Neolithocolletis nsengai De Prins, 2012

Prins, Jurate De & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2012, Systematics, revisionary taxonomy, and biodiversity of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), Zootaxa 3594 (1), pp. 1-283 : 32-34

3. Neolithocolletis nsengai De Prins , new species

( Figs 5 , 13 , 23 , 147, 148 , 292 , 358 , 418–420 , 443 , 447 )

Diagnosis. The b lack scale patches of the forewing pattern are unique among Afrotropical Lithocolletinae . The male genitalia somewhat resemble those of N. pentadesma , but the dilating cucullus area with a rounded apex in N. nsengai easily separates this new species from N. pentadesma in which the costal margin of valva is shallowly concave in the apical third of the valva. The caudal portion of the corpus bursae of N. nsengai is ringed and edged by a narrow, sclerotized, curled line that is unique among Afrotropical Lithocolletinae . Although N. nsengai differs from all other species of Neolithocolletis by possessing only two setae on the apex of tegumen instead of four in the male genitalia and a curved signa line on the corpus bursae instead of a sparsely spinulose signa surface on the inner wall of corpus bursae in female genitalia, we assign this species to Neolithocolletis on the basis of the similarity of the general configuration of the genitalia with the Oriental Neolithocolletis species.

Holotype: ♂, [1] ‘Congo Dem. Rep. [ Democratic Republic of the Congo] / Bas-Congo 320 m / Nat.[ure] Res.[erve] Luki-Mayumbe / 05°37’S 13°05’E / mine 16.v.2007 / leg. J. & W. De Prins’; [2] ‘e. l. Dalbergia / hostilis Benth. / [ FABACEAE ] / 30.v.2007; [3] ‘Gen. Prep. 3735♂ / De Prins; [4] ‘MRAC/KMMA / 00428’; specimen ID: [5] ‘ RMCA ENT 000004783 ’; [6] ‘Holotype ♂ / Neolithocolletis / nsengai / De Prins, 2012 ’, in RMCA.

Paratypes: 5♂, 6♀ (including 4♂and 2♀ genitalia preparations). Democratic Republic of the Congo: 4♂, 6♀, Bas-Congo, 320 m, Nat[ure]. Res[erve]. Luki-Mayumbe, 05°37’S 13°05’E; mine 16.v.2007, leg. J. & W. De Prins; e.l. Dalbergia hostilis Benth. (Fabaceae) , from 29.v.2007 to 31.v.2007; specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000004784–000004791, 000004793, gen. prep. De Prins 3733♂, 3734♀, 3736♀, 3737♂, 3738♂ (MRAC/KMMA 00425, 00426, 00428–00431), wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00427, head preparation MRAC/KMMA 00537, in RMCA, 1♀ in BMNH, DNA vouchers AK-07-126, AK-07- 134, AK-07-135, in UM-SI . 1♂, same locality data, 05.iv.2006, leg. J. De Prins, in BMNH .

Description. Adult ( Fig. 23 ). Forewing length: 1.69–2.01 mm.

Head: Vertex smooth, covered with silver broader scales, occiput covered with slightly tufted blackish fuscous, thick, piliform scales of median length, projecting posteriorly, a row of broad spade-like scales projecting anteriorly, appressed to occiput; frons smooth, shiny white, consisting of slender appressed piliform scales at central part of frontoclypeus and thicker at lateral sides of frontoclypeus along margin of eye. Maxillary palpus white, small. Labial palpus dirty white with slight beige shading, drooping, terminal palpomere with pointed apex, directed downwards. Haustellum short, bent, pale beige. Antenna as long as forewing, consisting of 33–34 flagellomeres, each flagellomere dark fuscous with narrow golden stripe at base dorsally, light grey ventrally; pedicel slightly larger than following flagellomere, entirely dark fuscous dorsally and shiny white ventrally; scape covered with slightly tufted dark ochreous fuscous tipped scales dorsally and shiny whitecon colourous with frons ventrally, with 6–8 fuscous pecten of similar length, ca. as long as scape.

