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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #380422
Research Project: Systematics of Hyper-Diverse Moth Superfamilies, with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: New leaf-mining Nepticulidae: potential pests of aromatic Lamiaceae plants from equatorial Andes

Author
item STONIS, JONAS - Lithuanian University Of Educational Sciences
item DISKUS, ARUNAS - Lithuanian University Of Educational Sciences
item FERNANDEZ-ALONSO, JOSE - Real Jardin Bolancio Csic
item REMEIKIS, ANDRIUS - National Research Centre
item Solis, M Alma

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/23/2020
Publication Date: 2/9/2021
Citation: Stonis, J.R., Diskus, A., Fernandez-Alonso, J.L., Remeikis, A., Solis, M.A. 2021. New leaf-mining Nepticulidae: potential pests of aromatic Lamiaceae plants from equatorial Andes. Zootaxa. 4926(3):363-382. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4926.3.3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4926.3.3

Interpretive Summary: Members of the mint family are used worldwide for medicinal, culinary and/or magical-religious purposes, as well as in pesticides and as ornamental plants. Pygmy moth larvae create leaf mines in leaves of plants and if they occur in large enough numbers, they can become pests and damage the entire plant. This research describes four species new to science from South America. We provide illustrations of adults, internal structures, and their leaf mining habit on mint plants. This research will be useful to scientists and growers interested in the biology and identity of leaf mining moths on plants of the mint family.

Technical Abstract: Members of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, are used worldwide for medicinal, culinary and/or magical-religious purposes, as well as in pesticides and as ornamental plants. Very little is known about nepticulids, or pygmy moths, as leaf miners of Lamiaceae, but they may be an important component of South American diversity and potential pests of economically-important species of the mint family. In this paper, four new species of leaf-mining Nepticulidae are described from the equatorial Andes of Ecuador: S. mentholica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., Stigmella aromatica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., S. odora Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., feeding on Minthostachys mollis (Kunth) Griseb, and S. tomentosella Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov., feeding on Clinopodium tomentosum (Kunth) Govaerts. It is hypothesized that host-plant distribution ranges can provide clues to potential distribution ranges of these newly discovered, trophically specialized leaf miners. The leaf mines, adults, and the genitalia of the new species are illustrated with photographs.