Stigmella poterii (Stainton, 1857)

van Nieukerken, Erik J., Laštůvka, Aleš & Laštůvka, Zdenĕk, 2006, The Nepticulidae and Opostegidae of mainland France and Corsica: an annotated catalogue (Lepidoptera: Nepticuloidea), Zootaxa 1216 (1216), pp. 1-114 : 98-99

Stigmella poterii (Stainton, 1857)

Excluded records: F: Stigmella poterii ; van Nieukerken 1996: 23—‘France’; Leraut 1997: 81 — ‘France’; Courtois 1999b: 1— 57; Courtois 2001b: 14— 57; Courtois 2002: 51— 57

CO: Nepticula zermattensis Weber, 1937 ; Skala 1938: 44— 2 A

Nepticula geminella Frey, 1870 ; Skala 1938: 44— 2 A

Stigmella poterii ; Rungs 1988: 11— 20

Remarks. All records of Stigmella poterii from France and Corsica are based on mines on Sanguisorba . Skala (1938) reported Sanguisorba miners from Corsica under the names of Nepticula geminella Frey, 1870 , which is an obvious synonym of S. poterii and N. zermattensis Weber, 1937 , which is a synonym of S. anomalella (van Nieukerken 1986a) . However, the mines of these species are inseparable, and we believe that the Corsican mines belong most likely to one species, of which the identity is difficult to establish, but most likely it is not S. poterii , which is currently not known from southern Europe. More likely candidates are S. thuringiaca , S. rolandi , or S. centifoliella . We reared the latter species from Sanguisorba mines in Spain and Portugal (van Nieukerken et al. 2004a).

Van Nieukerken (1996) recorded S. poterii from France on the basis of tenanted mines from Pralognan (73­Savoie), overlooking a reared adult, later identified as S. anomalella (see remarks under that species). Courtois (1999b) did also rear adults, but his remark that the larvae spun their cocoons on the leaves, suggests that he reared Stigmella centifoliella (confusion of this species with S. poterii is more likely because both have a fascia on the forewing, which is absent in S. anomalella ). S. poterii is certainly to be expected in France, but more likely in bogs or heath land on Potentilla erecta or P.palustre , on which it occurs commonly in more northern parts of Europe.