A new species of alucita L. (Lepidoptera: alucitidae) from northern Chile

Cryptic Diversity in the Monotypic Neotropical Micromoth Genus Angelabella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in the Peru-Chile Desert

Simple Summary

The Neotropical Region harbors a highly diverse and poorly known fauna of leaf miners of the micromoth family Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera). Angelabella is a genus of Gracillariidae whose geographic range is restricted to a few valleys of the arid environments of the Peru-Chile desert. Only one species is currently included in this genus. The aims of this study were to explore the geographic range, determine the spatial distribution of mitochondrial lineages, and test lineage conspecificity hypotheses in Angelabella. The spatial distribution of genetic diversity indicated four spatial clusters, three of which are north of the previously known geographic range. These groups were defined as different species by four species delimitation methods. These results suggest that Angelabella harbors at least four morphologically cryptic species with restricted, not overlapping geographic ranges. This study shows that adequate single locus sequence analysis can be useful to discover surprising biodiversity patterns in underexplored environments, providing the base to plan further studies involving little-known organisms.

Abstract

Angelabella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Oecophyllembiinae) is considered a monotypic Neotropical genus of leaf miner micromoths known only from a few valleys of the arid environments of the Peru-Chile desert, particularly the southernmost part of Peru and northernmost part of Chile (type locality), where natural populations of its primary host plant occur. The geographic distribution of potential host plants provides a scenario for a wider range for this micromoth genus. The aims of this study were to explore the geographic range of Angelabella, determine the spatial distribution of mitochondrial lineages, and test lineage conspecificity hypotheses. The spatial distribution of genetic diversity indicated the presence of four spatial clusters, three of which are north of the previously known geographic range. Genetic distances were 0.2–0.8% and 3.6–8.3% (K2P) between haplotypes of the same and different spatial clusters, respectively. Phylogenetic relationships indicated reciprocal monophyly among the four spatial clusters, suggesting that allopatric differentiation processes have governed the recent history of Angelabella in these arid environments. These groups were defined as different species by four species delimitation methods, suggesting that Angelabella is not a monotypic genus, but harbors at least four morphologically cryptic allopatric species with restricted geographic ranges, including the type species and three candidate species.

A new cecidogenous species of many-plumed moth (Alucitidae) associated with Cordiera A. Rich. ex DC. (Rubiaceae) in the Brazilian Cerrado

Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genus Alucita Linnaeus, 1758 are known as borers or gall-inducers on flowers, fruits and shoots of a few dicotyledonous families, including Bignoniaceae, Caprifoliaceae and Rubiaceae. However, there is no study available on the biology of the monotypic, Neotropical genus Prymnotomis Meyrick, 1931 except for its original description that was based on a single male, the holotype of Prymnotomis crypsicroca Meyrick, 1931 from Espirito Santo, Brazil. We describe here a second species for this genus, Prymnotomis cecidicolasp. nov. whose larvae induce galls on Cordiera elliptica (Cham.) Kuntze (Rubiaceae), a dioecious plant with dimorphic inflorescences found in the Brazilian Cerrado, Planaltina City, Federal District. Adults, larvae, pupae and galls are illustrated under light and scanning electron microscopy. Galls are green, spherical, unilocular and develop individually on C. elliptica flower buds. During development they look like fruits in shape and colour but are larger, do not have style scars when on female plants, and are induced also in male inflorescences. Pupation occurs outside the gall within a silk cocoon, presumably in the litter. A preliminary analysis of DNA barcode sequences including putative members of other alucitid lineages and Neotropical BINs (Barcode Index Number) supports Prymnotomis cecidicolasp. nov. as an independent phylogenetic unit, with 12 to 18% divergence. Its nearest-neighbour was the BIN cluster 5 (BOLD:AAA0842) that includes specimens from Costa Rica.