Ozadelpha conostegiae van Nieukerken & Nishida

van Nieukerken, Erik J., Doorenweerd, Camiel, Nishida, Kenji & Snyers, Chris, 2016, New taxa, including three new genera show uniqueness of Neotropical Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera), ZooKeys 628, pp. 1-63 : 24-29

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Nepticulidae

Ozadelpha conostegiae van Nieukerken & Nishida sp. n.

Holotype male.

Costa Rica, Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Estación Biológica Monteverde, 10°19'06.9"N, 084°48'29.3"W, 1530 m, 2.iii.2012 collected leafmines, 31.iii.2012 adult emergence, host plant: Conostegia oerstediana ( Melastomataceae ), photos/leg/rear: Kenji Nishida, RMNH Lepidoptera , Genitalia slide EvN4506, RMNH.INS.24506 (RMNH).

Differential diagnosis.

Externally recognised by leaden collar of lamellar scales and forewing with two fasciae, the first indistinctly joined to basal leaden area. Male genitalia unique and can not be confused with other Nepticulidae . However, there are as yet unnamed rather similar species. See also next species.

Description.

Male (Figs 68, 89). Head: frontal tuft yellow orange, scape white; antenna with 24-25 segments (n=2). Collar comprising lamellar scales, leaden. Thorax and forewings dark fuscous, forewing with basal leaden patch, poorly separated from silver fascia at 1/3, a second silver fascia at 2/3, often broken or narrowed in middle, at dorsum widened in both directions, silver scales along dorsum may reach other fascia, usually not; more distal silver scales usually separated from fascia. Hindwing with a narrow ochreous hairpencil inserted near frenulum of 1/3 hindwing length, hindwing scaling brown-grey. Leg upperside and abdomen dark fuscous, tarsi paler. Abdomen with indistinct grey anal tufts.

Female (Fig. 90). Antenna with 19 segments (n=2). Hairpencil absent. Ovipositor broadly rounded.

Measurements. Male: forewing length 1.7-1.9 mm (n=2), wingspan: 3.8-4.3 mm. Female: forewing length 1.7-1.8 mm (n=3), wingspan 3.9-4.0 mm.

Male genitalia (Figs 70-72). Total length capsule 385-405µm (n=2), ventral plate very large and anteriorly rounded; tegumen rounded. Uncus distinctly bilobed, with setose lobes; gnathos with triangular pointed central element. Valva length 140-150 µm; transtilla well sclerotised, without sublateral processes. Phallus length 290 µm, flask shaped vesica with ca. 9 larger triangular cornuti; two elongate sclerotisations may represent the cathrema, no striate cathrema observed.

Female genitalia (Figs 74-76). Total length of bursa ca 660 µm. T8 with row of ca 8 setae on either side, partly on distinct sockets; no setose anal papillae. Anterior apophyses broadly rounded, posterior apophyses narrow, straight, longer than anterior ones. Vestibulum more strongly stained, with indistinct sclerotisation; ductus bursae not demarcated from corpus bursae, corpus asymmetric, curved; wall completely devoid of spines or pectinations. Ductus spermathecae slightly curved, only one incomplete convolution at vesicle.

Biology.

Host plants (Fig. 81). Melastomataceae : Conostegia oerstediana Ozadelpha Berg ex Triana and Conostegia pitierri Cogn., evergreen trees. Both species are distributed from Nicaragua to Panama, and recorded between 700 and 2400 m elevations in Costa Rica ( Almeda 2007). Conostegia oerstediana is one of the widespread trees in the mid-elevation cloud forest of Costa Rica (K. Nishida, personal observation).

Leafmines (Figs 82, 83, 88). Narrow zigzag linear mine, pale brown in colour, on upperside leaf (n=42). Mature mine approximately 50 mm long (n=42). Some mines were found along leaf veins, i.e. mines were angular or square (n=7). The mines were mostly found on mature broad leaves of small treelets of less than a meter tall (n=ca 30). We recorded from a single mine up to 20 mines per leaf, with an average of 5 mines/leaf (n=15). Central portion of leaf mines filled with black frass, deposited in zigzag arcs (Fig. 86). Exit hole on underside of leaf at tip of mine, ellipsoid, 0.6-0.9 mm wide (n=5). Mines were found on leaves with a length of ca. 7-20 cm (mean 15.5) and width of ca. 4-13 cm (mean 9.75) (n=20).

Egg (Fig. 87). Laid singly, translucent with pale gold tint, oval, flat, egg case ca. 0.2 mm long, located contiguously to secondary leaf veins on upperside leaf (n=30). Some vacated egg cases were filled with frass (n=7).

