Male, female and immature stages of Phyllocnistis tethys Moreira & Vargas sp. nov. (Lepidoptera; Gracillariidae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest, coastal mountains of southern Brazil, are described and illustrated, using both optical and scanning electron microscopy. A preliminary analysis of mitochondrial (COI) DNA sequences including putative members of congeneric species is also provided. The immature stages are associated with the passion vine Passiflora organensis (Passifloraceae). The hypermetamorphic, endophyllous larva has four instars; the first, second and third instars are sap-feeders, associated primarily with the spongy parenchyma, and construct a blotch mine in the lower surface of the lamina; the fourth, non-feeding (spinning) instar constructs a flimsy endophyllous cocoon at the end of the mine, where pupation occurs. This is the first species of Phyllocnistis Zeller described from Brazil, and the first leaf-mining gracillariid associated with Passifloraceae.

Three new species of Phyllocnistis Zeller (Phyllocnistinae) from the Atlantic Forest, Rio Grande do Sul (RS) state of Brazil, are described. Phyllocnistis ourea sp. nov. is a leaf miner of Baccharis anomala DC. (Asteraceae) in the municipality of Montenegro. The other two species, P. phoebus sp. nov. and P. selene sp. nov. were found mining Begonia fruticosa (Klotzsch) A.DC. (Begoniaceae) and Drimys angustifolia Miers (Winteraceae) leaves, respectively, in the municipality of São Francisco de Paula. Information regarding the natural history of each species is provided. The specific status and phylogenetic relationships, including other members of Phyllocnistis, are inferred from DNA barcode (COI) sequences. Immature stages of the three species are typical sap-feeding instars, followed by a final spinning instar. Differences found in pupal characters and the colour pattern of the fasciae of adult fore wings were stable and thus used to delimit these new species. Thus, five species of Phyllocnistis are now known from Brazil, four of them from the Atlantic Forest. For the first time, we recorded Begoniaceae as a host plant family for Gracillariidae.

Until now, 20 species of leaf-mining micromoths of the genus Phyllocnistis Zeller (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) have been known to occur in the Neotropical region. Here we revise the previously known species and describe seven new species: four from French Guiana, P. kawakitai Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. norak Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. ohshimai Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov., P. petronellii Brito & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. nov.; and, three from Brazil, P. helios Brito & Moreira, sp. nov., P. jupiter Brito & Moreira, sp. nov. and P. xylopiella Brito & Becker, sp. nov. Lectotypes are designated for P. aurilinea Zeller, 1877; P. citrella Stainton, 1856; P. rotans and P. sexangula Meyrick, 1915. Detailed descriptions of the pattern of forewing fasciae are provided for all species. Host plant associations, photographs of adults and illustrations of genitalia, when available, are provided for the described species of Neotropical Phyllocnistis. In addition, DNA barcodes were used for the delimitation of some species.

Gracillariidae leaf miners include 1987 species of poorly studied micromoths for which the majority of the diversity has been described from temperate regions. The Neotropics harbors one of the richest faunas of Gracillariidae, but the rate of taxon descriptions has been slow because of limited sampling and taxonomic activity. In this illustrated catalogue, we provide, for the first time, 476 high resolution illustrations for the 201 species of named gracillariids occurring in the region and revise their classification, newly considering the family-group names Oecophyllembiini stat. nov., Marmarini stat. nov., and Parornichini stat. nov. as tribes of Phyllocnistinae, in the first two cases and Gracillariinae in the last case respectively. Two species, Sauterina hexameris (Meyrick, 1921) comb. nov. and S. phiaropis (Meyrick, 1921) comb. nov., are transferred to Sauterina from Gracillaria. By making taxonomic, distributional, molecular and biological data available in a concise form, we aim to facilitate taxonomic work on Neotropical gracillariids, and in turn to enhance studies in general on poorly studied organisms such as parasitoids from this biogeographical region.

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Vallissiana universitaria Pereira & Arévalo, a new genus and species of leaf-miner moth (Gracillariidae: Gracillariinae) is described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy, including adults, larva, pupa and the mine. Its monophyletic status is confirmed within the subfamily based on a DNA barcode CoI tree. The immature stages are associated with Erythroxylum argentinum O. E. Schulz (Erythroxylaceae) and four larval instars are found, all forming a round blotch mine from the beginning of ontogeny. The first two instars are sap-feeders, using only the epidermal cells, whereas the last two are tissue-feeders, mining the parenchyma cells. Pupation occurs inside the leaf mine within a flimsy, silk-made cocoon. This is the third endemic genus of gracillariid moths described from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and the first associated with Erythroxylum P. Browne. Characteristics found on the forewing and in the last abdominal segments of the adult were determinant for the proposition of the new genus. The CoI tree indicated that it is closely related to Aspilapteryx, while this genus was recovered as polyphyletic in the analyses. Morphological evidence supports this polyphyly. Consequently, Sabulopteryx Triberti, 1985, stat. nov. is considered a valid genus.

Cactivalva nebularia, gen. et sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae): a new Weinmannia leaf miner from southern Brazil Abstract Male, female, pupa, larva and egg of a new genus and species of Gracillariidae (Ornixolinae), Cactivalva nebularia Moreira & Vargas gen. et sp. nov., from southern Brazil are described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy. A preliminary analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences including members of related lineages is also provided. The immature stages are associated with Weinmannia paulliniifolia Pohl ex Ser. (Cunoniaceae) in high altitude cloud forest of northeast Rio Grande do Sul state.During the first two sap-feeding instars, the larva forms a serpentine mine in the lowest layer of the spongy parenchyma of a leaflet. After moulting to the third instar, it moves to another leaflet, forming a blotch mine within which the last three tissue-feeding instars complete development, feeding upon both spongy and palisade parenchyma. Pupation occurs outside the mine, within a cocoon built on the leaf surface. This is the third genus of gracillariid moths described from the Atlantic Forest, and the first gracillariid species ever known to be associated with the Cunoniaceae.

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