Phyllocnistis allisonae 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
Phyllocnistis
Phyllocnistis allisonae

description: 31. Phyllocnistis allisonae Triberti & Lopez-Vaamonde sp. nov.
(Figs 31G, 33, 60, 86)
Holotype (♀): South Africa, Limpopo, top of Mariepskop, 1890 m, 24.548, 30.8693, Protea rubropilosa, mn 17.xi.2017, em 20.xi.2017, CLV7504, leg. C. Lopez Vaamonde, slide TRB4343 ♀.
Additional material: labelled as above, CLV7505 (abdomen missing; one larva dissected from leaf mine 16/ xi/2017, NK610 and one pupa NK611. Eight Malaise trapped adults as follows: six adults, Gauteng, Walter Sisulu NBG, Jobe, Anele Mangwane, Reliance, Mtumaneko, Sigwe leg., 29/xi/2022, CBG-A04732 -B03, CBG-A04732 - B09, CBG-A04732 -G10, CBG-A03652 -G04; 10/i/2023, CBG-A03830 -D06; 26/i/2023 CBG-A02950-H07; two adults, Gauteng, Pretoria NBG, Philip Mokau leg., 05/iv/2022, BIOUG89014 -E09, BIOUG89014 -G12.
Etymology. Named after Allison J. Sharp in recognition of her contribution to the rearing and collection of South African leafminers through the Caterpillar Rearing Group initiative.
Diagnosis. The species can be easily distinguished from other Afrotropical species by the interruption of tf 2 in the forewing pattern. It also differs from faureae sp. nov. for the costal arm of tf1 longer than the dorsal while in the other species it is shorter (Fig. 31G, D).
Description of adult. Forewing length around 3.5 mm. Head. Smooth, frons shining white; antenna shorter than wing, light grey, white below, scape and pedicel dark brown above, flagellomeres very lightly spotted with brownish; labial palpus white. Thorax. Tegulae and thorax shining white, legs white, fore, mid tibia and tarsi dark brown on outer surface. Wings. Forewing shining white (Fig. 31G), pale yellow in distal half, lf formed by light yellow scales bordered by brown on both sides, arising from the base of wing toward the median region; tf1 entirely crossing the wing, V-shaped, almost obsolescent medially, its costal end extends subtly towards the base along costa; tf2 reduced to the costal margin and sometimes barely visible, tf3 lacking and tf4 joined to fringe line; three costal strigulae present, the second outwards, the third emerging from tf4; four apical strigulae, all emerging from apical spot, the fourth curved, almost parallel to fringe line; a small semicircular white blotch surrounds basally the apical spot; basal portion of dorsal cilia pale yellow, with apex light grey, fringe line dark brown. Abdomen. In female: white, with yellow reflections dorsally; sternum VII subrectangular, with anterior margin largely thickened; tergum VIII reduced to a narrow transverse band (Fig. 60). Male genitalia. Unknown. Female genitalia. Anterior and posterior apophyses of the same length; ostium bursae located on posterior margin of sternum VII; antrum membranous, funnel-shaped; ductus bursae thin, membranous, connected to corpus bursae in the caudal area in the segment V; corpus bursae ellipsoid, with one pair of similar signa, each having a fusiform base with a single, pointed, median projection, distal signum slightly shorter than proximal one; ductus seminalis thin, arising from anterior end of corpus bursae; ductus spermathecae with efferent canal short, forming 3 coils of equal diameter before vesicle (Fig. 60).
Biology. Larva on Protea rubropilosa Beard. (Proteaceae) (Fig. 86).
Distribution. South Africa (Limpopo, Gauteng).
DNA barcodes. A barcode for the holotype reared specimen CLV7504, a barcoded larva and a pupa dissected from leaf mines and eight Malaise trapped specimens form all 11 barcodes a BIN BOLD: ADM1292 (Tables 1 & 2). The nearest neighbor is BIN BOLD: ACX5473, identified as Phyllocnistis labyrinthella (Bjerkander, 1790) (Table S1).
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 29-30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5529.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14021754