Alpha taxonomy of the genus Kessleria Nowicki, 1864, revisited in light of DNA-barcoding (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutidae)

By

Huemer, Peter
Mutanen, Marko

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

503

Pages

89-133

Subjects

Cryptic Diversity , DNA barcode , European mountains , integrative taxonomy , Kessleria , Lepidoptera , Morphology , new species , Yponomeutidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.503.9590

 

Abstract

The taxonomy of Kessleria, a highly specialized montane genus of Yponomeutidae with larval host restriction to Saxifragaceae and Celastraceae (Saxifraga spp. – subgenus Kessleria; Saxifraga spp. and Parnassia spp. – subgenus Hofmannia), is revised based on external morphology, genitalia and DNA barcodes. An integrative taxonomic approach supports the existence of 29 species in Europe (the two known species from Asia and North America are not treated herein). A full 658 bp fragment of COI was obtained from 135 specimens representing 24 species, a further seven sequences are >560 bp. Five new species are described: Kessleria cottiensis sp. n. (Prov. Torino, Italy; Dep. Hautes Alpes, France), Kessleria dimorpha sp. n. (Dep. Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France), Kessleria alpmaritimae sp. n. (Dep. Alpes-Maritimes, France), Kessleria apenninica sp. n. (Prov. Rieti, Prov. L´Aquila, Italy), and Kessleria orobiae sp. n. (Prov. Bergamo, Italy).