Atacamaptilia Vargas & Espinoza-Donoso, 2022

Espinoza-Donoso, Sebastián, Gonçalves, Gislene L., Vargas, Héctor A. & Moreira, Gilson R. P., 2022, Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), a leaf miner of Ambrosia cumanensis (Asteraceae) in the Atacama Desert, Zootaxa 5100 (3), pp. 401-418 : 405-406

Atacamaptilia Vargas & Espinoza-Donoso gen. nov.

( Figs 1–10 )

Type species: Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora Vargas & Espinoza-Donoso sp. nov., designated here.

Diagnosis. Among the Neotropical genera of Acrocercopinae, Atacamaptilia resembles Eucosmophora Walsingham, 1897 and Vihualpenia Mundaca, Parra & Vargas, 2013 in the presence of a digitate lobe on the costal margin of the valva of the male genitalia ( Davis & Wagner 2005; Mundaca et al. 2013). However, the forewing with R4 and R5 stalked and CuA1 and CuP absent provides separation of Atacamaptilia from Eucosmophora , whose forewing has R4 and R5 separate and CuA1 and CuP present. Atacamaptilia has the forewing with R5 and M1 separate, which are stalked in Vihualpenia . Among the Old World genera of Acrocercopinae with a digitate lobe on the costal margin of the valva, Melanocercops Kumata & Kuroko, 1988 and Phodoryctis Kumata & Kuroko, 1988 resemble Atacamaptilia in having forewing venation with R4 and R5 stalked and CuA1 absent ( Kumata et al. 1988). However, Atacamaptilia has the phallus with a pair of longitudinal projections and the vesica without cornuti, while in Melanocercops the phallus lacks projections and the vesica has cornuti. In the female genitalia, the absence of signa in Atacamaptilia contrasts with the small plate-like signum in the corpus bursae of Melanocercops . Like Atacamaptilia , the phallus of Phodoryctis has a pair of long longitudinal projections, but these arise from near the base in the latter, in clear contrast to Atacamaptilia , whose projections arise near the middle. Furthermore, Phodoryctis has a well-developed lobe-like projection protruding from the distal end of the digitate lobe of the costa and a small, round subapical furrow not covered with setae on the distal part of the valva. In contrast, Atacamaptilia has a small blister-like membrane arising dorso-apically from the digitate lobe of the costa and lacks a subapical furrow not covered with setae on the distal part of the valva. Sternum VII of the female abdomen of Phodoryctis has a large, well-sclerotized area not covered with scales, a feature not found in Atacamaptilia .

Description. Adult ( Figs 2–3 ). Male and female similar in size and color.

Head. Vertex and frons smoothly scaled. Antenna filiform ( Fig. 2A ), length similar to forewing. Maxillary palpus ( Fig. 2B ) short, 4-segmented, smoothly scaled. Labial palpus ( Fig. 2B ) about twice the length of maxillary palpus, 3-segmented, smoothly scaled.

Thorax. Forewing ( Fig. 2C ) lanceolate; 11 veins, all reaching the margin. R 5-branched, all veins end at the costal margin; R1 from basal third of discal cell, ending shortly distal to Sc; R2 from near apex of discal cell; R3 from apex of discal cell; R4 and R5 stalked about half the length of R4. M 3-branched; all veins from distal margin of discal cell to inner margin. CuA 1-branched. 1A+2A slightly curved near base. Hindwing lanceolate ( Fig. 2C ); R 2-branched; R1 and Rs end at costal margin. M 3-branched; all veins end at the inner margin; M1 and M2+3 stalked about half the length of M2+3. CuA 2-branched; CuA1 stalked with CuA2 about 2/3 the length of CuA2. CuP stalked with CuA1+2 about 2/3 the length of CuP. Legs with tibial spur pattern 0–2–4; epiphysis present.

