Mesophleps oxycedrella (Millière, 1871)

Ruseva, Stoyka, Zlatkov, Boyan & Zaemdzhikova, Gergana, 2020, Mesophleps oxycedrella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in association with Juniperus excelsa (Cupressaceae) in Bulgaria, ZooNotes 2020 (160), pp. 1-4 : 2

Mesophleps oxycedrella (Millière, 1871)

One moth emerged on 06.v.2019 and the others on 07.v.2019 and 13.v.2019. There is one more specimen that emerged the previous year on 20.ii.2018 (the collected material is from the same locality). The species is easily recognised by its wing pattern ( Fig.1 ): this is the only species of the genus with large markings on the forewings ( Li & Sattler 2012). Its identity was confirmed by the structure of the female genitalia with medially incised sterigma (Fig. 2). The head is ochreous with porrect brown palps and long filiform antennae. The thorax and forewings are also ochreous, the latter with several brown markings, the hindwings are brownish grey with incised termen. The forewing length of the examined specimens vary significantly: 3.36–5.93 mm (mean 4.71, n=3). The abdomen is grey. The female genitalia are characterised by the shape of sterigma. The biology of M. oxycedrella is thoroughly described by Millière (1859 –1871). According to him, the larva feeds on the soft tissue of the female cone. It leaves the cone through a hole and pupates on the ground. The moth emerges usually in early July. According to other authors however, the larva does not leave the cone and pupates within, since exuvia hanging from the holes were observed ( Ribes Escolà & Askew 2009, Piskunov & Solodovnikov 2016). The pupation within the cone is corroborated by our results.

The known host plants of the species are Juniperus macrocarpa Sibth. & Sm. , J. oxycedrus L., J. phoenicea L. ( Li & Sattler 2012), J. excelsa M.-Bieb., J. foetidissima Willd. ( Piskunov & Solodovnikov 2016), Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Mast. ( Ben Jamaa & Roques 1999), J. turbinata Guss. ( Dionisio et al. 2013), J. thurifera L. ( Roques et al. 1984) and Cupressus sempervirens L. ( Cupressaceae ) ( Ben Jamaa & Roques 1999, Roganović 2007, Roques et al. 1999). Thus, two microlepidopteran species feeding into the galbuli of J. excelsa in Bulgaria are already known: M. oxycedrella and Pammene mariana .

M. oxycedrella is a new addition to the Bulgarian fauna. The published records of the species are from Spain, southern France, Italy, Portugal, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Canary Islands, Croatia ( Li & Sattler 2012, Piskunov & Solodovnikov 2016, Requena 2009), Balearic islands ( Ferriz et al. 2006), Ukraine (Crimea, Savchuk & Kajgorodova 2017), Western Caucasus ( Piskunov & Solodovnikov 2016), Montenegro ( Roganović 2007), Albania, Greece, Malta ( Roques et al. 1999), Turkey ( Tosun 1976), Algeria ( Roques et al. 1984), Tunisia ( Ben Jamaa & Roques, 1999), Morocco ( Requena 2009). Other observations published in an internet site originate from Croatia and Germany. Although the latter record does not fit the expected distribution of the species, the specimen seems correctly identified ( Rennwald 2020), and is probably a case of an accidental introduction.

According to Roques et al. (1999) M. oxycedrella never attacks more than 1% of Cupressus sempervirens seed cones in the third year of development. The moth was observed in 0.6% of the cones in Malta and 4.3% of the cones in Turkey. A stronger attack was reported from Montenegro – 8% of the cones ( Roganović 2007). Our results showed that the damage of the galbuli is insignificant – 1.5% of the collected material from “Tisata” Reserve. As reported by Fertin (2010) Mesophleps oxycedrella may directly affect the natural regeneration of Juniperus thurifera .

Figures

Fig. 1. Adult of Mesophleps oxycedrella. A - female, Kresna Gorge, e.l. 20.ii.2018. B - female genitalia of the same specimen, inset: detail of sterigma.