Casanovula Hoare

Hoare, Robert J. B. & Nieukerken, Erik J. van, 2013, Phylogeny and host-plant relationships of the Australian Myrtaceae leafmining moth genus Pectinivalva (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with new subgenera and species, ZooKeys 278, pp. 1-64 : 22-24

Subgenus Casanovula Hoare subgen. n.

Type species.

Pectinivalva (Casanovula) brevipalpa sp. n.

Description.

Adults. Head capsule (Figs 23-30): labial palpi either normal, 3-segmented, or with segments 2 and 3 reduced (Fig. 27), or 2-segmented (Fig. 26); interocular index 0.55-0.68. Antennae sometimes dilated and flattened at base. Head colour blackish or orange; eyecaps white, often blackish posteriorly. Collar consisting of piliform scales. Wingspan 3.8-6.0 mm. Forewing with dark blue or purplish lustre and (except in one species) transverse shining silver or pale gold fascia. Hindwing without androconial pocket. Underside of male forewing without androconia. Wing venation (Fig. 33): R2+3 in forewing absent. Upperside of abdomen in male sometimes with specialized lamellate scales; S2a strongly spinose or without spines. Legs: fore-tibia of male not thickened above with scales.

Male genitalia(Figs 43-48, 60-63). Anterior extension of vinculum more or less H-shaped, with strong medial excavation. Tegumen simple. Uncus apically bifid, basally with 2 weakly sclerotized areas. Gnathos central element narrow and pointed. Valva (Figs 44, 47) relatively stout, apically rounded or squared off, pectinifer consisting of ca. 22-29more or less peg-like elements. Aedeagus (Figs 45, 48, 61, 63): vesica with numerous small cornuti; cathrema moderately weak, with or without associated sclerites.

Female genitalia (Figs 74, 75, 83-88). Lateral sclerites of vestibulum present, narrow. Accessory sac more or less developed. Corpus bursae with numerous pectinations, signum absent.

Larva. Head (Figs 105, 106): antennae 2-segmented; segment 2 with 1 pair of sensilla chaetica and 1 pair of sensilla basiconica; head-shape cordate or pyriform. Thorax: prothoracic sternite (Figs 110, 111) more or less narrow, subtriangular; chaetotaxy (Fig. 116): T2 with 10 or 11 pairs of setae (2 pairs of D setae (except in Pectinivalva (Casanovula) 226, which has 1 pair of D setae); L3 present or absent). Abdomen: as described for subfamily. Cuticle not textured, all segments except T1 and A10 with covering of fine spines.

Biology.

Host-plants: Lophostemon Peter G. Wilson spp., Tristaniopsis Peter G. Wilson spp., and Melaleuca L. spp. (including species formerly assigned to Callistemon R. Br.) (all Myrtaceae ). Mine (Figs 117, 118): either a narrow gallery more or less filled with frass, or a gallery expanding into a blotch; exit-hole a small semicircular slit, a small semicircular hole, or a large slit: in the last case larva pupating in mine.

Diagnosis.

See Table 1.

Distribution.

Known only from eastern Australia: Queensland, N.S.W., A.C.T. and Tasmania; to be expected in Victoria.

Derivation.

The subgenus is named (in the diminutive) after the famous Italian adventurer and philanderer Giacomo Casanova, in reference to the unusual sexual ornamentation of the males of some species (e.g. Pectinivalva (Casanovula) minotaurus sp. n., in which the male has strongly dilated antennae and specialized scales on the abdomen upperside). It is considered feminine (in spite of its derivation) to accord with the gender of Pectinivalva .

Included species.

No previously described species are referable to this subgenus. The following species are described below: Pectinivalva (Casanovula) brevipalpa sp. n. and Pectinivalva (Casanovula) minotaurus sp. n. Also at least five undescribed species in the anic, of which the following, cited by their anic rearing numbers, have been studied in detail for the current work: Pectinivalva (Casanovula) 219; Pectinivalva (Casanovula) 226.

Discussion.

This is the least speciose of the three subgenera of Pectinivalva . Two species-groups can conveniently be recognised. In the Pectinivalva (Casanovula) brevipalpa group (not monophyletic according to the cladistic analysis), the antenna of the male is dilated and flattened at the base,the vertex bears a pair of sclerotized crests, and the labial palpus is modified, with segments 2 and 3 reduced or fused. Abdominal sternite 2a is strongly spinose. The host-plants are Tristaniopsis and Lophostemon spp. and pupation is outside the mine. In addition to Pectinivalva brevipalpa and Pectinivalva minotaurus , a single undescribed species ( Pectinivalva 41, feeding on Lophostemon confertus ), is referable to this species group. In the Pectinivalva (Casanovula) 219 group, the labial palpi and the vertex are unmodified; S2a lacks spines; the host-plants belong to Melaleuca (including Callistemon ), and pupation may be within the mine. About four species are known in this species group.