Stigmella latilobata Diškus & Navickaitė, 2020

Stigmella latilobata Diškus & Navickaitė , sp. nov.

( Figs 14 View FIGURES 7–15 , 38 View FIGURES 29–38 , 130–132 View FIGURES 130–136 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Type material. Holotype: ♂, India, Uttarakhand, Tehri Garhwal Distr., Chamba , 30°24’28”N, 78°17’24”E, eleva-tion ca. 2600 m, 23.viii.2010, A. Diškus and A. Navickaitė, genitalia slide no. AD484 ( ZIN). GoogleMaps

Diagnosis. S. latilobata sp. nov. belongs to the Stigmella ruficapitella ( sensu lato) or S. hemargyrella ( sensu stricto) group. In the male genitalia, this new species differs from other representatives of the group in the combina-tion of a long vinculum ( Fig. 130 View FIGURES 130–136 ) and a unique set of cornuti ( Fig. 132 View FIGURES 130–136 ).

Male ( Fig. 38 View FIGURES 29–38 ). Forewing length 2.0 mm; wingspan 4.5 mm (n = 1).

Head. Palpi yellowish cream; frontal tuft bright ochreous orange; collar yellowish cream; scape glossy, yellowish cream; antenna one half the length of forewing; flagellum blackish brown with some purple iridescence on upper side and underside.

Thorax. Tegula, thorax and forewing dark coppery brown, with some golden gloss and purple iridescence; fascia postmedian, wide, golden shiny; fringe brown; forewing underside dark brown, without spots or androconia. Hindwing brown on upper side and underside, without androconia; fringe brown. Legs glossy, yellowish cream, covered with dark grey-brown scales with purple iridescence on upper side.

Genitalia ( Figs 130–132 View FIGURES 130–136 ) with capsule 170 µm long, 105 µm wide. Uncus with two well-separated lateral lobes ( Figs 130, 131 View FIGURES 130–136 ). Gnathos U-shaped, with weakly chitinized caudal processes ( Fig. 131 View FIGURES 130–136 ). Valva ( Fig. 130 View FIGURES 130–136 ) about 80 µm long, with a straight inner lobe and slender apical process. Transtilla with large, distally splitted sublateral pro-cesses ( Fig. 131 View FIGURES 130–136 ). Vinculum very large, one half the length of capsule or little longer, with very shallow excavation anteriorly ( Fig. 130 View FIGURES 130–136 ). Phallus ( Fig. 132 View FIGURES 130–136 ) about 125 µm long, without carinae; vesica with a large, basally curved cluster of spine-like cornuti and a group of three–four very large cornuti apically.

Female. Unknown.

Bionomics ( Fig. 14 View FIGURES 7–15 ). Host plant is unknown (unidentified). Larva is pale green, with a green intestine and pale brown head ( Fig. 14 View FIGURES 7–15 ). Larvae mine in leaves in August. The leaf mine is a slender sinuous or contorted gallery; in the initial part, black to brown-black frass fills the width of the gallery; further on, brown-black to brown frass is deposited in a wide central line ( Fig. 14 View FIGURES 7–15 ). Adults fly in late August.

Distribution. Known from two localities in the western Himalaya ( Uttarakhand: Chamba and Mussoorie), at the elevation of about 2500–2600 m ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–6 : wHi).

Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin latus (wide) combined with Latin lobatus (lobed), in reference to the large ventral lobe of the vinculum in the male genitalia.