Thorax: Golden ochreous with black anterior 1/4; tegulae entirely black. Forewing ground colour golden ochreous with black markings without margins: irregular, zigzag, oblique costal stripe not reaching dorsum at 1/3 of forewing extended to base along costa, irregular black fascia at 1/2 of forewing, broad at costal area to beyond midline and narrow at dorsal sector, apical 1/3 and termen area densly irrorated with broad elongate dark grey with rounded black tipped scales; clearly distinct black fringeline along termen, but not at tornus and apex; fringe grey, short along termen and long at dorsum. Hindwing pale grey with long and dense dark grey fringe gradually shortening towards apex. Fore femur and fore tibia dark fuscous, tarsomeres I–II dark fuscous with white apices, tarsomere III white with dark fuscous apical half, IV dark fuscous, terminal tarsomere white; mid-femur dirty white, mid-tibia with appressed scales, dirty white with 3 black oblique dentate edged strypes at basal, median and subapical sector of tibia, tibial spurs dirty white with black patch medially, tarsus dirty white with two black patches, tarsomere I dirty white with subapical black patch and a few separate dispersed black scales at subbase, tarsomere II dirty white with black apex, tarsomere III black, terminal tarsomeres pale creamy; hind femur shiny dirty white with a few grey scales at subbase and medially, hind tibia with appressed scales at basal 1/3 and loose hairs at apical 2/3, dirty white with pale grey patch as subbase, black stripe medially and dark grey with tufted long grey scales at apical half, medial spurs long, nearly as long as tibia, greyish fuscous with dirty white base and apex, apical spurs short, about 3× shorter than medial spurs, dirty white with blackish fuscous subapex; tarsus white with three blackish fuscous irregular dentate narrow rings, tarsomere I–III white with blackish fuscous apices, tarsomere III with blackish fucous subbapex, terminal tarsomeres entirely white.

Abdomen: Fuscous grey dorsally, shiny silvery white ventrally with slightly cream shading on genital segments. Sternum VIII of male very small, visible at 100×, ca. 100–108 µm semi-rounded, slightly longer then broad, covered with tiny sparse setulae.

Male genitalia ( Figs 147, 148 ). Tegumen subconical, only lightly sclerotized, except basal part, ca. 290 µm in length, shortly bifurcate apically, with ventral apex slightly longer than dorsal, ventral part of apex stronger melanized than dorsal, bearing a pair of slender apical setae ca. 45 µm long, tuba analis not protruding. Valvae symmetrical, elongate, longer than tegument, 340 µm long, rather broad, with dilating cucculus area, costal and ventral margins of valva gently diverging from each other, then united in rounded apex, a narrow sclerotized suture from 1/2 of base, extending obliquely to apex, joining costa of valva just beyond 1/2; a line of short slender setae along subapcial and apical margins of valva, small area of slightly longer setae at subbasal part of ventral margin of valva; ventral surface of valva rather weakly sclerotized, often forming small wrinkles in median area. Vinculum narrow, semi-circular, strongly sclerotized, with triangular caudal plate connecting vinculum and saccus, saccus as long as valva, ca. 330 µm, narrow, slender, with slightly bulbous caudal part. Transtilla complete, narrow throughout, angled, trapezoidal, without laterocephalic lobes. Aedoaegus about twice as long as valva, ca. 780 µm, twice sinuating, broader at median part, coecum unscleritized, vesica nearly rectangularly bent, hook-like with pointed apex. Anellus short, tubular, weakly sclerotized, without distinct juxta.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 292 ). Papillae anales long, broadly crescent-shaped in lateral view, with a broad gap between papillae anales ventrally, with rather short stiff setae distributed only on outward margin. Bases of posterior apophyses elongate, broadened, long rectangular shaped. Posterior apophyses short, ca. 130 µm in length, slender, gently approaching each other with their caudal parts, sharp pointed, reaching posterior ⅓ of segment VII. Segment VIII short, as long as width of extended bases of anterior apophyses, rather well sclerotized as broad band on tergum VIII and half ring open at sternum VIII, bearing elongate triangular basal extensions of bases of anterior apophyses with blunt triangular separate lateral ends facing each other ventrally, only weakly united with segment VII dorsally. Anterior apophyses slightly longer than posterior apophyses, ca. 140 µm in length, basal parts broad, elongate, more weakly sclerotized, gently confluent to lateral parts of half ring of segment VIII; caudal parts very slender, weakly sinuate, slightly dilating from each other, strongly sclerotized, with sharply pointed apices reaching just posteriad of middle of segment VII. Segment VII moderate in size, rectangular, cephalic margin not sclerotized. Ostium bursae ca. 60 µm in diameter, round, inconspicuous, situated at posterior margin of sternum VII medially, antrum ill defined, without sclerotizations, sterigma strongly sclerotized arc extending along entire sternum VII, with pointed terminations at anterior margin and broadly rounded caudal part ending immediately before posterior margin of sternum VII. Ductus bursae tubular, weakly sclerotized, slightly longer than length of segment VII, ca. 325 µm; girth of ductus bursae as broad as ostium bursae at posterior half, slightly narrowing towards intersection with corpus bursae, anterior half of ductus bursae with slight membranization of inner canal. Corpus bursae more or less triangular bell shaped, ca. 315 µm in length and ca. 235 µm broad at caudal (broadest) part, caudal part ringed and edged with narrow sclerotized curled line. No other trace of signum present. Ductus spermathecae strongly sclerotized, rather broad in diameter, long, ca. as long as corpus bursae, with large 6–7 convolutions of irregular diameter, convolutions slightly more compact at basal part of ductus spermathecae, and smaller spiralling at anterior part; vesica elongate oval, bilobed, situated near subcaudal part of corpus bursae.

