Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4181 No. 1: 2 Nov. 2016
Type: Monograph
Published: 2016-11-01
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4181.1.1
Page range: 1–94
Abstract views: 185
PDF downloaded: 2

Leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from record high altitudes: documenting an entire new fauna in the Andean páramo and puna

Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and Baltic-American Biotaxonomy Institute, Studentų St. 39, Vilnius LT-08106, Lithuania
Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and Baltic-American Biotaxonomy Institute, Studentų St. 39, Vilnius LT-08106, Lithuania
Institute of Ecology, Nature Research Centre, Akademijos St. 2, Vilnius LT-08412, Lithuania.
Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and Baltic-American Biotaxonomy Institute, Studentų St. 39, Vilnius LT-08106, Lithuania
Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 København , Denmark
Lepidoptera the Andes Ando-Patagonian Region leaf-miners Nepticulidae new species páramo puna Stigmella

Abstract

The monograph treats 29 species of leaf-mining pygmy moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae) discovered in the northern Andean bush and grass páramo and the central Andean puna at altitudes above 3700 m. They represent the world’s highest-altitudinal Nepticulidae fauna known. The height record belongs to Stigmella nivea sp. nov. from Peru collected at an elevation of 4700 m. Except for one species, all belong to Stigmella Schrank. Twenty-two of the species recorded are new and are named and described in the current paper: Stigmella paramica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. lachemillae Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. gynoxyphaga Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. calceolariae Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. rigida Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. altiplanica Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. robusta Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. pseudorobusta Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. auriargentata Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. altimontana Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. pandora Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. ampla Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. evanida Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. mustelina Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. angusta Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. alticosma Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. nivea Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. kristenseni Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. lobata Remeikis & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. ageratinae Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; S. clinopodiella Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov.; and S. calceolarifoliae Diškus & Stonis, sp. nov. Some of these species are leaf-miners on Asteraceae (Pentacalia, Baccharis, Gynoxys, and Ageratina plants), Calceolariaceae (Calceolaria), Lamiaceae (Clinopodium), and Rosaceae (Lachemilla). Twenty species are known only from adults with no data on their biology and host-plants. In addition, we present data and discuss recently discovered nepticulid taxa associated with Polylepis forests that is the natural vegetation in much of the High Andes. All High-Andean Stigmella species treated are illustrated with photographs of the adults and genitalia, distribution maps, including some with photographs of the leaf-mines and habitats.

 

References

  1. Andean Páramo. (2016) Available from: http://www.biome-explorer.net/Paramo/Andean%20Paramo.html (accessed 30 March 2016)

    Bourquin, F. (1962) Microlepidopteros nuevos con sus biologias. Revista de la sociedad Entomologica Argentina, Buenos Aires, 23, 31–46.

    Braun, G. (1997) The use of digital methods in assessing forest patterns in an Andean environment: the Polylepis example. Mountain Research and Development, 17, 253–262.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3673852

    Buytaert, W., Célleri, R., De Bièvre, B., Hofstede, R., Cisneros, F., Wyseure, G., Deckers, J. & Hofstede, R. (2006) Human impact on the hydrology of the Andean páramos. Earth-Science Reviews, 79 (1–2), 53–72.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.06.002

    Clapperton, C.M. (1983) The glaciation of the Andes. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2, 83–155.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-3791(83)90005-7

    Cuesta, C.F. & De Bievre, B. (2008) Páramo or northern Andes (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, northern Perú). In: Michelson, A. (Ed.), Temperate grasslands of South America. The world temperate grasslands conservation initiative workshop. Hohhot (China), pp. 3–11.

    Davis, D.R. (1978) New leaf-mining moths of the family Nepticulidae from Florida. The Florida Entomologist, 61 (4), 209–224.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3494210

    Davis, D.R. (1984) Nepticulidae. In: Heppner, J.B. (Ed.), Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: part 1. Micropterigoidea—Immoidea. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, xxvii + 112 pp.

    Davis, D.R. (1985) A re-examination of Enteucha cyanochlora Meyrick and its subsequent transfer to the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera: Nepticuloidea). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 87, 142–145.

    Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton, A.C. (1997) Altoandina Argentina, Chile. In: Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton. A.C. (Eds.), Centres of plant diversity: A guide and strategy for their conservation, 3: the Americas. IUCN Publications Unit, Cambridge, UK, 562 pp.

    Denevan, W.M. (2016) Andes Mountains, Mountain system, South America. Available from: http://www.britannica.com/place/Andes-Mountains (accessed 30 March 2016)

    Diškus, A. & Puplesis, R. (2003) Catalogue of the world Nepticuloidea & Tischerioidea. In: Puplesis, R. & Diškus, A. (Eds.), The Nepticuloidea & Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera)—a global review, with strategic regional revisions. Lututė Publishers, Kaunas, pp. 318–436.

