Pectinivalva (Menurella) xenadelpha Van Nieukerken & 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 : 39-40

Pectinivalva (Menurella) xenadelpha Van Nieukerken & Hoare sp. n.

Material examined.

Holotype. ♀, INDONESIA (Kalim. Timur), Pasir distr.: Gunung Lumut Prot. For., Gunung Lumut, ridge SW of summit, 18-20.xi.2005, 50M LD864441, 950 m, leafmines, undisturbed Acmena dominated low forest, on Acmena acuminatissima (Blume) Merr. & L.M. Perry, emg. 15.xii.2005, RMNH/EvN no 2005185-1, E.J. van Nieukerken, genitalia slide EvN 3738 (mzb).

Additional material: leafmines, larvae, same locality (rmnh).

Description.

Male. Unknown.

Female (Fig. 14, 129). Wingspan 4.0 mm. Head: frontal tuft pale ferruginous; collar inconspicuous, white; eyecaps anteriorly white, posteriorly shining grey with bluish reflections; antennae shining dark grey, 24 segments. Thorax, tegulae and forewing uniform shining dark grey with weak blue reflections; cilia dark grey. Hindwing pale grey; cilia pale grey. Underside: forewing grey with faint brassy reflections; hindwing grey. Abdomen shining dark grey, abdominal tip as in acmenae.

Female genitalia (Figs 98-100). Total length ca. 770 μm. T9 prominent, with a group of 5 setae on each side. Apophyses anteriores rather narrow, curved inwards; apophyses posteriores narrow, straight, longer than anteriores. Lateral sclerotizations of vestibulum strongly developed, but not forked. Ductus spermathecae with ca 6 close set convolutions. Posterior part of corpus normal, slightly folded, without markings; anterior part rounded, with rows of inconspicuous pectinations; signum consisting of broken linear sclerotization surrounded by oval sclerotized ring with blunt dentitions.

Larva. Not preserved.

Biology.

Host-plant: Syzygium acuminatissimum (Blume) A. DC. ( Myrtaceae ) (formerly Acmena acuminatissima ), very closely related to the Australian Syzygium smithii ( Biffin et al. 2006), a widespread species in the mountains of south Asia, from India and China to New Guinea and the Pacific islands ( Chen and Craven 2007). Egg: almost invariably on upperside, almost always on or near midrib. Mine (Fig. 123): a long, very narrow contorted gallery, first half very narrow, running from midrib to leaf margin, or sometimes along midrib, filled with blackish frass, second half much wider, much contorted, often zigzagging, frass compact, black, leaving narrow clear margins; exit-hole on underside, a semicircular hole. Cocoon: ochreous. Occupied mines were collected on 18 and 20 November; they occurred together with abundant mines of a Heliozela species.

Diagnosis.

Very similar externally to Pectinivalva (Menurella) acmenae from Australia, but lacks the pale tornal spot of that species. In the genitalia, the lateral sclerites of the vestibulum are not forked (as they are in acmenae), and the apophyses posteriores are distinctly longer than the apophyses anteriores (same length in acmenae).

Distribution.

Borneo, East Kalimantan: Gunung Lumut.

Derivation.

The species name (a noun in apposition) derives from the Greek xenos (stranger, foreigner) and adelpha (sister) and refers to the close relationship to acmenae as well as the great geographical distance between this and other known Pectinivalva species.

DNA barcode.

RMNH.INS.23738 (holotype), Genbank KC292487 and RMNH.INS.11968 (larva), genbank KC292486, both identical.

Remarks.

We choose to describe this species here, even on the basis of a single female, to be able to record the genus from outside Australia. The detailed knowledge of its life history and three DNA markers (including CO1 barcode) will make future association with males straightforward.