Phyllocnistis petronellii Brito & Lopez, 2017

Brito, Rosângela, Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos, Gonçalves, Gislene L., Becker, Vitor O., Mielke, Olaf H. H. & Moreira, Gilson R. P., 2017, Taxonomic revision of Neotropical Phyllocnistis Zeller, 1848 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), with descriptions of seven new species and host plant associations, Zootaxa 4341 (3), pp. 301-352 : 319-320

Phyllocnistis petronellii Brito & Lopez –Vaamonde, sp. nov.

Figs. 3Q , 4Q , 5 , 6H, S 1; Tab. 2

Type material. French Guiana: Sinnamary , Paracou Research Station, 5°16’28.5” N 52°55’25.3” W, 30 m elevation. Preserved dried and pinned. C. Lopez – Vaamonde leg., 11.XI.2015. HOLOTYPE: #f (Sample ID: IO0535; Process ID: LEPPC2393–16 ), with genitalia on slide ( GRPM 50–143 ), deposited at MNHN. PARATYPE: with no sex identified (Sample ID: IO0536; Process ID: LEPPC2394–16 ), deposited at MNHN. BIN registry for BOLD: ACY6760 .

Diagnosis. Dorsal forewing: lf is absent; tf1 is indistinctly shaped, restricted to costal margin and fused to tf2. tf2 is distinctive with distal border marked by light brown scales, crossing the wing from costal to the inner margin. This species is similar to P. citrella and P. xylopiella , differentiated from these by the absence of lf.

Description ( Figs. 3Q, S 1; Tab. 2). Forewing length: 1.75 mm (n=2). Head: covered with white silver scales. Antennae long and filiform. Thorax: forewing ground color white silver. lf absent. tf1 pale yellow, shape weakly defined, restricted to costal margin and fused to tf2. The latter with same coloration, c-shaped, presenting a wellmarked distal border with light brown scales, crossing the wing entirely. tf3 and tf4 forming blotch covered by scales of same coloration as the tf2 (III). Narrow, weakly defined, light gray band precedes as. Costal strigulae (a– c), emerge from the tf2 and from the blotch formed by the tf3 and tf4. Other strigulae emerge from as. Basal portion of inner fringes pale yellow, with distal apex light gray. Hindwing reduced, formed by light gray scales and long fringes. Abdomen: covered with silvery white scales.

Male genitalia: unknown.

Female genitalia ( Fig. 6H ): abdominal segment VII subrectangular, VIII reduced. Apophyses similar in shape: anterior apophysis almost reaching the limit between the VI and VII abdominal segments; posterior apophysis reaching the limit between the VIII and VII abdominal segments, ~0.5 x the size of anal papilla. The latter covered with setae of different sizes randomly arranged at distal margin. Ductus bursae thin and membranous, connected to the corpus bursae; corpus bursae wide, thin, not sclerotized. Signum absent.

Geographical distribution ( Fig. 5 ). Known only from the type locality, Paracou CIRAD Research Station , Sinnamary, French Guiana.

Natural history. P. petronellii adults were reared from two field-collected leaf mines (voucher number of host plant: P2015A/CLV086). The holotype herein described emerged on 20.XI.2015. The species co-author (C.L.-V.) collected a third leaf mine (voucher number of host plant: P2015A-CLV43), on 13.VI.2015, in the same host plant with a dead larva inside which was dissected out of the mine and successfully barcoded (process ID: LEPPC1389- 15).

Host plant(s). Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Pers. (Hypericaceae) . The vouchers of the host plant from which both P. petronellii specimens were reared were identified by the tropical botanist Pascal Petronelli (Kourou, Guyane) and are deposited at the herbarium of the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France (P2015A/CLV086 & P2015A- CLV43). Vismia is a small tree or shrub, with 80% of its species concentrated in Central and South America. V. guianensis is known to occur in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil ( Mourão & Beltrati 2001; Di Stasi & Hiruma-Lima 2002). Almeida-Cortez & Melo-de-Pinna (2006) described the anatomy of a leaf mine on V. guianensis associated with an unidentified microlepidopterous larva in Brazil that could be conspecific to P. petronellii . This record should be further examined.

Etymology. The species name, petronellii , is a patronym in honor of tropical botanist Pascal Petronelli for his help identifying our host plant vouchers.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Forewings of Neotropical Phyllocnistis. (A) P. abatiae holotype (left forewing reversed); (B) P. aurilinea lectotype (left, reversed); (C) P. baccharidis holotype (left, reversed); (D) P. bourquini holotype (right); (E) P. citrella lectotype (left, reversed); (F) P. dorcas holotype (right); (G) P. drimiphaga holotype (right); (H) P. helios holotype (right); (I) P. jupiter paratype (left, reversed); (J) P. kawakitai holotype (left, reversed); (K) P. maxberryi holotype (right); (L) P. meliacella holotype (right); (M) P. norak holotype (right); (N) P. ohshimai holotype (right); (O) P. ourea paratype (right); (P) P. perseafolia holotype (left, reversed); (Q) P. petronellii paratype (right); (R) P. phoebus paratype (left, reversed); (S) P. puyehuensis holotype (right); (T) P. rotans lectotype (right); (U) P. sciophanta holotype (left, reversed); (V) P. selene specimen (left, reversed); (W) P. sexangula lectotype (left, reversed); (X) P. tethys specimen (right); (Y) P. tropaeolicola holotype (right); (Z) P. wygodzinskyi holotype (left, reversed); (AA) P. xylopiella holotype (right). Scale bars: 1 (A – H, K, L, O, P, R – Z), 0.5 mm (I, J, M, N, Q, AA).

FIGURE 4. Labels of Neotropical Phyllocnistis types found in museums. (A) P. abatiae; (B) P. aurilinea; (C) P. baccharidis; (D) P. bourquini; (E) P. citrella; (F) P. dorcas; (G) P. drimiphaga; (H) P. helios; (I) P. jupiter; (J) P. kawakitai; (K) P. maxberryi; (L) P. meliacella; (M) P. norak; (N) P. ohshimai; (O) P. ourea; (P) P. perseafolia; (Q) P. petronellii; (R) P. phoebus; (S) P. puyehuensis; (T) P. rotans; (U) P. sciophanta; (V) P. selene; (W) P. sexangula; (X) P. tethys; (Y) P. tropaeolicola; (Z) P. wygodzinskyi; (AA) P. xylopiella.

FIGURE 5. Geographical distribution of Phyllocnistis species endemic to the Neotropical region.

FIGURE 6. Genital morphology of the new species of Phyllocnistis. (A) P. helios; (B) P. jupiter; (C) P. ohshimai; (D, E, I) P. xylopiella; (G, J) P. norak; (F, K) P. kawakitai; (H) P. petronellii. (A – D) male genitalia, ventral view; (E – H) female genitalia, lateral; (I – K) detail of female signa. Scale bars: 50 (A – D), 100 (E – H), 50 µm (I – K).