    Diškus, A. & Stonis, J.R. (2012) Leaf-mining insects of Lithuania. The Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera): taxonomy, chorological composition and trophic relationships. Monograph. Lututė Publishers, Kaunas, 220 pp. [in Lithuanian].

    Diškus, A., Stonis, J.R. & Cumbicus Torres, N. (2014) First discovery of leaf-mining Nepticulidae and Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera) associated with the Chilean endemic genus Podanthus Lag. (Asteraceae) as a host-plant. In: Stonis, J.R., Hill, S.R., Diškus, A. & Auškalnis, T. (Eds.), Selected abstracts and papers of the First Baltic International Conference on Field Entomology and Faunistics. Edukologija Publishers, Vilnius. pp. 30–31.

    Farley, K.A., Kelly, E.F. & Hofstede, R.G.M. (2004) Soil organic carbon and water retention after conversion of grasslands to pine plantations in the Ecuadorian Andes. Ecosystems, 7, 729–739.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-004-0047-5

    Fiondella, F. (2011) Climate change threatens a fragile ecosystem in the Andes. International Research Institute for Climate and Society (Earth Institute, Columbia University). Available from: http://iri.columbia.edu/news/climate-change-threatens-a-fragile-ecosystem-in-the-andes/ (accessed 30 March 2016)

    Fjeldså, J. & Kessler, M. (1996) Conserving the Biological Diversity of Polylepis Woodlands of the Highland of Peru and Bolivia: a Contribution to Sustainable Natural Resource Management in the Andes. Nordeco, Denmark, 250 pp.

    Forbes, W.T.M. & Leonard, M.D. (1930) A new leaf-miner of cotton in Porto Rico (Nepticula gossypii n. sp.). Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Porto Rico, 14, 149–157.

    Harling, G. (1979) The vegetation types of Ecuador—a brief survey. In: Larsen, K. & Holm-Nielsen, L.B. (Eds.), Tropical Botany. Academic Press, London, pp. 165–174.

    Hofstede, R.G.M., Chilito, E.J. & Sandoval, E.M. (1995) Vegetative structure, microclimate, and leaf growth of a páramo tussock grass species, in undisturbed, burned and grazed conditions. Vegetatio, 119, 53–65.

    Hooghiemstra, H. & Cleef, A.M. (1995) Pleistocene climatic change and environmental and generic dynamics in the North Andean montane forest and paramo. In: Churchill, S.P., Balslev, H., Forero, E. & Luteyn, J.L. (Eds.), Biodiversity and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Forests. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York, pp. 35–49.

    Hooghiemstra, H., Hoorn, M.C., Helmens, K.F., Wyninga, V.M., Ran, E.TH.H., Cleef, A.M., Kuhry, P. & van der Hammen, T. (1994) Miocene to Pleistocene geo-ecological development of Amazonian and Andean Colombia: tectonics, basin development, migration, evolution and climatic change. In: Herngreen, J.F.W. (Ed.), Volume of Abstracts 4th European Palaeobotanical and Palynological Conference. Stichting Geologie en Paleontologie, Heerlen, pp. 39–43.

    Hoorn, C., Wesselingh, F.P., ter Steege, H., Bermudez, M.A., Mora, A., Sevink, J., Sanmartín, I., Sanchez-Meseguer, A., Anderson, C.L., Figueiredo, J.P., Jaramillo, C., Riff, D., Negri, F.R., Hooghiemstra, H., Lundberg, J., Stadler, T., Särkinen, T. & Antonelli, A. (2010) Amazonia through time: andean uplift, climate change, landscape evolution, and biodiversity. Science, 330 (6006), 927–931.
    http://dx.doi.10.1126/science.1194585

    Hutter, C.R., Guayasamin, J.M. & Wiens, J.J. (2013) Explaining Andean megadiversity: the evolutionary and ecological causes of glassfrog elevational richness patterns. Ecology Letters, 16 (9), 1135–1144.
    http://dx.doi.10.1111/ele.12148

    IUCN (2014) Adapting to climate change in the Andes. Available from: http://www.iucn.org/knowledge/focus/responding_to_climate_change/?18356/Adapting-to-climate-change-in-the-Andes (accessed 30 March 2016)

    Johansson, R., Nielsen, E.S., van Nieukerken, E.J. & Gustafsson, B. (1990) The Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Lepidoptera) of North West Europe. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, 23 (1/2), 1–739.

