Stigmella alilediella Diškus & Navickaitė, 2020

Stonis, Jonas R., Remeikis, Andrius, Diškus, Arūnas & Navickaitė, Asta, 2020, Documenting new and little known leaf-mining Nepticulidae from middle and southwestern areas of the Asian continent, Zootaxa 4881 (3), pp. 401-452 : 408-409

Stigmella alilediella Diškus & Navickaitė , sp. nov.

( Figs 9, 10, 29, 30, 113–121)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C440BE35-9934-44AC-86EF-A0B71855EA16

Type material. Holotype: ♂, India, Uttarakhand, Dehradun Distr., Mussoorie , 30°27’31”N, 78°01’46”E, elevation ca. 1980 m, 16.viii.2010, A. Diškus & A. Navickaitė, genitalia slide no. AD488 ( ZIN).

Diagnosis. Belongs to the Stigmella aurella group. Externally and in the male genitalia, this new species is the most similar and obviously related to S. lediella ( Schleich, 1867) . However, S. alilediella sp. nov. differs from S. lediella in the presence of three clusters of large cornuti ( Figs 117, 118), also in the wider plate of the gnathos ( Figs 114, 115).

Male ( Figs 29, 30). Forewing length 1.8 mm; wingspan 4.0 mm (n = 1).

Head. Palpi ochre cream; frontal tuft ochreous orange; collar dark brown, golden glossy, with distinctive purple iridescence; scape golden shiny yellowish cream; antenna slightly shorter than one half the length of forewing; flagellum dark brown, golden glossy, with some purple iridescence on upper side, yellowish brown on underside.

Thorax. Tegula and thorax dark brown, golden glossy, with purple iridescence. Forewing dark brown, golden glossy, with strong purple iridescence in basal third; medially and apically blackish brown with some golden gloss and little purple iridescence; median fascia wide, especially on tornal margin, silvery shiny, with some purple iri- descence; apical fascia short, silvery shiny, with some purple iridescence; fringe black-brown; fringe line black, inconspicuous; forewing underside black-brown, without spots or androconia. Hindwing without androconia, dark brown with some golden gloss on upper side, black brown on underside; fringe dark brown. Legs brown-black on upper side and golden cream on underside.

Genitalia ( Figs 113–121) with capsule 230 µm long, 170 µm wide. Uncus triangular, distally bifid ( Fig. 114). Gnathos with a wide transverse plate and two stout caudal processes ( Fig. 115). Valva ( Figs 114, 121) about 150 µm long, with a bulged inner lobe and long, slender apical process. Vinculum with a wide but shallow excavation an- teriorly ( Fig. 121). Phallus about 240 µm long, bent medially ( Fig. 117), without carinae; vesica with three clusters of large cornuti ( Figs 116, 118–120).

Female. Unknown.

Bionomics ( Figs 9, 10). Host plant is unknown (unidentified). Larva is pale green, with a brownish green in- testine and brown head ( Fig. 10). Larvae mine in leaves in August. The leaf mine starts as a slender gallery almost fully filled with blackish brown frass; further on the gallery widens, with a wide line of dark brown frass ( Fig. 9). Adults fly in late August.

Distribution. Known from a single locality in the western Himalaya (Uttarakhand: Mussoorie), at the elevation of about 2000 m ( Fig. 1: wHi).

Etymology. The species is named after closely similar species, S. lediella , with a Latin prefex ali (another).