Heliozela eugeniella (Busck, 1900) Nieukerken & Eiseman, 2020

Nieukerken, Erik J. van & Eiseman, Charles S., 2020, Splitting the leafmining shield-bearer moth genus Antispila Huebner (Lepidoptera, Heliozelidae): North American species with reduced venation placed in Aspilanta new genus, with a review of heliozelid morphology, ZooKeys 957, pp. 105-161 : 105

Heliozela eugeniella (Busck, 1900) comb. n. Fig. 107

Antispila eugeniella Busck, 1900: 236. Holotype adult, USA, Florida, Palm Beach, leafmine on Eugenia sp., bred 25 Feb. 1900, “819”, [leg. Dyar], Type No. 4945, USNMENT 01476200 (USNM).

Antispila eugeniella ; Dyar 1901: 478; Dyar et al. 1903: 539; McDunnough 1939: 91; Kimball 1965: 292; Davis 1983b: 4; Heppner 2003 [2007]: 233; Eiseman 2019: 1153.

This species is rare; since the unique holotype was reared, we are only aware of a few specimens reared by David L. Wagner (pers. comm.); all subsequent literature records to Dyar (1901) are simple checklist entries. According to Busck (1900) the host plant was Eugenia spec., which was according to Dyar (1901), who collected the mine, probably E. procera (identified by F. Kinzel), a misapplied name for the Red stopper, Eugenia rhombea Krug & Urb. ex Urb. However, we doubt that this identification is correct, as E. rhombea is a very rare tree only of the Florida Keys, and not currently occurring in Palm Beach, where only E. axillaris (Sw.) Willd. and E. uniflora L. have been recorded ( Wunderlin and Hansen 2003; Wunderlin et al. 2020). However, we cannot exclude that it did occur there in 1900, as most of the original habitat is now probably lost to development.

We illustrate the holotype here (Fig. 107 ): a moth with a small white dorsal spot at 1/3 and a fascia at 2/3, which is narrowest at dorsum and widens towards costa.

The colour pattern of Antispila and Aspilanta is almost always with a fascia at one third and two opposite spots at two-thirds. The pattern of H. eugeniella is different, with a postmedial fascia, and resembles more some species of the Old World genus Holocacista (van Nieukerken and Geertsema 2015). Most species of Heliozela have a basic pattern of two dorsal spots, but there are some species where one or both of these extend towards the costa, e.g., H. anna (Fletcher, 1920) from India with two fasciae and H. argyrozona (Meyrick, 1918) from South Africa, with a pattern very much resembling that of H. eugeniella (van Nieukerken and Geertsema 2015). Both were reared from Myrtaceae , the latter from Syzygium cordatum Hochts. ex Krauss, and H. anna from Eugenia jambolana Lam. ( Fletcher 1920), the correct name of which is now Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (Malabar plum, Jambolan). Also in Australia and Southeast Asia Myrtaceae is a major host family for Heliozela ( Milla et al. 2017, 2019). These facts suggest that eugeniella is better placed in Heliozela than in Antispila , although still further morphological and molecular confirmation is needed.

Figures

Figure 107. Heliozela eugeniella, Holotype with labels. Photograph USNM.