A new genus and species of leaf miner (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) for Chile associated to the native tree Lithraea caustica

Egg laying site selection by a host plant specialist leaf miner moth at two intra-plant levels in the northern Chilean Atacama Desert

“…2A). Egg laying patterns among leaf or leaflet surfaces have been already described for some other Neotropical species of Gracillariidae (Davis 1994;Mundaca 2005;Bentancourt & Scatoni 2007;Kawahara et al 2009;Davis & De Prins 2011;Davis & Wagner 2005, 2011Brito et al 2012Brito et al , 2013Mundaca et al 2013). In terms of the leaf mine, observations indicate that most of the Gracillariidae larvae begin mining the leaf on the same surface where the egg has been deposited, as previously described for A. tecomae Vargas 2010).…”

“…Thus, this highly specialized larval trophic behavior could be associated with the female's egg laying site selection. On the other hand, observations on egg laying behavior at leaf level show that females of leaf miner species of Gracillariidae tend to prefer either adaxial or abaxial leaf surfaces (Brito et al 2012(Brito et al , 2013Mundaca et al 2013). The oviposition pattern on the abaxial/adaxial surfaces of the leaflets has never been described for A. tecomae.…”

Hypoxia and hypercarbia in endophagous insects: Larval position in the plant gas exchange network is key

“…For example, in a recently discovered genus of Lepidoptera (Hualpenia sp. ), early stages develop in a serpentine mine while later stages are in a patch-shape mine (Mundaca et al, 2013). A serpentine mine has a higher contact surface with adjacent leaf tissues than the patch-shape mine, so the influence of lateral transfer may change during larval development.…”

A replacement name for Hualpenia Mundaca, Parra & Vargas (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae)

“…As a result of the name replacement, the following new combination is introduced for the only species included in this genus: Vihualpenia lithraeophaga (Mundaca, Parra & Vargas, 2013) comb. nov.…”

“…A new genus of Neotropical Gracillariidae was recently described from a relict of transitional schlerophyllouslatifoliated evergreen forest of the Hualpén Peninsula, in Concepción, southern central Chile (Mundaca et al 2013). However, Dr. Miguel A. Monné brought to attention the issue of homonymy of the genus name, which had been previously used by Franz (1996) in Coleoptera.…”