Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n., the second representative of the widespread micromoth genus Ypsolopha Latreille (Lepidoptera, Ypsolophidae) from the Andes of northern Chile

Abstract

The largest number of species of the widespread and highly diverse micromoth genus Ypsolopha Latreille, 1796 (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutoidea, Ypsolophidae) is known from the Northern Hemisphere. Only seven species have been described from the Neotropical Region, two of which occur in Chile. The adult stage of Ypsolopha chicoi sp. n. from the arid highlands of the western slopes of the Andes of northern Chile is described and illustrated. Its larvae feed on the native shrub Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa (Walp.) Standl. (Polygonaceae). The morphology of the genitalia of Y. chicoi sp. n. resembles that of the only congeneric known to occur in the same geographic area, Y. moltenii Vargas, 2018, whose larvae feed on Adesmia verrucosa Meyen (Fabaceae). Besides using different host plants, the two species can be accurately separated, based on morphological differences in female and male genitalia.