Elachista cynopa Meyrick, 1897

Kaila, Lauri, 2017, First records of Elachistinae from New Caledonia: evidence of repeated dispersal events with Australia (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Elachistidae), Zootaxa 4300 (4), pp. 536-550 : 545

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4300.4.4
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CF0B4323-43D0-4326-948F-AB9647E1A2C3
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6051485
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/8F0087DD-FFCC-FF93-D9C8-EB4A9D551409
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Elachista cynopa Meyrick
status

Treatment

Elachista cynopa Meyrick View in CoL

Figs 7, 8 View FIGURES 1 – 9 , 16 View FIGURES 16 – 17. 16

Elachista cynopa MeyriCk, 1897: 334 View in CoL .

Material examined from New Caledonia. New Caledonia 22°5’15’’S 166°26’30’’E Mt. Dzumac, 625 m, 2.Nov.1986 1 ♂ UV trap R. Brown & O. Pellmyr leg., genitalia slide by M. Metz USNM 146.431 View Materials ( USNM). GoogleMaps

Diagnosis. Elachista cynopa is a stout-bodied species with thick male antennae and forewing colour grey with dark grey plical discal spots, with darker scales along fold and irregularly between the fold and dorsal margin. As such, it is particularly similar to E. scoteina among New Caledonian species. The male genitalia of E cynopa are characteristic in having a bifurcate apex of the phallus and the small, basally incised spinose knob of the gnathos. A full description is given by Kaila (2011).

Biology. In Australia E. cynopa feeds on Lepidosperma laterale (Cyperaceae) . It prefers shaded or semishaded microhabitats. The mine is a 4–5 cm long, swollen chamber near the leaf tip. The larva is characteristically ruby-coloured. For further details on morphology, see Kaila (2011).

Remarks. E. cynopa is a common species in eastern Australia in suitable habitats (Kaila 2011). It is the single elachistine species to date known to occur both in Australia and New Caledonia.