Phyllocnistis, Zeller, 1848

Triberti, Paolo, Staude, Hermann, Sharp, Ian & Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos, 2024, Exploring the diversity of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera) in South Africa: host plants, distribution, and DNA barcoding analysis, with the description of nine new species, Zootaxa 5529 (1), pp. 1-51 : 28

Key to the species of Afrotropical Phyllocnistis based on forewing pattern

1. No apical strigulae or 2*, longitudinal fascia (lf) margined with bright golden yellow lines; larva on Senna didymobotrya ; Congo ( Ghesquière 1940: 21)..................................................................... cassiella

- 3 or 4 apical strigulae................................................................................. 2

2. 3 apical strigulae, the fourth absent or barely discernible; larva on Salicaceae ; Palaearctic, India, Madagascar (fig. 31B).................................................................................................. saligna

- 4 apical strigulae..................................................................................... 3

3. lf missing or, if present, not margined; broad dark spots at base and center of forewing; larva on Englerophytum magalismontanum ; South Africa (fig. 31C)............................................................ magalismontani sp. nov.

- lf present and margined, no dark spots at base of forewing.................................................... 4

4. Transverse fascia (tf2) interrupted, larva on Proteaceae ....................................................... 5

- tf2 complete, larva not on Proteaceae ..................................................................... 6

5. costal section of tf1 longer than dorsal one; South Africa, larva on Protea rubropilosa (fig. 31G)........ allisonae sp. nov.

- costal section of tf1 shorter than dorsal one; South Africa, larva on Faurea saligna (fig. 31D)........... faureae sp. nov.

6. tf2 angled; Uganda (fig. 31E)................................................................... loxosticha

- tf2 rounded or straight................................................................................. 7

7. tf2 touches costa and dorsum at the same height; South Africa (fig. 31A)............................... pharetrucha

- contact of tf2 with dorsum always much more basal than costal one............................................. 8

8. tf2 straight; signa strongly asymmetrical in size, valva end rounded; cosmopolitan, larva polyphagous, especially on Rutaceae (fig. 31F)...................................................................................... citrella

- tf2 rounded; signa symmetrical, valva end with straight cucullus; larva on Salicaceae ; Palaearctic, India, Madagascar (fig. 31B).......................................................................................... saligna

* Ghesquière (1940) in his description, after to tf1 and tf2, does not mention costal or apical strigulae but a brown band on the fringes: “..frange blanche, partie apicale marquée, avant l’extrémité de l’aile, d’une bande brune perpendiculaire à l’axe, frange du tornus bordée de noir.” This could be understood as the presence of two apical strigulae, one towards the top and the other towards the bottom. In the subsequent comparison with saligna he states that the latter differs in the presence of apical strigulae: “Voisin de Ph saligna Zell ….mais chez ce dernier, les lignes parallèles dépassent à peine le centre de l’aile, la tache apicale plus grande, est noire, et la frange terminale marquée de trois bandes noires.”