@article {8217, title = {Do leaf-mining Nepticulidae occur in the~natural but so threatened Andean Polylepis forests?}, journal = {Biologija}, volume = {62}, year = {2016}, month = {September-2016}, pages = {83-97}, abstract = {

Despite the\  fact that Polylepis forests constitute the\  natural but threatened vegetation in much of the\  high Andes and are very important for their ecological functions, no leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera, Nepticuloidea) associated with Polylepis Ruiz\  \&\  Pav. as a\  host-plant have been recorded previously. In this paper, for the first time, we report on four discoveries of Polylepis-feeding Nepticulidae species in Ecuador and Peru. From the high Andes of Peru, we describe a new species Stigmella polylepiella Di\škus \& Stonis, sp. nov., whose larvae throughout all instars are leaf-miners in leaves of Polylepis racemosa Ruiz \& Pav. and spin a unique shaped cocoon inside the leaf-mine. We also provide illustrations and short descriptions of male genitalia and leaf-mines of two other new Stigmella Schrank species, whose larvae are leaf-miners on Polylepis pauta Hieron. in Ecuador; these two taxa are documented but left unnamed because they are described from dissected developed pupae, not emerged adults. Additionally, we document leaf-mines of an unknown Nepticulidae taxon associated with Polylepis racemosa in the Peruvian Andes.

}, keywords = {Conservation, Ecuador, Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae, New species, Peru, Rosaceae, Stigmella polylepiella}, issn = {1392-0146}, doi = {10.6001/biologija.v62i2.3334}, url = {http://lmaleidykla.lt/ojs/index.php/biologija/article/view/3334}, author = {Stonis, Jonas R. and Di{\v s}kus, Arunas and Remeikis, Andrius and Karsholt, Ole} }