Cedestis granadensis Tokar , Graf & Huemer, 2024

Tokar, Zdenko, Graf, Friedmar & Huemer, Peter, 2024, Cedestis granadensis sp. nov., a new species from Spain (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutidae), Nota Lepidopterologica 47, pp. 81-91 : 81

Cedestis granadensis Tokar, Graf & Huemer sp. nov.

Material.

Holotype: ♂, Spain, Andalusia, Prov. Granada, Highlands north of Puebla de Don Fadrique , 1508 m, 18.vii.2021, 38°00'32.4"N, 2°28'50.4"W. Original labels: "Spanien, Andalusien, Granada, Hochland nördlich Puebla de Don Fadrique, 1508 m, 38.009006, -2.480653, 18.vii.2021 am Licht", "DNA Barcode TLMF Lep 32615" (green label), " HOLOTYPE Cedestis granadensis Tokár, Graf & Huemer" (red label), leg. F. Graf, coll. TLMF.

Paratype: ♀, Spain, Andalusia, Prov. Granada, Sierra Puerto de la Mora de Huetor , 1400 m, 11.vii.2010, 37°16'02.0"N, 3°25'40.2"W, Gp. ZT 10991, DNA sample Lepid Phyl 19987, leg. & coll. Z. Tokár. " PARATYPE Cedestis granadensis Tokár, Graf & Huemer" (red label) .

Description.

Adult (Figs 1 - 4 ). Male and female almost identical (forewing markings in female are slightly less pronounced than in male). Wingspan 9.5-10.0 mm. Head: frons white, vertex with whitish to light yellowish brown scale tufts, labial palpi small, straight, segment 3 slightly longer than segment 2, whitish. Scape whitish, flagellum annulate dark brown and whitish, ¾ length of wing. Thorax and tegula whitish. Forewing ground colour white to creamy white, slightly shining. Markings with two-tone scales, light yellowish brown with dark brown tips. An irregular scattering of darker scales at 1/3 of forewing in the fold, together with faint dark dusting towards both margins give a hint of an indistinct bent fascia. Further scatterings of darker scales at the base of costa, and in dorsum closer towards tornus. Individual scattered darker scales especially towards the apex. Cilia white with ciliary line and other scattered darker scales. Hindwing and cilia light grey-brown. Underside of both wings grey-brown, darker on the forewing, with darker veins.

Male genitalia (Figs 5 , 6 ). Uncus broad with slightly protruding and rounded lobes; socii long, wider at 1/2-2/3 length, pointed at apex; gnathos small, inconspicuous; valva semi-ovate, costal margin almost straight, sacculus semi-oval; phallus long, slightly curved at 2/3 length, pointed at apex, vesica with triangular cornutus on spatulate structure; saccus relatively short, clavate.

Female genitalia (Figs 7 , 8 ). Papillae anales elongate, sclerotized, covered with long and short setae. Apophyses posteriores slightly longer than papillae anales. Ventral and dorsal branches of apophyses anteriores shorter than apophyses posteriores; ventral branches ending in small elonga-ted lamella postvaginalis in eighth segment. In posterior part of lamella, oval ostium bursae covered with microtrichia between pair of setose humps. Antrum sclerotized, cup-shaped. Ductus bursae moderately long, folded in anterior part, finely papillate anteriorly from three-quarters, gradually expanding into oval corpus bursae with continued papillation posteriorly. Signum large, elliptic with transverse expansion, covered with numerous triangular teeth of various sizes.

Diagnosis.

The male and female genitalia of Cedestis granadensis sp. nov. closely resemble those of C. civitatensis . The male genitalia of the new species differ from the latter mainly in having the broad uncus with slightly protruding and rounded lobes, whilst in the latter the uncus is truncated. In the female genitalia, the new species can be distinguished from C. civitatensis by the longer apophyses posteriores and anteriores and by the form and structure of the lamella postvaginalis, the ostium bursae covered with microtrichia between the pair of small setose humps in the posterior part of the lamella, whilst in C. civitatensis the lamella postvaginalis has another form and structure. The new species is furthermore significantly distinguished from all other known Cedestis species by the white ground colour and sparse pattern on the forewing as well as by large distances in the DNA barcode.

Distribution.

