Lithocolletis cretaceella Braun 1925a: 148
Phyllonorycter cretaceella (Braun)
Davis 1983: 10
Wrong side of the leaf: assigning some Lithocolletinae species (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) to their proper genera
Eiseman, Charles S.
Davis, Donald R.
Zootaxa
2020
2020-03-17
4751
2
201
237
8VLZX
(Braun, 1925)
Eiseman & Davis
2020
Braun
1925
[151,600,1636,1663]
Insecta
Gracillariidae
Cameraria
Animalia
Lepidoptera
5
206
Arthropoda
species
cretaceella
comb. nov.
Lithocolletis cretaceella Braun 1925a: 148. Phyllonorycter cretaceella(Braun)— Davis 1983: 10. Leaf mine.A flat, upper-surface blotch ( Fig. 15).
Generic placement. Braun (1925a)noted that “this species is very different from all other described species of the flat-larval group in the preponderance of white on the wings” ( Figs. 16, 22–24), clearly indicating that it belongs in Cameraria. The leaf mine ( Fig. 15) is typical of this genus; the white markings on the forewings are dark-margined externally ( Figs. 16, 22); and the apex of the tegumen bears the diagnostic pair of setae ( Fig. 17). Sternum VIII is entire rather than bifid caudally, but the latter character is not present in all Camerariaspecies.
Host. Fagaceae: Quercus hypoleucoidesA. Camus.
Distribution. USA: AZ, NM. Review.The single type( Fig. 22) was “reared from a blotch mine on the upper side of a leaf of oak, Quercus hypoleuca, White House Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona” ( Braun 1925a). Quercus hypoleucaEngelm.is a synonym of Q. hypoleucoides. DRD reared 23 adultsof Cameraria cretaceellafrom mines on Quercus hypoleucoidescollected on 22 July 1989in the Gila National Forest, Catron Co., New Mexico. Adults emerged from 22 July to 11 August. The male and female genitalia figured herein ( Figs. 17–21) are from those specimens. CSE also reared seven adults of C. cre- taceellafrom mines on Q. hypoleucoidescollected from 2 to 14 March 2017at Cave Creek Canyon (Cochise Co.), Madera Canyon, and Ramsey Canyon, Arizona( Figs. 15, 24). They emerged from 24 March to 5 April, earlier than Braun’s (1925a)emergence date of 12 April.
Comments.No other gracillariid has been reared from Quercus hypoleucoides, although we have found uppersurface linear-blotch mines of an undetermined Acrocercopson this host at Madera Canyon.All of our collections of Camerariamines from other Arizonaoaks ( Q. arizonicaSarg., Q. emoryiTorr., Q. oblongifoliaTorr.) have yielded other, predominantly brown species.