Phyllocnistis cornella Ermolaev, 1987

Kirichenko, Natalia, Triberti, Paolo, Kobayashi, Shigeki, Hirowatari, Toshiya, Doorenweerd, Camiel, Ohshima, Issei, Huang, Guo-Hua, Wang, Min, Magnoux, Emmanuelle & Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos, 2018, Systematics of Phyllocnistis leaf-mining moths (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) feeding on dogwood (Cornus spp.) in Northeast Asia, with the description of three new species, ZooKeys 736, pp. 79-118 : 100-104

Phyllocnistis cornella Ermolaev, 1987 Figs 10 C–D, 15F, 17 D–E

Phyllocnistis cornella Ermolaev, 1987: 39-40; Seksyaeva, 1997: 429.

Diagnosis.

Forewing lustrous white, lf from base to 1/2, then bent inwards, not touching tf, inner margin indistinct basally; in female genitalia, bursa copulatrix with two signa usually similar in shape or smaller, with a more strongly curved median projection, the caudal signum up to twice as large as the central one.

P. cornella is very similar to P. saepta . It mainly differs in the forewing pattern, with lf not reaching tf. Hokkaido specimens show a similar forewing pattern. Unlike P. verae , tf is not interrupted. The male genitalia, drawn by Ermolaev, do not show any particular differential characters. Females are indistinguishable from P. indistincta , but differ from P. verae by size and shape of signa.

Type material.

The type series of P. cornella Ermolaev comprised 21 specimens ( Ermolaev 1987). Holotype (♂): Russia, Kunashir Island, Alekhino, ex Cornus controversa Hemsl., 25.VIII.1984, V.P. Ermolaev col. The holotype is unreachable for investigation (see Remarks).

Paratypes.

(20): 2♂, 12♀, Russia, Kunashir Island, Alekhino, ex C. controversa , 24-25.VIII.1984; 3♂, 3♀, Russia, Kunashir Island, Tretyakovo, ex C. controversa , 25-27.VIII.1984, V.P. Ermolaev leg. The paratypes are unreachable for investigation (see Remarks).

Material examined.

(Figs 10D, D, 17 D, E) 2♀, Japan Hokkaido Kamifurano, roadside of rural area with old crop patches, 43.68N, 142.36E, 211 m, ex C. controversa , 22.IX.2013 (pupa), 24.IX.2013 em., [Dried host voucher in RMNH collection under CD13049], RMNH.5013759, genitalia slide CDGP0275; RMNH.5007963, genitalia slide CDGP0136, C. Doorenweerd & C. van den Berg leg. (deposited in RMNH).

Description of adult.

(Fig. 10C, D). Wing span 4.6-5.1 mm.

Head. Like P. indistincta .

Thorax. Tegulae, thorax and legs white. Forewing lustrous white, subapical area copper-coloured with a small apical black spot; lf from base to 1/2, then bent inwards, not touching tf, inner margin indistinct basally. Cilia white, tf not interrupted, three dark brown costal and four apical strigulae (Fig. 10C, D). Hindwing lustrous white.

Abdomen. As in P. indistincta .

Male genitalia (Fig. 15F). From the Ermolaev’s figure, it is not possible to see any differential character. The authors did not have any male specimen from Hokkaido.

Female genitalia (Fig. 17D, E). Very similar to P. indistincta . Bursa copulatrix with two signa usually similar in shape, or the smaller with a more strongly curved median projection, the caudal signum up to twice as long as the central one (Fig. 14D, E); both signa have a spine-shaped median projection, about as long as the signum. On the wall around signa, minute scattered sclerites, thinner on the remainder of corpus bursae; ductus seminalis elongate, slightly longer than ductus bursae and arising from anterior end of corpus bursae.

Pupa.

Not studied. No description was provided in Ermolaev (1987) and the authors were unable to preserve the pupa from the rearings of the specimens collected in Hokkaido.

Biology.

Original description of mine: "Mine is green whitish without frass, more often on the lower side of the leaves of Cornus controversa " ( Ermolaev 1987). In the present study, the larvae form a serpentine epidermal mine; frass line is pale brown to black. Two mines were found on the upper side of the leaf on C. controversa . The final instar larva spun a white cocoon at the leaf margin, the leaf margin slightly curled upwards by contraction of the cocoon silk.

Phenology.

No data were provided in the original description of Ermolaev (1987). In Japan (Hokkaido), the pupa was found in late October; there are likely two generations annually. The overwintering form of this species is unknown.

Ecology and host plants.

The host plant is Cornus controversa Hemsl. ( Ermolaev 1987). In Japan, Hokkaido, the species has also been found on this plant.

Distribution.

Russia: Kunashir island, Alekhino and Tretyakovo (Ermolaev 1897); Japan: Hokkaido, Sorachi, Kamifurano (present study).

Remarks.

In his paper, Ermolaev (1987) indicated that the holotype was stored in the collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ZIN RAS), Saint Petersburg, Russia. The curator at the time, who also collaborated with Ermolaev, Dr V.I. Kuznetzov, has unfortunately passed away. The current curator, Dr S.V. Baryshnikova (Seksyaeva) informed the authors that the holotype of P. cornella is not in the collection of ZIN RAS and has never been deposited there. As Ermolaev worked in Vladivostok, the authors tried to locate the specimens in the collections at the Biological and Soil Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (present: Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity FEB RAS), but Dr M.G. Ponomarenko kindly informed the authors that there are no any specimens of P. cornella in the Institute's collection. Ermolaev was mostly active in the 1970s and 1980s and left science almost 30 years ago, together with all his collections (including P. cornella ) and nobody knows if he is still living or where he might be.

In Figure 1 in the original description, Ermolaev (1987) draws three apical ciliary strigulae, but, in the text, he writes that there are four, which the authors find more likely to be corrrect. It is believed that the two female specimens that were sampled in Japan, Hokkaido correspond to P. cornella . Hokkaido is geographically close to Kunashir and has a similar flora and fauna and the specimens closely fit the original description of the species ( Ermolaev 1987). As only two females were sampled and the type locality has not been explored, the neotype selection has been postponed until more material has been collected on Hokkaido and Kunashir Islands.