    Kessler, M. (2002) The elevational gradient of Andean plant endemism: varying influences of taxon-specific traits and topography at different taxonomic levels. Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1159–1165.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00773.x

    Kuznetzov, V.I. & Puplesis, R.K. (1994) Sem. Nepticulidae (Stigmellidae)—moli-malyutki. In: Kuznetzov, V.I. (Ed.), Insects and mites—pests of agricultural plants. Lepidoptera, 3 (1). Nauka Publishers, St. Petersburg, pp. 12–23. [in Russian]

    Laštůvka, A. & Laštůvka, Z. (2009) New records of mining Lepidoptera from the Iberian Peninsula (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, Bucculatricidae, Gracillariidae). Shilap Revista de Lepidopterologia, 37, 485–494.

    Laštůvka, Z. & Laštůvka, A. (1998) Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Nepticulidenfauna Griechenlands (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae). Stapfia, 55, 313–326.

    Laštůvka, Z., Laštůvka, A. & van Nieukerken, E.J. (2013) The Bupleurum (Apiaceae) feeding species of Trifurcula (Glaucolepis): new species, biology and distribution (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 156, 191–210.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22119434-00002028

    Lueberta, F., Hilgera, H.H. & Weigenda, M. (2011) Diversification in the Andes: Age and origins of South American Heliotropium lineages (Heliotropiaceae, Boraginales). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 61 (1), 90–102.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.06.001

    Luteyn, J.L. (1999) Páramos: a Checklist of Plant Diversity, Geographic Distribution, and Botanical Literature. The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York, 278 pp.

    Madriñán, S., Cortés, A.J. & Richardson, J.E. (2013) Páramo is the world's fastest evolving and coolest biodiversity hotspot. Frontiers in Genetics, 4, 192. [PMCID: PMC3793228]
    http://dx.doi10.3389/fgene.2013.00192

    Meyrick, E. (1915) Descriptions of South American Micro-Lepidoptera. The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 48 (2), 201–256.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1915.tb02527.x

    Meyrick, E. (1931) Micro-Lepidoptera from South Chile and Argentina. Anales del Museo nacional de Historia Natural, Buenos Aires, 36, 377–415.

    Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403, 853–858.

    http://dx.doi.10.1038/35002501

    Monasterio M, Sarmiento L. (1991) Adaptive radiation of Espeletia in the cold Andean tropics. Trends in ecology & evolution, 6 (12), 387–91.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(91)90159-U

    Morrone, J.J. (2014) Biogeographical regionalisation of the Neotropical region. Zootaxa, 3782 (1), 1–110.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3782.1.1

    Morrone, J.J. (2015) Biogeographical regionalisation of the Andean region. Zootaxa, 3936 (2), 207–236.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3936.2.3

    Newton, P.J. & Wilkinson, C. (1982) A taxonomic revision of the north American species of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Systematic Entomology, 7, 367–463.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1982.tb00455.x

    Podwojewski, P., Poulenard, J., Zambrana, T. & Hofstede, R. (2002) Overgrazing effects on vegetation cover and properties of volcanic ash soil in the páramo of Llangahua and La Esperanza (Tungurahua, Ecuador). Soil Use and Management, 18 (1), 45–55.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/SUM2002100

    Poulenard, J., Podwojewski, P., Janeau, J.L. & Collinet, J. (2001) Runoff and soil erosion under rainfall simulation of andisols from the Ecuadorian páramo: effect of tillage and burning. Catena, 45, 185–207.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(01)00148-5

    Poulenard, J., Michel, J.C., Bartoli, F., Portal, M. & Podwojewski, P. (2004) Water repellency of volcanic ash soils from Ecuadorian páramo: effect of water content and characteristics of hydrophobic organic matter. European Journal of Soil Science, 55, 487–496.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2004.00625.x

    Puplesis, R. (1994) The Nepticulidae of Eastern Europe and Asia: western, central and eastern parts. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 291 pp. + figs. 840.

    Puplesis, R. & Diškus, A. (2003) The Nepticuloidea & Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera)—a global review, with strategic regional revisions. Lutut Publishers, Kaunas, 512 pp.

    Puplesis, R., Diškus, A. & Robinson, G.S. (2002a) New Neotropical Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from the western Amazonian rainforest and the Andes of Ecuador. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Entomology), 71 (1), 19–58.

    Puplesis, R., Diškus, A., Robinson, G.S. & Onore, G. (2002b) A review and checklist of the Neotropical Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera). Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Entomology), 71 (1), 59–76.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0968045402000032

    Puplesis, R. & Robinson, G.S. (2000) A review of the Central and South American Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) with special reference to Belize. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Entomology), 69 (1), 1–114.

