Elachista sp. near biatomella (Stainton, 1848)

(FIGS 33–36)

Material examined. 1♂, S.[EVERO]-Z.[APADNYI] (NORTH-WESTERN) KAVKAZ (CAUCASUS), KARACHAEVO-CHERKESSIYA, KGPZ (CAUCASIAN STATE NATURE BIOSPHERE RESERVE), DOL.[INA] (VALLEY) R.[EKI] (RIVER) IMERETINKA, H=2200–2550 M, 11.VII.2005, V. SHCHUROV LEG. GEN. PREP. VS454 (ZIN).

Remarks. THE SINGLE SPECIMEN COLLECTED IN CAUCASUS IS VERY CLOSE TO Elachista biatomella (fOR ILLUSTRATIONS REfER TO TRAUGOTT-OLSEN & NIELSEN 1977: fIGS 248, 249 AND TRAUGOTT-OLSEN 2000: fIGS 41–52). THE TAXONOMY Of E. biatomella AND ITS CLOSE RELATIVES IS UNSETTLED AND SPECIES DELIMITATION IS IN NEED Of A THOROUGH RE-EVALUATION (KAILA et al. 2003). WE PROVIDE HERE IMAGES Of A SPECIMEN fROM THE CAUCASIAN POPULATION BUT REfRAIN fROM ATTEMPTING TO NAME IT.