Stigmella molinensis van Nieukerken & Snyers, 2016

Stonis, Jonas R., Diškus, Arūnas, Remeikis, Andrius, Karsholt, Ole & Torres, Nixon Cumbicus, 2017, Illustrated review of the leaf-mining Nepticulidae of the central Andes (Peru and Bolivia), Zootaxa 4257 (1), pp. 1-70 : 55

42. Stigmella molinensis van Nieukerken & Snyers, 2016

Stigmella molinensis van Nieukerken & Snyers, in van Nieukerken et al. 2016b: 22 –26. ( Figs 2 , 9 )

Diagnosis. The combination of a dark speckled forewing, phallus with numerous but tiny cornuti, and valva with one long apical process in the male genitalia distinguishes S. molinensis from all other American Stigmella species. The host-plant Salix humboldtiana also make this species distinctive.

Male. Described and illustrated in van Nieukerken et al. 2016b: figs 64, 65. Forewing length 1.9–2.0 mm; wingspan 4.4–4.5 mm.

Female. Described in van Nieukerken et al. 2016: 22. Forewing length about 2.3 mm, wingspan 5.1 mm.

Male genitalia. Illustrated in van Nieukerken et al. 2016b: figs 48–53.

Female genitalia. Illustrated in van Nieukerken et al. 2016b: figs 54–57.

Bionomics. Host-plant: Salix humboldtiana Willd. , Salicaceae . Larva yellow. Leaf-mine as a gallery with slender central line of black frass. Adults fly in December–January (van Nieukerken et al. 2016b).

Distribution ( Figs 2 , 9 ). This species is known from Peru (Lima) at altitudes about 240 m.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Distribution of the central Andean Nepticulidae. 1, high-Andean species recorded at altitudes above 3700 m (after Stonis et al. 2016 d); 2, species recorded at altitudes below 3700 m; 3 – 8, some collecting areas in the Peruvian Andes.

FIGURES 9 – 11. Distribution of the central Andean Nepticulidae. 9, species recorded at altitudes below 3700 m; 10, 11, some collecting areas in Peru. * — Stigmella epicosma Meyrick is also known from Arica Province, northern Chile (Vargas 2011); ** – S. inca sp. nov. is also discovered in southern Ecuador.