Stigmella thuringiaca (Petry)

Stonis, Jonas R. & Rocienė, Agnė, 2014, Additions to the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) of East Asia, with descriptions of three new species from Primorskiy Kray, Zootaxa 3846 (2), pp. 204-220 : 213

Stigmella thuringiaca (Petry) (new to the East Asiatic fauna)

( Figs 32–35 )

Nepticula thuringiaca Petry, 1904: 179 –181.

Material examined. 1♂, Far East RUSSIA, Primorskiy Kray, 20 km E Ussuriysk, Gornotayezhnoe, Biological Station, 6.viii.2011, leg. A. Rocienė, genitalia slide no. AG440 ( ZIN).

Male genitalia ( Figs 32–35 ) of the East Asiatic specimen does not show any significant differences from European examples. Vinculum with triangular lateral lobes ( Fig. 33 ). Uncus deeply divided into two large lobes ( Fig. 34 ). Gnathos with broad angular plate and two caudal processes ( Fig. 35 ). Valva ( Fig. 35 ) with bulged inner lobe and pointed, inwardly bent apical process; transtilla with slender short sublateral processes ( Figs 33, 34 ). Phallus broad ( Fig. 32 ); vesica with very large cluster of slender spine-like cornuti.

Bionomics. In Europe, larvae of S. thuringiaca are leaf-miners of various herbaceous Rosaceae : Agrimonia , Filipendula , Fragaria , Potentilla and Sanguisorba . These plants also occur in the East Asiatic flora, but feeding preferences of S. thuringiaca in East Asia are still unknown.

Distribution. Formerly the species was known only from Europe (widespread from Spain to Central European Russia, and from Belgium to Italy and Ukraine; now it is recorded in deciduous, predominantly broad-leaf forest of the southern Primorye ( Figs 1–5 ) (Primorskiy Kray, Far East Russia).

Figures

FIGURES 32 – 35. Male genitalia of Stigmella thuringiaca (Petry) collected in Primorskiy Kray, genitalia slide no. AG 440 (ZIN). 32, phallus; 33, capsule; 34, uncus and transtilla (reconstruction); 35, valvae and gnathos (reconstruction). Scale bar 100 µm.

FIGURES 1 – 5. Collecting locality and habitats. 1, the Arboretum (“ Dendrarium ”) of Gornotayezhnoe Biological Station, a site of the light trap during the fieldwork of 2011; 2 – 4, a habitat—deciduous mostly braodleaf forest in Gornotayezhnoe; 5, map of the region (courtesy of T. Patterson, USA), showing the collecting locality in Gornotayezhnoe, 20 km E Ussuriysk (Primorskiy Kray, Far East Russia).