A new cecidogenous species of many-plumed moth (Alucitidae) associated with Cordiera A. Rich. ex DC. (Rubiaceae) in the Brazilian Cerrado

By

Moreira, Gilson Rudinei Pires
Pereira, Cristiano Marcondes
Becker, Vitor Osmar
Specht, Alexandre
Gonçalves, Gislene Lopes, 1980-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-10-30

Original Publication

Nature conservation

Volume

36

Pages

1--15

Subjects

Alucitid moths , Brazilian savanna , insect galls , Prymnotomis , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2012-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.36.e34604

 

Abstract

Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genusAlucitaLinnaeus, 1758 are known as borers or gall-inducers on flowers, fruits and shoots of a few dicotyledonous families, including Bignoniaceae, Caprifoliaceae and Rubiaceae. However, there is no study available on the biology of the monotypic, Neotropical genusPrymnotomisMeyrick, 1931 except for its original description that was based on a single male, the holotype ofPrymnotomis crypsicrocaMeyrick, 1931 from Espirito Santo, Brazil. We describe here a second species for this genus,Prymnotomis cecidicolasp. nov.whose larvae induce galls onCordiera elliptica(Cham.) Kuntze (Rubiaceae), a dioecious plant with dimorphic inflorescences found in the Brazilian Cerrado, Planaltina City, Federal District. Adults, larvae, pupae and galls are illustrated under light and scanning electron microscopy. Galls are green, spherical, unilocular and develop individually onC. ellipticaflower buds. During development they look like fruits in shape and colour but are larger, do not have style scars when on female plants, and are induced also in male inflorescences. Pupation occurs outside the gall within a silk cocoon, presumably in the litter. A preliminary analysis of DNA barcode sequences including putative members of other alucitid lineages and Neotropical BINs (Barcode Index Number) supportsPrymnotomis cecidicolasp. nov.as an independent phylogenetic unit, with 12 to 18% divergence. Its nearest-neighbour was the BIN cluster 5 (BOLD:AAA0842) that includes specimens from Costa Rica.