Callisto coffeella (Zetterstedt, 1839)

Kirichenko, Natalia, Huemer, Peter, Deutsch, Helmut, Triberti, Paolo, Rougerie, Rodolphe & Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos, 2015, Integrative taxonomy reveals a new species of Callisto (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) in the Alps, ZooKeys 473, pp. 157-176 : 160-162

Taxon classification Animalia Lepidoptera Gracillariidae

Callisto coffeella (Zetterstedt, 1839)

Oecophora coffeella Zetterstedt 1839: 1009.

Oecophora interruptella Zetterstedt 1839: 1009 [synonymised by Benander 1940: 61].

Ornix caelatella Zeller 1847: 585-586 [synonymised with Oecophora interruptella Zetterstedt, 1839 by Wocke (1862: 243)].

Ornix blandella Müller-Rutz 1920: 343. syn. n.

Annickia alpicola Gibeaux 1990: 23. [synonymised by Huemer 1990: 133].

Remarks.

Oecophora coffeella was described from an unspecified number of male specimens collected on the 14th of July near Bjerkvik [according to original description ´Bjoerkvik” in Norwegian Lappland] ( Zetterstedt 1839). Oecophora interruptella was described on the same page from a single male collected in 1836 in the Swedish province Dalarna, i.e. Dalecarlia by Boheman and from a female collected on 22nd of July 1812 near Gibostad, i.e. Giebostad, Norway. The type material was examined and figured by Benander (1940) who synonymized both taxa.

Annickia alpicola was described from a single male specimen collected in the French Alps ( Gibeaux 1990) and later synonymized with Callisto coffeella by Huemer (1990).

Ornix caelatella was described from a single male collected in Montenero (Tuscany, Italy) in May by Josef Mann ( Zeller 1847), later this species was synonymized with Ornix interruptella (= Callisto coffeella ) by Wocke (1862). The whereabouts of the holotype is unknown but the detailed original description and the Mediterranean locality disagree with both Callisto coffeella and Callisto basistrigella . However, a further specimen from Styria (Austria), later determined by Zeller (1850) as caelatella but defined as a particular form, may be conspecific with Callisto coffeella . We conclude that Ornix caelatella is a dubious taxon until the holotype will be rediscovered.

Ornix blandella was described by Müller-Rutz (1920) from a specimen bred by Paul Weber in Parpan (Switzerland) at 1500 m on Salix sp. Despite a focused search carried out by one of the authors (P. Triberti), the types were not found. However it was possible to study the original Müller-Rutz watercolours preserved in Naturhistorisches Museum Basel (Nr. 159 and 522) and they fully agree with typical Callisto coffeella . On the basis of what we conclude that Ornix blandella Müller-Rutz is a new synonym of Callisto coffeella Zetterstedt.

Description.

Adult (Figs 1-4). Head dark brown, with distinct dark brown tuft of raised scales on vertex, frons lighter, greyish brown, labial palp cream. Wingspan 10-12 mm; forewing dark brown with distinct whitish silvery markings: transverse oblique sub-basal line showing sexual dimorphism, well developed from costa to fold in female (Fig. 4), shorter in male (Figs 1-3) and not extending to costa, rarely reduced to a spot in fold; angulate fascia at one third frequently separated into costal and tornal line; costa furthermore with short median strigula and two pairs of distal strigulae; dorsum with two small distal spots; small discal spot, supplemented by up to 2-3 spots distally; particularly distomedial spots silvery rather than whitish silvery; fringes with distinct cilia line, basal half darker than distal half, termen with two whitish spots; hindwing grey-brown with same-colour fringes.

Genitalia and eighth segment male (Figs 9-10, 13-14). Sternite 8 projected, bilobed. Tuba analis with long and thin subscaphium; valva slender, distally widened, with evenly rounded apex; vinculum laterally projected; saccus long and slender, rod-like, about as long as valva; anellus with pair of long and projecting processes; phallus slender, straight, about twice as long as valva, without distinct modifications, apically pointed.

Genitalia female (Fig. 17). Apophyses posteriors shorter than anteriores; segment 8 short, bare, intersegmental membrane to papillae anales very reduced; sterigma simple with ostium bursae wide, ventral margin medially more or less indented; antrum cup-shaped; ductus bursae moderately long and smooth, short sclerite just before antrum; corpus bursae, oval, longer than ductus bursae, signa formed by scobinations arranged in two longitudinal bands.

Distribution.

The species is restricted to higher mountain areas and shows an arctic-alpine distribution pattern. According to various publications (i.e. Bengtsson and Johansson 2011, Heath and Emmet 1985, Huemer and Tarmann 1993, SwissLep Team 2010) the species is locally distributed in the central and northern parts of Scandinavia, northern Scotland, and in the eastern, northern and central Alps. Most of these regions were included in our study, particularly alpine regions of Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia; sampling was also done in southeast of Germany and in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland). In the Southern Alps it is known from a single record in France and from Aosta Valley to Carnic Alps in Italy. Callisto coffeella is also reported from Western Russia ( Sinev 2008), Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, and United Kingdom ( De Prins and De Prins 2014) but we have been unable to check material from these countries.

Bionomics.

The larval stage feeds on various species of mountainous Salix such as Salix arbuscula L., 1753 (which may refer to Salix arbuscula in northern Europe or Salix waldsteiniana in Central Europe), Salix phylicifolia L., 1753 ( Heath and Emmet 1985), Salix repens L., 1753 (syn: Salix fusca ), Salix myrsinifolia Salisb., 1796, Salix silesiaca Willd., (1806) [basionym] ( De Prins and De Prins 2014). In our study, Callisto coffeella was also reared from Salix glabra . Initially the larva produces a short epidermal gallery which suddenly widens to a blotch tentiform mine on the lower surface of a leaf, similar in appearance to mines of the genus Phyllonorycter . Later the mine is vacated and the larva forms a shelter along a leaf margin, folding an edge downwards as in many Parornix . Pupation takes place in a cocoon on the branch of the host-plant or in the laboratory between leaf litter and tissue. Hibernation occurs in the pupal stage. The adult is on the wing in June and July. It can be found during the day, most frequently in the morning and early evening flying around the hostplant. The species lives in montane and subalpine habitats of the dwarf-shrub zone both on calcareous and siliceous soil.