Philodoria, Walsingham, 1907

Kobayashi, Shigeki, Johns, Chris A. & Kawahara, Akito Y., 2021, Revision of the Hawaiian endemic leaf-mining moth genus Philodoria Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): its conservation status, host plants and descriptions of thirteen new species, Zootaxa 4944 (1), pp. 1-175 : 99

Philodoria sp. 3 of Johns et al. (2018)

Philodoria sp. 3; Johns et al. (2018): fig. 2.

Material examined. 3 pupae, Blue Hole, Kauai, 24.vii.2015 (stored in RNAlater solution), C.A. Johns leg., host: Tonchardia latifolia , 10.vi.2015, CJ494a–c, specimens in FLMNH .

Adult. Unknown.

Distribution. Kauai.

Host plants. Urticaceae : Touchardia latifolia Gaudich.

Biology. Unknown.

Parasitoids. Scelionidae ? ( Fig. 107 ).

Remarks. We have observed Philodoria leaf mines on Touchardia on Kauai at Blue Hole, but were unable to rear any adults. However, five pupae that failed to eclose were sequenced in the molecular analyses of Johns et al. (2018) and genetically distinct from Maui P. touchardiella . Therefore, we recognize “ Philodoria sp. 3” of Johns et al. (2018) as a unique species but do not assign a name here because a morphological adult specimen does not exist. Future studies should revisit the Blue Hole on Kauai and rear an adult from a mine on Touchardia latifolia and compare its pupae to the eight pupae that were studied here.

Figures

FIGURE 107. Parasitoid wasps (possibly family Scelionidae) that emerged from Philodoria sp. 3 of Johns et al. (2018) on Touchardia latifolia, Kauai. A, B CJ449-1, C, D CJ449-2, E, F CJ449-3, G, H CJ449-4, I, J CJ449-5, K CJ449-6, L, M CJ449-7, N CJ449-8.