Larva (Figs 84, 85, 93). Late to final instar larva translucent green, final instar larva 3.7 mm long (n=1).

Cocoon (Figs 92, 93). Oval shaped, flat, double chambered, outer cocoon 2.3-3.3 mm long and 1.3-2.0 mm wide, inner cocoon 1.6-2.0 mm long and 0.8-1.3 mm wide, pale brown to brown (n=4). Exit slit side of cocoon slightly thinner and paler than opposite end. Under rearing conditions inside plastic bags, the larvae pupated on host plant leaf, next to leaf veins or vein grooves either on upper or underside leaf (n=20) (Figs 88, 92). A species of a solitary koinobiont-endo parasitoid wasp was found inside the inner chamber of cocoon (n=2).

Pupa (Fig. 91). General appearance of mature pupa flat and dark brown, 1.5-1.7 mm long (n=2).

Voltinism and habits. Old and young leaf mines were seen all year round on treelets found along trails in forest understory at the Estación Biológica Monteverde. The larvae pupate away from the mine and host plant under natural conditions; however, it is unknown where the larvae spin their cocoons except for a single cocoon that was found on the underside of a mined leaf, but this was parasitized by a parasitoid wasp. Late stage to mature mines collected on 2.iii.2016 produced adults on 28-29.iii.2016. Mines collected on 21.v.2016 produced mature pupae (n=2) and mature pupae of a parasitoid wasp inside the moth cocoon (n=2) on 7.vi.2016. Mines collected on 25.v.2016 produced 6 cocoons between 2-6.vi.2016. Two eggs on a single leaf collected on 7.vi.2016 produced very early mines of ca. 1.2 mm and 8.6 mm long on 19.vi.2016. White, circular, pellet-like micro objects were found inside mines surrounding mining larvae (n=2) (Figs 84, 85). The pellets are calcium oxalate crystals (druses) according to R. Kriebel (personal communication). Thus the larvae appear to avoid feeding on druses.

Parasitoid . Eulophidae : Entedoninae: Cornugon diabolos Hansson ( Hansson 2011), endoparasitoid, koinobiont of host larva which pupates inside host cocoon (n=2). This comprises a new host record for the genus Cornugon ( Hansson 2011 and personal communication).

Distribution.

Costa Rica: Alajuela, Guanacaste and Puntarenas Provinces.

DNA barcode.

We failed to produce a DNA barcode from the DNA extracts, but we obtained sequences for 28S and COII from the holotype, RMNH.INS.24506. They will be made available through GENBANK with another paper in preparation.

Remarks.

Ozadelpha conostegiae represents the first published record of a Nepticulidae feeding on Melastomataceae . However, we also collected and reared unnamed Acalyptris species from the genus Melastoma from Australia: Queensland and Indonesia: Borneo. The genus Conostegia comprises 77 species of shrubs and trees in Central America, northern South America and the Carribean ( Kriebel 2014).

Etymology.

The epithet conostegiae is a noun in genitive case, derived from the generic name of the host plant Conostegia .

Other material examined.

8♂, 6♀. Costa Rica: 1♂, Alajuela Province, Grecia, Reserva Forestal Grecia - Bosque del Niño, 10°.08'32.1"N, 084°.14'49.5"W, 1678 m, leafmines on Conostegia oerstediana , xii.2012 adult emergence, Kenji Nishida (RMNH); 1♂, 3♀, Guanacaste Province, Monteverde, Santa Elena, going towards Bosque Eterno de los Niños, San Gerardo Biological Station, 10°.21'25"N, 084°.47'35.1"W, 1500 m, leaf miner Conostegia oerstediana , emerged 23.iv.2012, Kenji Nishida, male abdomen missing, 3 female abdomens together in gelatin capsule, wing slide EvN4704, RMNH.INS.24704 (RMNH); 1♂, Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Estación Biológia Monteverde, 10°19'06.9"N, 084°48'29.3"W, 1530 m, 2.iii.2012 leafmines, 31.iii.2012 adult emergence, Conostegia oerstediana , Kenji Nishida; 2♂, 2♀, same data, but 29.iii.2012 adult emergence, genitalia slide ♂ EvN4679, RMNH.INS.24679 (RMNH); 2♂, 1♀, same data, but late stage leaf mines collected 18-19.v.2016, adult emergence 18.vi.2016 (MZUCR); 1♂, Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Estación Biológia Monteverde, 10°.19'13.95"N, 084°.48'20.83"W, 1600 m, 29.viii.2007 adult emergence, host plant: Conostegia pitierri , slide EvN 4844 [preparation of broken exuviae] (RMNH).