Tischeriidae

Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Remeikis, Andrius, Orlovskytė, Svetlana & Katinas, Liliana, 2024, How high can trumpet moths occur: documentation of mountainous leaf-mining Tischeriidae, featuring a species from record-high elevations, Zootaxa 5507 (2), pp. 201-223 : 218-219

The most common altitudes for Tischeriidae to occur

With data on all currently known Tischeriidae species (192), we attempted to estimate the elevations where the most species are currently known to occur, thereby identifying the altitudes where Tischeriidae prevail.

The study showed that more than half of currently known species (58.6%) are associated with elevations lower than 1,000 m. Many species (30.5%) are known from the elevation range between 1,000 and 2,000 m, and about 8.6% from the elevation range between 2,000 and 3,000 m ( Fig. 61 ; note that the diversity of ecosystems, conveyed by J. R. Stonis, is presented in a stylized and idealized manner, without relying on precise depiction of the actual components). The truly high-elevation species occurring above 3,000 m count for about 2.3%. These include Neotischeria longa Diškus & Stonis (at 3,020 m), Paratischeria ferruginea (Diškus & Stonis) (at 3,090 m), Astrotischeria parapalens Diškus & Stonis (at 3,320 m), A. montivaga Diškus & Stonis , sp. nov. (at 3,320 m), and A. andina Diškus & Stonis , sp. nov. (at 3,595 –3,600 m). All these species occur in the Andes, South America. The latter species occupies record-high altitudes among Tischeriidae worldwide.

Naturally, the mountainous species are most common in tropical regions due to favorable living conditions at higher altitudes compared to harsher non-tropical areas. By tropical regions, we primarily refer to the areas within the tropical zone surrounding the Equator, defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere, consequently excluding the countries of southern Africa. As an exception, we included some lush areas of the lower western Himalaya but excluded the southernmost parts of China and the very north of Vietnam, which lack a tropical climate.

Among the species occurring in non-tropical areas, the mountainous species living above the elevation of 1,000 m count only for 33% ( Fig. 63 ), while those in tropical regions count for about 53% (including the high-elevation mountainous species) ( Fig. 62 ). Moreover, there are no Tischeriidae species known to occur above 3,000 m in non-tropical areas, and only a few known to occur above 2,000 m ( Fig. 63 ). These include the North American Astrotischeria occidentalis (Braun) at the elevation of 2,100 m, Coptotriche mediostriata (Braun) at the elevation of 2,540 m, and the Himalayan C. hypericiphaga Puplesis & Diškus at the elevation of 2,400 m.

Figures

FIGURES 61–63. Tischeriidae occurrence across different elevations. 61, based on the current data of the global fauna (192 species), with the record-high altitudes for Tischeriidae compared with the record-high altitude reported for Nepticulidae; 62, Tischeriidae in the tropical regions (97 species) showing Astrotischeria andina sp. nov. as a species discovered at record-high altitudes; 63, Tischeriidae in non-tropical regions (105 species) showing the species discovered at record-high altitudes in nontropical regions. *Note that the distribution of some species overlaps across different altitudes, and some species have been discovered in both tropical (Fig. 62) and non-tropical regions (Fig. 63). The total current number of Tischeriidae species is still 192 (not 97+105). Note that this illustrative representation of the diversity of ecosystems, conveyed by J. R. Stonis, is presented in a stylized and idealized manner, without relying on precise depiction of the actual components.