Astrotischeria montivaga Diškus & Stonis, 2024

Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Remeikis, Andrius, Orlovskytė, Svetlana & Katinas, Liliana, 2024, How high can trumpet moths occur: documentation of mountainous leaf-mining Tischeriidae, featuring a species from record-high elevations, Zootaxa 5507 (2), pp. 201-223 : 205-206

Astrotischeria montivaga Diškus & Stonis , sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 59EE4B18-6259-4D57-9AC3-29D2E5E4E540

( Figs 3 , 24–28 )

Type material. Holotype: 1 ♂, PERU, Huamanga Province, 37 km NE of Ayacucho, Quinua , 13°2'50"S, 74°8'8"W, elevation ca. 3,320 m, mining larvae possibly on Baccharis sp. , 28.x.2008, ex pupa xi.2008, field card no. 4955, leg. A. Diškus, genitalia slide no. AD1185 ( MfN) . Paratypes 2 ♂, same label data as holotype, genitalia slide no. AD 746♂ ( MfN) .

Diagnosis. Externally, this species is characterized by a yellow-ochre forewing with irregular dark brown patches. In the male genitalia, the combination of a very slender and straight valva, a phallus with two wide and double-folded apical lobes, a basally greatly extended uncus, and wide, distally distinctly pointed dorsal lobes distinguishes the new species from all other species of the genus.

Male ( Fig. 3 ). Forewing length ranges from 3.7 to 3.9 mm; wingspan from 8.1 to 8. 4 mm (n = 3). Head: frons pale ochre to yellow-ochre; palpi yellowish cream; frontal tuft dark grey proximally, transitioning to yellowish cream distally; collar yellowish cream; antenna distinctly longer than half the length of forewing; flagellum glossy dark grey or annulated with dark grey. Thorax pale yellowish with some grey scales; tegula predominantly grey with some yellowish scales. Forewing yellow-ochre to pale yellowish with irregular blackish brown to dark brown patches; fringe pale grey to grey; fringe line indistinctive or absent; forewing underside grey, without spots or androconia. Hindwing and its fringe pale greyish cream to grey (depending on the angle of view), grey on underside, without androconia. Legs glossy grey.

Male genitalia ( Figs 24–28 ). Capsule measures 575–580 µm in length, 255–500 µm in width. Uncus comprised of two long lobes strongly widened basally, partially divided into two lobes: a long lateral lobe and a short rounded medial lobe ( Figs 24, 25 ). Socii relatively small, membranous, covered with tiny spines. Valva divided: ventral lobe (main body) very narrow and straight ( Fig. 24 ); dorsal lobe inwardly curved, wide, and distinctly pointed distally ( Figs 24, 25 ). Transtilla absent. Anellus only slightly thickened laterally with about three chetae on each side ( Fig. 24 ). Phallus ( Figs 27, 28 ) measures 535–540 µm in length, slender in basal half, broadly divided into two double-folded lobes in apical half.

Female. Unknown.

Bionomics. Host plant is unknown, possibly Baccharis L., Asteraceae . Larvae mine leaves in October, producing irregular blotch-like mines. Adults occur in November. Otherwise, the biology is unknown.

Distribution. This species is currently known from a single locality in Quinua, 37 km NE of Ayacucho, Huamanga Province of Peru, at an elevation of 3,320 m ( Fig. 47 ).

Etymology. The species name derived from the Latin montivagus (mountain-wandering or living in the mountains), in reference to the mountainous distribution of this new species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Adults of mountainous Astrotischeria species. 1, A. parapallens Diškus & Stonis, 3,320 m, non-type specimen, a new elevation record; 2, A. peruanica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., holotype, 2,110 m; 3, A. montivaga Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., paratype, 3,320 m (MfN).

FIGURES 24–28. Male genitalia of Astrotischeria montivaga Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., 3,320 m. 24, genitalia capsule with phallus removed, holotype, slide no. AD1185 (MfN); 25, 26, same, paratype, genitalia slide no. AD746 (MfN); 27, same, phallus; 28, same, holotype, genitalia slide no. AD1185 (MfN).

FIGURES 47–52. Bionomics of mountainous Astrotischeria species. 47, habitat of A. parapallens Diškus & Stonis and A. montivaga Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., Ayacucho, Huamanga Province, Peru, 3,320 m; 48, unidentified host plant of A. peruanica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., possibly Baccharis trinervis Pers., Asteraceae, 2,110 m; 49, 50, leaf mines with feeding larvae of Astrotischeria peruanica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; 51, 52, Baccharis salicifolia (Ruiz & Pav.) Pers., Asteraceae, a host plant of Astrotischeria viscacha Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., Pisac, Calca Province, Peru at an elevation of 2,990 m.