Microcorsini

Olethreutinae: Microcorsini

71. Cryptaspasma species. The genus Cryptaspasma is known from a single specimen from Honduras, probably Comayagua, 1957, coll. Banegas, on avocado (det. J. Brown 2004, SEL identification report on lot number 304368). Unfortunately, we were unable to locate this specimen; it is likely at the USNM, but it may be in the S. Passoa collection. The locality information is based on partial notes and memory of the first author. It was a female, which prevented species-level identification based on genitalia. The genus, country of capture, and host are not in doubt.

It is possible that the specimen represents Cryptaspasma perseana Gilligan & Brown 2011 , a pest of avocado described from neighboring Guatemala ( Gilligan et al. 2011). Adults of C. perseana are dark gray and black with no obvious wing pattern. Males have specialized coremata from abdominal segment seven. Distinguishing this species from relatives requires examination of the genitalia. Recent rearings suggest that C. perseana feeds on plants other than avocado. Brown et al. (2020) recorded it from Prioria copaifera Griseb. , a legume in Panama. Species of Cryptaspasma for which larval hosts are known feed on a hard seeds or kernels of a variety of plant families ( Brown & Brown 2004).