Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5609 No. 4: 24 Mar. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-03-24
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5609.4.8
Page range: 583-599
Abstract views: 107
PDF downloaded: 69

Dvidulopsis gen. nov., a rare Neotropical genus of pygmy moths (Nepticulidae) endemic to lowland humid forests, a biome of conservation priority

State Research Institute Nature Research Centre; Akademijos g. 2; 08412; Vilnius; Lithuania.
Vytautas Magnus University; K. Donelaičio g. 58; 44248; Kaunas; Lithuania.
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre; Akademijos g. 2; 08412; Vilnius; Lithuania.
State Research Institute Nature Research Centre; Akademijos g. 2; 08412; Vilnius; Lithuania.
Lepidoptera Neotropics Neotropical fauna Nepticulidae new genus pygmy moths species distribution taxonomy tropical humid forests tropical moist forests

Abstract

This publication describes Dvidulopsis Stonis & Diškus, gen. nov., and a new species, D. diviantis Stonis & Remeikis, sp. nov., along with new distribution data for D. latipennata (Puplesis & Robinson) from Honduras. The study identifies Dvidulopsis gen. nov. as a distinct taxon, characterized by notable characters of the male genitalia, including a typically divided uncus and gnathos, and three elongated apical carinae of the phallus. Molecular evidence from new mtDNA COI-5’ sequences further supports the genus description.

The new genus, comprising eight species, is endemic to lowland tropical humid forests, typically found at elevations of 10–400 m. Half of the known species inhabit equatorial regions, specifically the humid forests of the Amazon Basin, while the other half are found in the humid forests of Central America. The study also summarizes distribution data on Nepticulidae from the conservation-priority lowland tropical humid forests of the Neotropics, currently encompassing 57 species, representing approximately 30% of the described Nepticulidae fauna in the Neotropical region (sensu stricto).

The article is illustrated with a chart depicting Nepticulidae occurrence in the lowland tropical humid forests of the Americas, a species distribution map, photographs of Dvidulopsis adults and male genitalia, and two molecular NJ trees distinguishing the new genus from similar taxa, such as Acalyptris Meyrick, 1921; Fomoria Beirne, 1945; and other Nepticulidae.

