Pararrhaptica leopardellus (Walsingham, 1907)

Austin, Kyhl A. & Rubinoff, Daniel, 2023, Rediscoveries and Presumed Extinctions of Hawaiian Leaf-roller Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 55, pp. 11-27 : 13

Pararrhaptica leopardellus

(Walsingham)

Rediscovery

This species was originally described from a single male collected in 1895 at Kahōluamanu, Kauaʻi by R.C.L. Perkins. J.A. Kusche collected a male and female at the same locality in 1920, which KAA identified in BPBM. No other known specimens have been collected since. Here we report it from six specimens collected on the Nuʻalolo Trail in Kōkeʻe State Park. Larvae are suspected to feed on Myrsine lanaiensis (Primulaceae) , based on the abundance of typical Pararrhaptica -like feeding damage on leaves of M. lanaiensis in the immediate vicinity of the collecting locality of the most recent specimens.

Material examined. Kauaʻi: 1♂, 2♀♀, Kōkeʻe State Park, Nuʻalolo Trail; 22.1310, –159.6607; 1160 m; 22–23 iii 2022; K. A. Austin; LED bucket trap / DNA extractions KA0493, KA0494, KA0497 / KAA diss. #0738(♀), #0739(♀), #0742(♂) ( UHIM) . 3♂♂, same as previous except

22.1312, -159.6606; 1165m / DNA extractions KA0496, KA0498, KA0499 / KAA diss. #0741, #0743, #0744 (UHIM).