    Ramsay, P.M. & Oxley, E.R.B. (1997) The growth form composition of plant communities in the Ecuadorian páramos. Plant Ecology, 131, 173–192.

    Remeikis, A. & Stonis, J.R. (2015) First discovery of Quercus-feeding Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) in South America, with description of new species and designation of the S. nigriverticella complex in the S. saginella group. Zootaxa, 4057 (3), 409–429.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4057.3.7

    Remeikis, A., Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A. & Davis, D.R. (2014) The first photographic documentation and new data on Enteucha guajavae (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), a pest of guava from equatorial America. In: Stonis, J.R., Hill, S.R., Diškus, A. & Auškalnis, T. (Eds.), Selected abstracts and papers of the First Baltic International Conference on Field Entomology and Faunistics. Edukologija Publishers, Vilnius, pp. 65–74.

    Ridbäck, U. (2008) A floristic study of Polylepis forest fragments in the central Andes of Ecuador. Examensarbete i biologi. Visby, Högskolan på Gotland, 25 pp.

    Robinson, G.S. (1976) The preparation of slides of Lepidoptera genitalia with special reference to the Microlepidoptera. Entomologist's Gazette, 27, 127–132.

    Sánchez, L. (2016) Ecuador’s Fragile Páramo Ecosystem Threatened by Climate Change. Tierramerica. Environment and Development. Available from: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/ecuadors-fragile-paramo-ecosystem-threatened-by-climate-change/ (accessed 30 March 2016)

    Sarmiento, J.L. (1986) Modeling oceanic transport of dissolved constituents. In: Buat–Menard, P. (Ed.), The Role of Air–Sea Exchange in Geochemical Cycling. D. Reidel Publishing, Dordrecht, pp. 65–82.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4738-2_3

    Sclater, P.L. (1858) On the general geographic distribution of the members of the class Aves. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology, 2, 130–145.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02549.x

    Sclater, W.L. & Sclater, P.L. (1899) The geography of mammals. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London, 335 pp.

    Scoble, M.J. (1983) A revised cladistic classification of the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) with descriptions of new taxa mainly from South Africa. Transvaal Museum Monograph, 2, i–xi + 105 pp.

    Shackleton, N.J., Berger, A. & Peltier, W.R. (1990) An alternative astronomical calibration of the lower Pleistocene timescale based on ODP Site 677. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 81, 251–261.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300020782

    Šimkevičiūtė, A., Stonis, J.R. & Diškus, A. (2009) Taxonomic checklist of Nepticulidae of Mexico, with the description of three new species the from Pacific Coast (Insecta, Lepidoptera). Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 19 (4), 268–277.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10043-009-0037-0

    Simonsen, Th., Karsholt, O. & Scoble, M. (2015) In Memoriam: Niels Peder Kristensen (1943–2014). Nota Lepidopterologica, 38 (1), 89–102.
    http://dx.doi.10.3897/nl.38.4816

    Simpson, B.B. (1986) Speciation and specialization of Polylepis in the Andes. In: Vuilleumier, F. & Monasterio, M. (Eds.), High Altitude Tropical Biogeography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 304–316.

    Sklenár, P. & Balslev, H. (2004) Superpáramo plant species diversity and phytogeography in Ecuador. Flora, 200, 416–433.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2004.12.006

    Stebbins, G.L. (1971) Relationships between Adaptive Radiation, Speciation and Major Evolutionary Trends. Taxon, 20 (1), pp. 3–16.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1218529

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A. & Remeikis, A. (2015a) The first description of the leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) feeding on the South American plant genus Liabum, Asteraceae. Zootaxa, 4040 (5), 576–582.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4040.5.6

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A. & Cumbicus Torres, N. (2016a) First description of leaf-mining Nepticulidae and Tischeriidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) feeding on the Chilean endemic plant genus Podanthus Lag. (Asteraceae). Zootaxa, 4061 (2), 119–130.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4061.2.2

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A., Davis, D.R., Solis, M.A. & Cumbicus Torres, N. (2016b) The first record of Baccharis L. (Asteraceae) as a host-plant genus for Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera), with description of new Stigmella species from South America. Zootaxa, 4136 (1), 101–128.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4136.1.4

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A. & Karsholt, O. (2016c) Do leaf-mining Nepticulidae occur in the natural but so threatened Andean Polylepis forests? Biologija, 62 (2), 83–97.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.6001/biologija.v62i2.3334

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A. & Navickaitė, A. (2014a) Study methods of Nepticulidae: micro-mounts of genitalia structures. In: Stonis, J.R., Hill, S.R., Diškus, A. & Auškalnis, T. (Eds.), Selected abstracts and papers of the First Baltic International Conference on Field Entomology and Faunistics. Edukologija Publishers, Vilnius. pp. 32–35.