DNA sequences. Sequence data are available for CAD ( JN125049 ) and 3007fin ( JN124937 ) ( Table S1 ).

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Laurent Nsenga, the general managing director of the Luki-Mayumbe nature reserve and WWF, who provided generous support during the field work conducted in this reserve and has contributed greatly to the knowledge of Lepidoptera biodiversity in West Africa in general.

Habitat. A small shadowy opening covered with low vegetation in a primary rain forest of Central West Africa on a bank of the small river Luki (tributary of the Congo River) ( Fig. 443 ).

Host plant(s). Fabaceae : Dalbergia hostilis Benth. ( Figs. 418–420 ).

Mine. An oblong whitish or pale beige blotch-mine ( Fig. 419 ) occurring on base of leaflet just above or below central vein on the underside of the leaf, and completely occupying the basal half of a leaflet; at maturity the mine is detached partly or completely from the upper side of the leaflet and discoloured into pale beige by the consumption of leaf tissue from the underside of the leaflet. Pupation takes place within a circular white cocoon, which is situated inside the mine cavity at the distal end. We have observed only one mine on a leaflet. Mining period: 15–20 days.

Flight period. We have recorded adults from early April to late May.

Distribution. ( Fig. 358 ). Known only from the type locality in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Figures

FIGURES 5–10. Adult head morphology of the Afrotropical Lithocolletinae genera. 5, Neolithocolletis nsengai, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00537. 6, Cameraria landryi, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00529. 7, Phyllonorycter grewiaecola, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00532. 8, Phyllonorycter hibiscina, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00531. 9, Cremastobombycia solidaginis, descaled head prep. De Prins 3791. 10, Porphyrosela teramni, descaled head prep. MRAC/KMMA 00433.

FIGURES 11–20. Wing morphology of the Afrotropical Lithocolletinae genera. 11, Hyloconis luki, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00454. 12, Neolithocolletis mayumbe, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00535. 13, Neolithocolletis nsengai, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00427. 14, Cameraria perodeaui, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00453. 15, Cameraria torridella, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00490. 16, Phyllonorycter grewiaecola, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00528. 17, Phyllonorycter melanosparta, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00497. 18, Cremastobombycia kipepeo, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00494. 19, Cremastobombycia morogorene, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00667. 20, Porphyrosela teramni, wing venation prep. MRAC/KMMA 00434.

