Rosângela Brito

A new Brazilian Passiflora leafminer: Spinivalva gaucha, gen. n., sp. n. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Gracillariinae), the first gracillariid without a sap-feeding instar.

Abstract Male, female, pupa, larva and egg of a new genus and species of Gracillariidae (Gracillariinae), Spinivalva gaucha Moreira and Vargas from southern Brazil are described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy. A preliminary analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences including members of related lineages is also provided. The immature stages are associated with Passiflora actinia, Passiflora misera and Passiflora suberosa (Passifloraceae), and build mines on the adaxial leaf surface. Initially the mines are serpentine in shape, but later in larval ontogeny become a blotch type. Although the larvae are hypermetamorphic as in other Gracillariidae, there is no sap-feeding instar in Spinivalva gaucha; the larva feeds on the palisade parenchyma, thus producing granular frass during all instars. Pupation occurs outside the mine; prior to pupating, the larva excretes numerous bubbles that are placed in rows on the lateral margins of the cocoon external surface. This is the second genus of gracillariid moth described for the Atlantic Rain Forest, and the second gracillariid species known to be associated with Passifloraceae.

Description of three new species of Phyllocnistis Zeller, 1848 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), from the Atlantic Forest, south Brazil, with notes on natural history and phylogeny

Three new species of Phyllocnistis Zeller (Phyllocnistinae) from the Atlantic Forest, Rio Grande do Sul (RS) state of Brazil, are described. Phyllocnistis ourea sp. nov. is a leaf miner of Baccharis anomala DC. (Asteraceae) in the municipality of Montenegro. The other two species, P. phoebus sp. nov. and P. selene sp. nov. were found mining Begonia fruticosa (Klotzsch) A.DC. (Begoniaceae) and Drimys angustifolia Miers (Winteraceae) leaves, respectively, in the municipality of São Francisco de Paula. Information regarding the natural history of each species is provided. The specific status and phylogenetic relationships, including other members of Phyllocnistis, are inferred from DNA barcode (COI) sequences. Immature stages of the three species are typical sap‐feeding instars, followed by a final spinning instar. Differences found in pupal characters and the colour pattern of the fasciae of adult fore wings were stable and thus used to delimit these new species. Thus, five species of Phyllocnistis are now known from Brazil, four of them from the Atlantic Forest. For the first time, we recorded Begoniaceae as a host plant family for Gracillariidae.

An annotated taxonomic checklist of the Neotropical Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera) with links to the information on host plants and parasitoids.

This comprehensive checklist is a synthesis of the verified taxonomic information on all known Neotropical Gracillariidae species presented in a concise and uniformed way. The taxonomic information on these moth species in the Neotropical region is assembled and presented along with the referenced information on species distribution, host plants and parasitoids. The Genbank and BOLD accession numbers are given for the species that have been genetically investigated. By consulting robust literature sources, the Gracillariidae collections at natural history museums and in private holdings, we emphasize the significance of inter-links between the information on host plants, gracillariid moths and their parasitoids in the Neotropical Region.

Cactivalva nebularia, gen. et sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): a new Weinmannia leaf miner from southern Brazil: New gracillariid from Brazil

Male, female, pupa, larva and egg of a new genus and species of Gracillariidae (Ornixolinae), Cactivalva nebularia Moreira & Vargas gen. et sp. nov., from southern Brazil are described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy. A preliminary analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences including members of related lineages is also provided. The immature stages are associated with Weinmannia paulliniifolia Pohl ex Ser. (Cunoniaceae) in high altitude cloud forest of northeast Rio Grande do Sul state. During the first two sap‐feeding instars, the larva forms a serpentine mine in the lowest layer of the spongy parenchyma of a leaflet. After moulting to the third instar, it moves to another leaflet, forming a blotch mine within which the last three tissue‐feeding instars complete development, feeding upon both spongy and palisade parenchyma. Pupation occurs outside the mine, within a cocoon built on the leaf surface. This is the third genus of gracillariid moths described from the Atlantic Forest, and the first gracillariid species ever known to be associated with the Cunoniaceae.

Taxonomic revision of Neotropical Phyllocnistis Zeller, 1848 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), with descriptions of seven new species and host plant associations

Until now, 20 species of leaf-mining micromoths of the genus Phyllocnistis Zeller (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) have been known to occur in the Neotropical region. Here we revise the previously known species and describe seven new species: four from French Guiana, P. kawakitai Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. norak Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. ohshimai Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. petronellii Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov.; and, three from Brazil, P. helios Brito & Moreira, sp. nov., P. jupiter Brito & Moreira, sp. nov. and P. xylopiella Brito & Becker, sp. nov. Lectotypes are designated for P. aurilinea Zeller, 1877; P. citrella Stainton, 1856; P. rotans and P. sexangula Meyrick, 1915. Detailed descriptions of the pattern of forewing fasciae are provided for all species. Host plant associations, photographs of adults and illustrations of genitalia, when available, are provided for the described species of Neotropical Phyllocnistis. In addition, DNA barcodes were used for the delimitation of some species.

A new leaf-tying Episimus Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) feeding on the vulnerable tree Haplorhus peruviana (Anacardiaceae) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile

ABSTRACT Episimus Walsingham, 1892 (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Olethreutini) is reported for the first time from Chile. Male and female adults of Episimus buarquei Brito & Vargas sp. n. are described and illustrated based on specimens reared from larvae collected on the vulnerable native tree Haplorhus peruviana Engler (Anacardiaceae) in the Chaca Valley, Atacama Desert of northern Chile. DNA barcode sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene are provided and used to preliminarily assess the relationships of E. buarquei with congeneric species. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CDD4BF83-F8AB-4644-8047-77793AB43CA6