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A., Navickaitė, A. & Rocienė, A. (2013a) Description of new species of oak leaf-miners (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae), with notes on the species groups of Stigmella Schrank associated with Quercus as a host-plant. Zootaxa, 3737 (3), 201–222.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3737.3.1

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A., Noreika, R. & Schuster, J. (2013b) Four new leaf-mining Acalyptris species from Guatemala and Belize, with new data on bionomics of Stigmella pruinosa (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Zootaxa, 3737 (2), 101–117.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3737.2.1

    Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A. & Schuster, J. (2013c) First discovery of Quercus feeding Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) in Central America. Zootaxa, 3737 (1), 1–23.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3652.1.1

    Stonis, J.R. & Remeikis, A. (2015) The first records on the genus Acalyptris from the Caribbean (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Zootaxa, 4057 (1), 79–90.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4057.1.4

    Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A. & Davis, D.R. (2014b) Ten new species from the Patagonian Andes (Argentina and Chile), mostly belonging to a newly designated Stigmella purpurimaculae group (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Zootaxa, 3887 (3), 321–353.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3887.3.3

    Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A. & Diškus, A. (2014c) Biodiversity of Central America and Mexico: recent taxonomic additions to the fauna of Nepticuloidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera). The Materials on 1st International Theoretical and Practical Conference “Fundamental and Applied Investigations on Priority Directions of Bioecology and Biotechnology. UISPU Publishers, Ulyanovsk, pp. 114–117.

    Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A., Diškus, A. & Noreika, R. (2013d) New Nepticulidae species (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from the Yucatán Peninsula (SE Mexico). Zootaxa, 3609 (2), 223–230.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3609.2.8

    Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A., Gerulaitis, V. & Forero, D. (2015b) An embarrassing situation requiring urgent action: Colombia, a country of extraordinary biodiversity, still counts only few species of Nepticuloidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera). Biologija, 61 (3–4), 123–129.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.6001/biologija.v61i3-4.3204

    Suárez, E. & Medina, G. (2001) Vegetation Structure and Soil Properties in Ecuadorian Páramo Grasslands with Different Histories of Burning and Grazing. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 33, 158–164.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1552216

    Van der Hammen, T. & Cleef, A.M. (1986) Development of the high Andean Páramo flora and vegetation. In: Vuilleumier, F. & Monasterio, M. (Eds.), High Altitude Tropical Biogeography. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 153–201.

    Van Nieukerken, E.J. (1985) A taxonomic revision of the western Palaearctic species of the subgenera Zimmermannia Hering and Ectoedemia Busck s. str. (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), with notes on their phylogeny. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 128 (1), 1–164.

    Van Nieukerken, E.J. (1986) A provisional phylogenetic check-list of the western Palaearctic Nepticulidae, with data on hostplants (Lepidoptera). Entomologica Scandinavica, 17 (1), 1–27.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187631286X00099

    Van Nieukerken, E.J. & Johansson, R. (2003) The Quercus feeding Stigmella species of the West Palaearctic: new species, key and distribution (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 146, 307–370.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22119434-900000129

    Van Nieukerken, E.J., Laštůvka, A. & Laštůvka, Z. (2010) Western Palaearctic Ectoedemia (Zimmermannia) Hering and Ectoedemia Busck s. str. (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae): five new species and new data on distribution, hostplants and recognition. ZooKeys, 32, 1–82.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.32.282

    Vargas, H.A. (2011) Stigmella epicosma (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae): first distribution records from Chile and first host plant record. Neotropical Entomology, 4 (1), 152–153.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-566X2011000100026

    Wallace, A.R. (1876) The geographical distribution of animals. Vol. I & II. Harper and Brothers, New York, 576 + 650 pp.

    Wilkinson, C. & Newton, P.J. (1981) The microlepidopteran genus Ectoedemia Busck (Nepticulidae) in North America. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 124 (2), 27–92.

    Young, K.R., León, B., Cano, A. & Herrera-MacBryde, O. (1997) Peruvian Puna. In: Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H., Herrera-MacBryde, O., Villa-Lobos, J. & Hamilton. A.C. (Eds.), Centres of plant diversity: A guide and strategy for their conservation, 3: the Americas. IUCN Publications Unit, Cambridge, UK, pp. 470–476.

    Zeller, P.C. (1877) Exotische Microlepidoptera. II. Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae, 13, 289–493.