FIGURES 21–26. Adults. Scale bar 1 mm. 21, Hyloconis luki, holotype ♂, DRC, Bas-Congo, Luki-Mayumbe NR, 23.v.2007, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000004800. 22, Neolithocolletis mayumbe, holotype ♂, DRC, Bas-Congo, Luki-Mayumbe NR, 22.iii.2006, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000003293. 23, Neolithocolletis nsengai, paratype ♀, DRC, Bas-Congo, Luki-Mayumbe NR, 16.v.2007, leg. J. & W. De Prins, specimen ID: RMCA ENT 000004793. 24, Neolithocolletis pentadesma, ♀, Seychelles, Fregate island, 4.x.2002, leg. J. Gerlach, in CUMZ. 25, Cameraria hexalobina, holotype 6364♂, South Africa, Punda Maria, 12.iv.1952, leg. L. Vári, in TMSA. 26, Cameraria hexalobina, paratype 6368♂, South Africa, Punda Maria, 15.iv.1952, leg. L. Vári, in TMSA.

FIGURES 147–150. Male genitalia. Scale bar 100 µm. 147–148, Neolithocolletis nsengai, paratype, genitalia prep. MRAC/ KMMA 00425, in RMCA. 147, ventral view. 148, aedoeagus. 149–150, Neolithocolletis pentadesma, the drawings are made by Willy De Prins after the additional description and the drawing of Kumata (1993: 8–9, fig. 3a–c). 149, ventral view. 150, aedoeagus.

FIGURES 292–294. Female genitalia. Scale bar 200 µm. 292, Neolithocolletis nsengai, paratype, genitalia prep. MRAC/ KMMA 00426, in RMCA. 293–294, Neolithocolletis pentadesma, the drawings are made by Willy De Prins after the additional description and the drawing of Kumata (1993: 8–9, fig. 5a,b). 293, ventral view. 294, a part of corpus bursae.

FIGURES 356–366. Distribution of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae species. 356, Hyloconis luki. 357, Neolithocolletis mayumbe. 358, Neolithocolletis nsengai. 359, Cameraria hexalobina. 360, Cameraria fara. 361, Cameraria landryi. 362, Cameraria varii. 363, Cameraria perodeaui. 364, Cameraria sokoke. 365, Cameraria zaira. 366, Cameraria torridella.

FIGURES 418–426. Leaf mines of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae species. 418–420, Neolithocolletis nsengai mine on Dalbergia hostilis[Fabaceae], Mayumbe Forest, 16 May 2007. 418, adaxial side. 419, abaxial blotch mine. 420, low under store host plant. 421–423, Phyllonorycter hibiscina mine on Abutilon mauritianum [Malvaceae], Nakuru, Kenya, 11 October 2001. 421, adaxial side. 422, abaxial tentiform mine. 423, the host plant dominates the understore vegetation of the habitat. 424–426, Phyllonorycter melanosparta mine on Hylodesmum repandum [Fabaceae], Kakamega Forest, Kenya, 25 March 2003. 424, adaxial side. 425, abaxial tentiform mine. 426, low under store host plant [Fabaceae].

FIGURES 441–445. Habitats of Afrotropical Lithocolletinae species. 441, Kakamega Forest, Kenya, April 2003. The habitat is the most eastern relict of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. 442, Faro River area, Cameroon, May 2005. The habitat is a repeatedly burned savannah and bush land. 443, Mayumbe Forest, Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 2007. The habitat is an undisturbed primary rain forest. 444, Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda, August 2008. The habitat is a montane rain forest. 445, Morogoro are, Tanzania, July 2009. The habitat is variable: transitional dry lowland /submontane woodland.

FIGURES 446–447. Contributors to this study. 446, from left: Lajos Vári, Jurate De Prins and Willy De Prins in the Lepidoptera collection of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (formerly Transvaal Museum), Pretoria, South Africa, 20 November, 2004. 447, from left: Akito Kawahara, Jurate De Prins, Willy De Prins and local forest guide in Mayumbe Forest, Democratic Republic of the Congo after 8 hours of tracking, 23 May 2007.