Gondwanan Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera)? Systematics and biology of the Ectoedemia (Fomoria) vannifera group

The Ectoedemia (Fomoria) vannifera species-group is reviewed. Three species are recognized from South Africa (E. vannifera (Meyrick), E. fuscata (Janse) and E. hobohmi (Janse)), one from central Asia (E. asiatica (Puplesis)), and one from India (E. glycystrota (Meyrick) comb. n., here redescribed); three new species are described and named from Australia (E. pelops sp. n., E. squamibunda sp. n., and E. hadronycha sp. n.). All species share a striking synapomorphy in the male genitalia: a pin-cushion-like lobe at the apex of the valva. Two of the Australian species and one of the South African species have been reared from larvae mining the leaves of Brassicaceae sensu lato. A phylogeny of all currently recognized species is presented: this taken together with known distribution suggests either that the group is very ancient and antedates the split between the African and Indian parts of Gondwana (ca. 120 million years ago), or that it has dispersed more recently and has been overlooked in large parts of its range.