Systematics of Phyllocnistis leaf-mining moths (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) feeding on dogwood (Cornus spp.) in Northeast Asia, with the description of three new species

By

Kirichenko, Natalia
Triberti, Paolo
Kobayashi, Shigeki
Hirowatari, Toshiya
Doorenweerd, Camiel
Ohshima, Issei
Huang, Guohua
Wang, Min
Magnoux, Emmanuelle
Lopez Vaamonde, Carlos

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

736

Pages

79-118

Subjects

China , Cornus , DNA barcoding , Japan , new species , Nuclear genes , Phyllocnistis , Russia , Wolbachia

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.736.20739

 

Abstract

During an ongoing DNA-barcoding campaign of the leaf-mining moths that feed on woody plants in Northeast Asia, four lineages of the genus Phyllocnistis (Gracillariidae, Phyllocnistinae) were discovered on dogwood (Cornus spp): P. cornella Ermolaev, 1987 on C. controversa Hemsl. (Japan: Hokkaido) and three new species – one feeding on C. controversa, C. florida L. and C. macrophylla Wall. in Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu), a second species on C. macrophylla in China (Yunnan) and a third on Siberian dogwood Cornus alba L. in Russia (Siberia). All these species showed differences in morphology, in the barcode region of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene and in two nuclear genes (histone H3 and 28S ribosomal RNA). No correlation was found between the deep mitochondrial splits observed and the Wolbachia infection pattern. Based on both morphological and molecular evidence, the three recently discovered lineages are described here as new species: P. indistincta Kobayashi & Triberti, sp. n. (Japan), P. saepta Kirichenko, Ohshima & Huang, sp. n. (China) and P. verae Kirichenko, Triberti & Lopez-Vaamonde, sp. n. (Russia). In addition, the authors re-describe the adult morphology of P. cornella, provide the first record of this species from Japan and highlight the diagnostic characters that allow these Cornus-feeding Phyllocnistis species to be distinguished.