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| Brachinepticula melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, in Stonis, Remeikis, Dobrynina & Mey, 2023. |
Abstract
This paper describes two new species of Brachinepticula Stonis & Diškus: B. melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. and B. colombica Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. Both the new species were collected in the Northern Andean Páramo (Cundinamarca, Colombia). Since the specimens were caught at night-time with a light trap, the host plants remain unknown. The examination of the morphology of the male genitalia of B. melania and female genitalia of B. colombica revealed a highly distinctive new taxa of pygmy moths and broadened our knowledge of the morphology and distribution of the recently described endemic genus Brachinepticula Diškus & Stonis. The examination of the new findings also allowed us updating the diagnosis of Brachinepticula. The new species were illustrated with photographs of the genitalia, adults, and habitats.
Keywords: Lepidoptera, Colombia, leaf miners, new species, pygmy moths, the Andes
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| Male adult of Brachinepticula melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov., holotype, Colombia, Cundinamarca, Parque Ecológico Matarredonda, Páramo de Cruz Verde, 3300 m (MfN / ICN) |
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| Collecting locality in Colombian páramo. 1-4, Brachinepticula melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov., habitat, Cundinamarca, Parque Ecológico Matarredonda, Páramo de Cruz Verde, 3300 m; 5- B. colombica sp. nov., habitat, Cundinamarca, Fómeque, Finca La Laja (near Parque Ecológico Matarredonda, Páramo de Cruz Verde), 3200 m |
Jonas R. Stonis, Andrius Remeikis, Viktorija Dobrynina, Wolfram Mey. 2023. Collecting in the Northern Andean Páramo revealed Purple Iridescent Pygmy Moths of the little known Andean Endemic Brachinepticula (Nepticulidae). Zootaxa. 5227(3); 328-340. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5227.3.2
