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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366758
Research Project: Systematics of Moths Significant to Biodiversity, Quarantine, and Control, with a Focus on Invasive Species

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Four new gelechioid species to honor Costa Rica's conservation of wild biodiversity (Lepidoptera)

Author
item Metz, Mark
item HALLWACHS, W. - University Of Pennsylvania
item JANZEN, D. - University Of Pennsylvania

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/29/2020
Publication Date: 7/8/2020
Citation: Metz, M., Hallwachs, W., Janzen, D.H. 2020. Four new gelechioid species to honor Costa Rica's conservation of wild biodiversity (Lepidoptera). Zootaxa. 4810(1):45-64.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4810.1.2

Interpretive Summary: Gelechioidea is one of the largest and most difficult to classify superfamilies of moths with over 16,000 described species and thousands more to diagnose, particularly from New World tropical areas like Costa Rica. Historically and currently, prominent stakeholders have supported a unique effort to create a biodiversity inventory of the country with a focus on the remaining wild habitats. This work includes the identification and classification of four new species of moths in two families of Gelechioidea from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica using morphological and molecular evidence, and honors the efforts of four individuals who support biodiversity discovery. It also recognizes and celebrates the cultural overlap between the role and perception of World citizens and the actors in the scientific process as they all relate to biodiversity. This information will be useful to scientists and all who value the discovery of World species diversity

Technical Abstract: We described four new gelechioid species from Costa Rica: Philtronoma cbdora Metz, new species; Tinaegeria carlosalvaradoi Metz, new species; Tinaegeria romanmacayai Metz, new species (Depressariidae: Tinaegeriinae revised status); and Percnarcha claudiadoblesae Metz new species (Gelechiidae: Gelechiinae). We provide these honorifics to recognize commitment and devotion to conservation of biodiversity. The new species are all highly diagnostic among other species of Gelechioidea, and species of Tinaegeria and Percnarcha demonstrate striking mimesis for presumed wasp and beetle models. The family-group name Ti naegeriidae Hampson, 1893 is clarified, including the previously overlooked priority of the family-group name synonyms, and is placed as a valid subfamily in Depressariidae comprised of the genera Filinota Busck, 1911, Nematochares Meyrick, 1931, Philtronoma Meyrick, 1914, Profilinota Clarke, 1973, and Tinaegeria Walker, 1856.