So far only known from the two localities in the Spanish province of Granada: highlands north of Puebla de Don Fadrique, and in mountains of the Sierra de Huétor. Both sites are at elevations of approximately 1400-1500 m.

Biology.

The biology is unknown. Both adults of the new species were on the wing in July. The habitats were a small rocky-steppe plateau, surrounded by groups of pines (near Puebla de Don Fadrique, Fig. 9 ) or clearings of sparse pine forest on dolomitic sands (Sierra de Huétor, Fig. 10 ).

The life history of the two European Cedestis species with a Palaearctic distribution ( C. gysseleniella , C. farinatella ) is very well known. Larvae of these species mine exclusively in needles of Pinaceae ( Pinus sylvestris L., P. mugho Turra, Abies alba Mill.) and they live from the autumn and after hibernation to the spring ( Friese 1960). The African species ( C. nathani ) has been reared from Mystroxylon aethiopicum (Thunb.) Loes. ( Celastraceae ) ( Agassiz 2019). Host-plants of Asian Cedestis species or the recently described species C. civitatensis are unknown.

We can assume that the larva of our new species also develops in a similar way like the larvae of the two European species mentioned above, in needles of some species of Pinaceae occurring at the type localities ( Abies pinsapo Boiss., Pinus halepensis Mill., P. nigra subsp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco, P. pinaster Aiton, P. sylvestris var. nevadensis D.H. Christ) in the Sierra de Huétor Natural Park (Junta de Andalucía 2020).

Etymology.

The specific name granadensis is derived from Granada, the Spanish province in the autonomous region of Andalusia, where both specimens of the new species were discovered.

Discussion.

The documentation of the biodiversity of Lepidoptera in Mediterranean countries seems far from complete despite extensive recording efforts. Particularly, increasingly comprehensive genetic surveys implemented in the last 15 years have revealed significant potential for cryptic diversity both in the analysis of larger taxonomic units ( Huemer et al. 2020; Lopez-Vaamonde et al. 2021) and in larger faunistic projects ( Huemer and Mutanen 2022; Huemer and Wieser 2023). In extreme cases, the extent of overlooked taxa comprises up to a third of the species or even more ( Huemer and Hebert 2011; Mutanen et al. 2013; Huemer and Karsholt 2018).

In this context, the discovery of a new species of the genus Cedestis in Spain is not entirely surprising, especially considering that a congeneric species, C. civitatensis , was recently discovered in the already well-explored southern France ( Nel and Varenne 2015). However, it is striking that the new discovery appears phenotypically so distinctive that confusion should actually be ruled out, suggesting a certain rarity. Whether it is an endemic species of southern Spain is doubtful, given the widespread distribution of potential larval host plants of the genus Pinus . Additionally, another further occurrence of the sister species in southern France has been discovered in Cyprus, indicating a much more widespread distribution pattern ( Huemer and Özden 2024).

While the phylogeny of the Yponomeutoidea has been convincingly clarified at the suprageneric level by Sohn et al. (2013), generic revisions are evidently still needed. Although the close relationship between C. granadensis sp. nov. and C. civitatensis is well supported both morphologically and molecularly, the generic placement of several species of the related genus Zelleria Stainton, 1849 appears doubtful and in need of revision based on genetic data.

Figures

Figure 9. Locality of Cedestis granadensis sp. nov. north of Puebla de Don Fadrique. Photograph F. Graf.

Figure 10. Locality of Cedestis granadensis sp. nov. in Sierra de Huetor Mts. Photograph Z. Tokar.

Figures 1, 2. Cedestis granadensis sp. nov., male, holotype, highlands north of Puebla de Don Fadrique, 18. vii. 2021, 1. The resting adult; 2. Dorsal view, wingspan 10.0 mm. Photographs F. Graf.

Figures 3, 4. Cedestis granadensis sp. nov., female, paratype, Sierra de Huetor Mts., 11. vii. 2010, 3. Dorsal view; 4. Head, ventral view. Scale bars: 1.0 mm. Photographs F. Slamka.

Figures 5, 6. Male genitalia of Cedestis granadensis sp. nov., holotype; 5. Ventral view with right valva; 6. Left valva. Photographs F. Graf.

Figures 7, 8. Female genitalia of Cedestis granadensis sp. nov., paratype, Gp. Z. Tokar ♀ 10991. Scale bars: 1.0 mm. Drawing Z. Tokar.