Stigmella costaricensis van Nieukerken & Nishida

van Nieukerken, Erik J., Doorenweerd, Camiel, Nishida, Kenji & Snyers, Chris, 2016, New taxa, including three new genera show uniqueness of Neotropical Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera), ZooKeys 628, pp. 1-63 : 15-17

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Nepticulidae

Stigmella costaricensis van Nieukerken & Nishida sp. n.

Holotype male.

Costa Rica, San José Province, Parque Nacional Chirripó, Llano Bonito, Refugio, 09°27'16"N, 083°32'41"W, 2492 m, 19-20.ii.2009, Light, Leg: Kenji Nishida. Genitalia slide EvN4037♂, RMNH.INS.24037 (RMNH).

Differential diagnosis.

See under Stigmella intronia .

Description.

Male (Fig. 5). Head: frontal tuft yellow, collar white, scale and pedicel white, flagellum grey brown. Antenna with 45 segments. Thorax, legs, forewing and hindwing grey brown, with slight iridescence, cilia similarly coloured; a shining white fascia at 2/3, width ca 1/5 of wing length, wider at costa than at dorsum. Abdomen as thorax, no anal tufts.

Female. Unknown.

Measurements. Male: forewing length 3.5 mm (n=1), wingspan: ca 7.5 mm.

Male genitalia (Figs 44, 45). Total length capsule 305µm. Uncus deeply bilobed. Gnathos with posterior horns closely placed, diverging posteriorly. Valva length ca 225 µm, almost squarish with prominent curved distal process, posterior edge deeply serrate by setal sockets, internal edge almost straight, with slight notch; transtilla without sublateral processes. Phallus length ca 260 µm, tubular, no carinae or juxta present; vesica with many small cornuti.

Biology.

Host plants. unknown.

Voltinism and habits. The moth was collected in February at a light sheet.

Distribution.

Costa Rica: San José Province: Chirripó National Park: Llano Bonito area, a cloud forest surrounded by large oak trees.

DNA barcode.

Holotype BIN: BOLD:ACG8765. The holotype was also sequenced for three other genes and will be used in a forthcoming analytical paper. Sequences may be retrieved in BOLD and later also in Genbank under voucher/sample ID RMNH.INS.24037.

Remarks.

This species and the next were collected the same night. They both belong in core Stigmella , in the clade with the Stigmella lapponica , Stigmella rhamnella and Stigmella sanguisorbae groups, but do not belong to any of these groups.

Etymology.

Costaricensis: an adjective, derived from the country name Costa Rica and the suffix -ensis, indicating geographical origin.