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Issue: Vol. 5752 No. 3: 28 Jan. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-01-28
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5752.3.6
Page range: 417-434
Abstract views: 32
PDF downloaded: 5

New leafminers on Senegalia mellifera (formerly Acacia mellifera, Fabaceae) in Kenya (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae & Cemiostomidae) are some of Africa’s smallest moths

Naturalis Biodiversity Center; PO Box 9517; 2300 RA Leiden; Netherlands
Insects Division; Natural History Museum; London SW7 5BD; United Kingdom
Lepidoptera Acacia Africa Rift Valley Acalyptris Leucoptera new synonymy new species new combination

Abstract

Two new species of leafminers, occurring on Senegalia mellifera (Vahl) Seigler & Ebinger in Kenya, are described: Acalyptris melliferae sp. nov. in Nepticulidae and Leucoptera aurantia sp. nov. in Cemiostomidae. Both were found in the Rift valley, near Lake Bogoria. These species represent the first known leafminers on the African ‘Acacia’ genus Senegalia. We also provide arguments from phylogenetic studies to consider Cemiostomidae as a separate family, rather than a subfamily in Lyonetiidae. A checklist of African species of Cemiostomidae is appended, the genera Crobylophora Meyrick, 1880 and Microthauma Walsingham, 1891 are synonymised with Leucoptera Hübner, 1825 and the following new combinations are proposed: Leucoptera byssinodes (Meyrick, 1914) comb. nov., L. speciosa (Ghesquière, 1940) comb. nov., and L. xanthochyta (Meyrick, 1918) comb. nov. from Crobylophora and L. metallifera (Walsingham, 1891) comb. nov. from Microthauma.

 

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How to Cite

Nieukerken, E.J.V. & Agassiz, D.J.L. (2026) New leafminers on Senegalia mellifera (formerly Acacia mellifera, Fabaceae) in Kenya (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae & Cemiostomidae) are some of Africa’s smallest moths. Zootaxa, 5752 (3), 417–434. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5752.3.6