Abstract:Morphology and DNA barcode sequences were used to assess the taxonomic status of a micro-moth of the genus Ithome Chambers, 1875 (Lepidoptera, Cosmopterigidae, Chrysopeleiinae), whose larvae feed on inflorescences of Prosopis tamarugo Phil. (Fabaceae), a tree native to the Pampa del Tamarugal, Atacama Desert, northern Chile. As a result, Ithome tamarugensis Vargas, sp. nov. is described and illustrated. Its genitalia are remarkably similar to those of Ithome tiaynai Vargas, 2004 from coastal valleys of the Ata… Show more
“…Despite the absence of obvious morphological differentiation between samples of Angelabella , the deep divergence between haplotypes of different spatial clusters, their reciprocal monophyly indicated by the phylogenetic analysis and the highly consistent results of the four species delimitation analyses suggest heterospecific status for the geographically isolated lineages analyzed. Patterns of allopatric genetic differentiation similar to those found in this study have been recorded for populations of Bucculatricidae [ 19 ] and Tortricidae [ 59 ], and pairs of morphologically cryptic allopatric species are known to occur in Cosmopterigidae [ 60 ] and Tortricidae [ 61 ] near the study area, suggesting the characteristics of these hyperarid landscapes as a causal agent of allopatric diversification processes among populations of micromoths in the Peru-Chile desert.…”
Angelabella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Oecophyllembiinae) is considered a monotypic Neotropical genus of leaf miner micromoths known only from a few valleys of the arid environments of the Peru-Chile desert, particularly the southernmost part of Peru and northernmost part of Chile (type locality), where natural populations of its primary host plant occur. The geographic distribution of potential host plants provides a scenario for a wider range for this micromoth genus. The aims of this study were to explore the geographic range of Angelabella, determine the spatial distribution of mitochondrial lineages, and test lineage conspecificity hypotheses. The spatial distribution of genetic diversity indicated the presence of four spatial clusters, three of which are north of the previously known geographic range. Genetic distances were 0.2–0.8% and 3.6–8.3% (K2P) between haplotypes of the same and different spatial clusters, respectively. Phylogenetic relationships indicated reciprocal monophyly among the four spatial clusters, suggesting that allopatric differentiation processes have governed the recent history of Angelabella in these arid environments. These groups were defined as different species by four species delimitation methods, suggesting that Angelabella is not a monotypic genus, but harbors at least four morphologically cryptic allopatric species with restricted geographic ranges, including the type species and three candidate species.
“…Despite the absence of obvious morphological differentiation between samples of Angelabella , the deep divergence between haplotypes of different spatial clusters, their reciprocal monophyly indicated by the phylogenetic analysis and the highly consistent results of the four species delimitation analyses suggest heterospecific status for the geographically isolated lineages analyzed. Patterns of allopatric genetic differentiation similar to those found in this study have been recorded for populations of Bucculatricidae [ 19 ] and Tortricidae [ 59 ], and pairs of morphologically cryptic allopatric species are known to occur in Cosmopterigidae [ 60 ] and Tortricidae [ 61 ] near the study area, suggesting the characteristics of these hyperarid landscapes as a causal agent of allopatric diversification processes among populations of micromoths in the Peru-Chile desert.…”
Angelabella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Oecophyllembiinae) is considered a monotypic Neotropical genus of leaf miner micromoths known only from a few valleys of the arid environments of the Peru-Chile desert, particularly the southernmost part of Peru and northernmost part of Chile (type locality), where natural populations of its primary host plant occur. The geographic distribution of potential host plants provides a scenario for a wider range for this micromoth genus. The aims of this study were to explore the geographic range of Angelabella, determine the spatial distribution of mitochondrial lineages, and test lineage conspecificity hypotheses. The spatial distribution of genetic diversity indicated the presence of four spatial clusters, three of which are north of the previously known geographic range. Genetic distances were 0.2–0.8% and 3.6–8.3% (K2P) between haplotypes of the same and different spatial clusters, respectively. Phylogenetic relationships indicated reciprocal monophyly among the four spatial clusters, suggesting that allopatric differentiation processes have governed the recent history of Angelabella in these arid environments. These groups were defined as different species by four species delimitation methods, suggesting that Angelabella is not a monotypic genus, but harbors at least four morphologically cryptic allopatric species with restricted geographic ranges, including the type species and three candidate species.
“…Despite the extreme aridity of the Atacama Desert, which is one of the oldest regions in the world under continuously arid conditions (Clarke 2006), its native plants support populations of native species of Lepidoptera that have remained overlooked until recently (Davis et al 2020;Espinoza-Donoso et al 2020;Vargas 2021). It is hoped that the discovery of S. aguilaensis sp.…”
Genitalia morphology of a new gnorimoschemine micromoth (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Gelechiinae, Gnorimoschemini) discovered in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile, fits the original description of Scrobipalpulopsis Povolný, 1987, a genus previously synonymized with Scrobipalpula Povolný, 1964. The generic assignment of the new species was assessed using a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequences. The new species, the type species of Scrobipalpulopsis and another species recently transferred from this genus to Scrobipalpula were grouped in a monophyletic cluster distantly related to that of Scrobipalpula. Furthermore, an ancestral state reconstruction analysis suggested that the presence of two pairs of processes on the vinculum in the male genitalia represents a synapomorphy for the cluster of three species. Accordingly, the revalidation of Scrobipalpulopsisgen. rev. (type species Phthorimaea stirodes Meyrick, 1931) and the reinstated combination Scrobipalpulopsis lutescella (Clarke, 1934) comb. rev. are proposed. The micromoth Scrobipalpulopsis aguilaensissp. nov., whose larvae feed on inflorescences of the Chilean endemic Glandularia gynobasis (Verbenaceae), is described and illustrated. Genetic divergence with congenerics was found to be 2.5–4.4% (K2P). This discovery represents the first record of Scrobipalpulopsis from the Atacama Desert.
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