Acrocercops Wallengren, 1881

Sruoga, Virginijus & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, New species, new country distribution records, and a new generic combination of Afrotropical Acrocercopinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), Zootaxa 5285 (1), pp. 75-115 : 77

Acrocercops Wallengren, 1881

Acrocercops Wallengren, 1881: 95 . Type species: Tinea brongniardella Fabricius, 1798 .

This genus is the largest among all genera of the Acrocercopinae , comprising about 325 species currently assigned to Acrocercops and distributed worldwide, especially in the tropics. The morphological characters of adults, including genitalia, were outlined by Vári (1961) and Kuznetzov (1979), but the most comprehensive redescription of the genus was provided by Kumata et al. (1988a). However, it was based largely on the Japanese species of the genus. Here, we used the following characters as diagnostic for the genus Acrocercops : (1) antennal scape simple, without a flap of scales; (2) forewing with 5R veins and veins R5, M1, and M2 of the forewing connate or approximate basally; (3) valva with one long comb on inner surface; (4) median sclerotization of the dorsocephalic apodeme of male abdominal segment VIII not extending onto tergum.