Abdomen. Male with tergum VIII ( Fig. 2D ) semicircular, anterior margin straight with narrow process in the middle, posterior margin broadly rounded; sternum VIII ( Fig. 2E ) in the form of two small triangular sclerites separated medially by membrane.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 3A, C–E ). Tegumen mostly membranous, with two narrow, elongated, sclerotized lateral sclerites not connected distally. Uncus absent. Subscaphium as a narrow longitudinal stripe. Saccus triangular, short, with rounded apex. Valva ( Fig. 3A, C ) narrow, elongated, about 1.2x tegumen in length, apex widely rounded; medially with short hair-like setae; laterally with long hair-like setae from near base; digitate lobe arising from basal half of costa, posteriorly projected; a small blister-like membrane arising dorso-apically from digitate lobe. Phallus ( Fig. 3D, E ) sub-cylindrical, narrow, elongated; basal half mainly membranous ventrally; apex acute; a pair of longitudinal projections arising ventrally from near the middle; vesica without cornuti.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 3B, F ). Papillae anales touching each other dorsally; slightly sclerotized with hair-like setae and a narrow, well-sclerotized stripe along anterior margin. Antrum sclerotized, cylindrical, about a third of the length of posterior apophysis. Ductus bursae membranous, cylindrical, narrow, elongated, slightly widened near corpus bursae, and about 3.5× of the length of posterior apophysis. Corpus bursae membranous, oval, narrow, elongated, about 0.75x length of ductus bursae. Ductus seminalis arising from ductus bursae, immediately distal to antrum. Signum absent.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Atacama Desert, where the type species was discovered in one of its transverse valleys, and “-ptilia ”, a latinization from the Greek “ πτίΛΟΝ ” (plumage). The name is considered feminine in gender.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neighbor-Joining tree of Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. and representatives of Acrocercopinae (Gracillariidae) based on COI sequences.

FIGURE 2. Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. Paratype male, dorsal view. B. Head, anterior view. C. Wing venation. D. Male tergum VIII. E. Male sternum VIII. Scale bars 1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.2, 0.2 mm, respectively.

FIGURE 3. Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov., genitalia. A. Male genitalia, ventral, phallus removed. B. Female genitalia, lateral. C. Digitate lobe of costa of male genitalia, open arrow in A. D. Longitudinal projections of phallus, lateroventral, red arrow in E. E. Phallus, ventral. F. Antrum, black arrow in B. Scale bars 0.1, 0.2, 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and 0.2 mm, respectively.

FIGURE 4. Scanning electron micrographs of the sap-feeding Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. Head, dorsal. B. Head, lateral. C. Labium-hypopharynx complex, ventral. D. Labial palp, ventral, enlarged rectangle of C. E. Antena, dorsal. F. Mesothorax ornamentation, dorsal. G. Spiracle prothorax, lateral. H. Ambulatory callosity of prothorax, ventral. I. Ambulatory callosity and vestigial leg of mesothorax, ventral. J. Ambulatory callosity of A5, ventral. Scale bars 50, 50, 20, 5, 10, 10, 5, 10, 10 and 20 μm, respectively.

FIGURE 5. Scanning electron micrographs of tissue-feeding Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. Head, lateral. B. Head, dorsal. C. Head, ventral. D. Stemmata, lateral. E. Antenna, anterolateral. F. Labrum, frontal. G. Spinneret, anterolateral. H. Prothoracic leg, anterior. I. Tarsal claw, anterior. J. Abdominal ornamentation. K. Spiracle, A8, lateral. L. Crochets on proleg of A4, ventral. Anal shield and prolegs of A10, posterior. Scale bars 50, 50, 50, 10, 10, 10, 10, 25, 5, 5, 5, 10 and 50 μm, respectively.

FIGURE 6. Chaetotaxy of sap-feeding Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. Head, frontal. B. Head, lateral. C. Larva, ventral. D. Larva, lateral. E. Larva, dorsal. Scale bars 0.1 and 0.2 mm, respectively.

FIGURE 7. Chaetotaxy of tissue-feeding Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. Head, frontal and lateral. B. Labrum, external and internal (epipharynx). C. Thorax and abdomen, lateral. Scale bars 0.01, 0.04 and 0.4 mm, respectively.

FIGURE 8. Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov., pupa scanning electron micrographs. A–C. Head, ventral, dorsal and lateral, respectively. D–E. Cocoon cutter, lateral and ventral, respectively. Frons and base of mouthparts, ventral. G. Mesothoracic seta, lateral. H. Spiracle A2, lateral. I Detail of transverse patch of spine-like projections of A3. J–K. Terminalia, dorsal and posterior, respectively. Spine of A10, square area of K. Scale bars 100, 100, 100, 10, 10, 50, 25, 10, 25, 50, 25, 10 and 5 μm, respectively.

FIGURE 9. Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov., pupa. A–C. Ventral, dorsal and lateral. Scale bar 0.8 mm.

FIGURE 10. Natural history Atacamaptilia ambrosiavora gen. et sp. nov. A. The host plant, Ambrosia cumanensis (Asteraceae) in a highly human-modified habitat in the type locality, the Azapa Valley, northern Chile. B–C. Mature leaf mines (white arrows) on the host plant, adaxial and abaxial, respectively. D. Young leaf mine (red arrow), square of C. E. Egg. F. Sap-feeding, dorsal. G. Tissue-feeding, laterodorsal. H. Tissue-feeding after color change previous to pupation, dorsal. Pupa, lateral. Scale bars 10, 10, 1, 0.1, 0.3, 1.4, 1.4 and 0.5 mm, respectively.