle and southwestern areas of the Asian continent, pp. 401-452 in Zootaxa 4881 (3) on pages 406-407, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4881.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4283789