You are here
Home » Nepticuloidea » Nepticuloidea » Nepticulidae » Acalyptris » Acalyptris staticis group » Acalyptris limoniastri - van Nieukerken, 2007
Recent Publications
- The Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Lepidoptera) of North West Europe
- Introduction to the Nepticulidae
- Stigmella aurella (F.) and Stigmella splendidissimella (H.S.) (Lep., Nepticulidae) - a method of distinguishing mines on Rubus
- The Ando-Patagonian Stigmella magnispinella group (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae) with description of new species from Ecuador, Peru and Argentina
- Die Lepidopterenfauna von Herkulesbad und Orsova. Eine zoogeographische Studie
- Influences of leaf-mining insects on their host plants: A review
Nepticuloidea
Acalyptris limoniastri van Nieukerken, 2007
Acalyptris limoniastri
Diagnostic description:Diagnosis. A. limoniastri is recognised by a uniform white collar, irrorate with light brown, and absence of special scales, which separates it from Trifurcula species; other Acalyptris species are darker and/or have a distinct colour pattern. A. limoniastri is distinctly larger than the other species of its group. The male genitalia resemble those of the Limonium-feeders, but the species may be recognised by the more parallel-sided valva, the pointed pseuduncus (not to be confused with the uncus!) and band-shaped uncus (pointed in the other species); the female terminalia resemble those of A. limonii and A. lesbia, but A. limoniastri has more setae on T9 (more than 150), and the setae on T7 are absent.
Morphology:Description Male. Forewing length 2.5–3.0 mm, wingspan 5.5–6.6 mm. Head: frontal tuft and collar white, occasionally with few ochreous scales; scape white with few ochreous scales, flagellum ochreous. Antenna with 43–46 segments. Thorax and forewing white, irrorate with light brown-tipped scales; cilia white, no distinct cilia line. Hindwing white, with costal bristles. Underside of forewing ochreous, hindwing white. Abdomen yellowish white, with long ochreous anal tufts.
Female. Forewing length 2.96 mm, wingspan 6.4 mm. Antenna with 38 segments.
Male genitalia. Measurements: see Table 3. Vinculum anteriorly narrowed, truncate; lateral arms expanded ventrally. Tegumen pointed, curved ventrad. Uncus ribbon-like, without central element, with prominent seta (or two) on both sides laterally. Gnathos with long narrow central element. Valva approximately parallel sided, inner margin serrate; tip not demarcated, with many spine-like setae; transtilla with distinct straight transverse bar and long sublateral processes. Aedeagus widening posteriorly, with ventral bilobed carina, tightly fused to ventral process of vinculum; and pair of lateral carinae, tips pointed, curved dorsad. Vesica without cornuti.
Female genitalia. T8 narrow, band-like, with 15–17 long setae and scales on each half. T9 cushion-shaped, with large group of more than 150 setae in total. S7 medially with dense group of spine-like setae near tip. Anterior apophyses reaching beyond posterior apophyses. Vestibulum not very distinct, without sclerotisations. Bursa flimsy, hardly visible, without sclerotisations, hardly reaching beyond segment 7. Ductus spermathecae with 2–2½ narrow convolutions.Associations:Immature stages unknown. The species was collected by Walsingham (1904) from bushes of Limoniastrum guyonianum on which he later found some mines, very likely to belong to this species. A few mined leaves on a pin were placed in the same drawer as the type series. The mine can be described as follows: a narrow gallery following leaf margin upwards and down again along other side; frass in narrow midline. Limoniastrum guyonianum is a common bush in open desert shrub near Biskra. The author searched in vain for mines or adults of this species on the hostplant near Biskra in May 1980.
Distribution:Northern fringes of Sahara in Algeria and Tunisia.
Citation:This taxonomic description is based on Van Nieukerken (2007).