References

  1. Benson, D.A., Cavanaugh, M., Clark, K., Karsch-Mizrachi, I., Lipman, D.J., Ostell, J. & Sayers, E.W. (2013) GenBank. Nucleic Acids Research, 41 (D1), D36–D42. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gks1195
  2. Brehm, G. (2017) A new LED lamp for the collection of nocturnal Lepidoptera and a spectral comparison of light-trapping lamps. Nota Lepidopterologica, 40 (1), 87–108. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.40.11887
  3. Butler, R.A. (2020) World Rainforest. The Tropical Rainforest – information on tropical forests, deforestation, and biodiversity. Available from: https://worldrainforests.com (accessed 5 January 2025)
  4. Davis, D.R. (1978) New leaf-mining moths of the family Nepticulidae from Florida. The Florida Entomologist, 61 (4), 209–224. https://doi.org/10.2307/3494210
  5. 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.
  6. Dobrynina, V., Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Solis, M.A., Baryshnikova, S.V. & Young-Min, S. (2022) Global Nepticulidae, Opostegidae, and Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera): temporal dynamics of species descriptions and their authors. Zootaxa, 5099 (4), 450–474. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5099.4.2
  7. Doorenweerd, C., Nieukerken, E.J. van & Hoare, J.B. (2016) Phylogeny, classification and divergence times of pygmy leaf-mining moths (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae): the earliest lepidopteran radiation on Angiosperms? Systematic Entomology, 42 (1), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12212
  8. European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (2016) PM 7/129 (1) DNA barcoding as an identification tool for a number of regulated pests. Bulletin OEPP/EPPO Bulletin, 46 (3), 501–537. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12344
  9. European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (2021) PM 7/129 (2) DNA barcoding as an identification tool for a number of regulated pests. Bulletin OEPP/EPPO Bulletin, 51 (1), 100–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12724
  10. Faber-Langendoen, D. (2014) F020 Tropical Lowland Humid Forest Formation. Available from: https://www1.usgs.gov/csas/nvcs/unitDetails/860256 (accessed 6 January 2025)
  11. Faber-Langendoen, D., Keeler-Wolf, T., Meidinger, D., Josse, C., Weakley, A., Tart, D., Navarro, G., Hoagland, B., Ponomarenko, S., Fults, G. & Helmer, E. (2016) Classification and description of world formation types. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-346. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, 222 pp. https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-346
  12. Hall, T.A. (1999) BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium Series, 41, 95–98.
  13. Hartshorn, G.S. (2013) Tropical forest ecosystems. In: Levin, S.A. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. 2nd Edition. Elsevier, Waltham, pp. 269–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384719-5.00146-5
  14. Johansson, R., Nielsen, E.S., Nieukerken, E.J. van & Gustafsson, B. (1990) The Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Lepidoptera) of north west Europe. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, 23 (1/2), 1–739. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004536227
  15. Kozlov, M.V., Zverev, V., Sandner, T.M., Nieukerken, E.J. van & Zvereva, E.L. (2023) Poleward increase in feeding efficiency of leafminer Stigmella lapponica (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) in a latitudinal gradient crossing a boreal forest zone. Insect Science, 30 (3), 857–866. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13128
  16. Kumar, S., Stecher, G. & Tamura, K. (2016) MEGA7: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33 (7), 1870–1874. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054
  17. Lewis, S.L. (2006) Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361 (1465), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1711
  18. Meyrick, E. (1915) Descriptions of South American Micro-Lepidoptera. The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 48 (2), 201–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1915.tb02527.x
  19. Nieukerken, E.J. van, Doorenweerd, C., Hoare, J.R. & Davis, D.R. (2016a) Revised classification and catalogue of global Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Lepidoptera, Nepticuloidea). ZooKeys, 628, 65–246. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.628.9799
  20. Nieukerken, E.J. van, Doorenweerd, C., Nishida, K. & Snyers, C. (2016b) New taxa, including three new genera show uniqueness of Neotropical Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera). ZooKeys, 628, 1–63. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.628.9805
  21. Puplesis, R. (1994) The Nepticulidae of Eastern Europe and Asia: western, central and eastern parts. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 291 pp., 840 figs. [https://eurekamag.com/research/007/974/007974630.php]
  22. Puplesis, R. & Diškus, A. (2003) The Nepticuloidea & Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera)—a global review, with strategic regional revisions. Lututė Publishers, Kaunas, 512 pp.
  23. 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. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0968045402000020
  24. 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. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0968045402000032
  25. 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. [http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/76459]
  26. Ratnasingham, S. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2007) BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data system. Molecular Ecology Notes, 7, 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01678.x
  27. Richards, P.W. (1996) The tropical rain forest: An ecological study, second edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, xxiii + 575 pp.
  28. Saatchi, S., Longo, M., Xu, L., Yang, Y., Abe, H., André, M., Aukema, J.E., Carvalhais, N., Cadillo-Quiroz, H., Cerbu, G.A., Chernela, J.M., Covey, K., Sánchez-Clavijo, L.M., Cubillos, I.V., Davies, S.J., De Sy, V., De Vleeschouwer, F., Duque, A., Durieux, A.M.S., De Avila Fernandes, K., Fernandez, L.E., Gammino, V., Garrity, D.P., Gibbs, D.A., Gibbon, L., Gowae, G.Y. Hansen, M., Harris, N.L., Healey, S.P., Hilton, R.G., Johnson, C.M., Kankeu, R.S., Laporte-Goetz, N.T., Lee, H., Lovejoy, T., Lowman, M., Lumbuenamo, R., Malhi, Y., Martinez, J.-M.M.A., Nobre, C., Pellegrini, A., Radachowsky, J., Román, F., Russell, D., Sheil, D., Smith, T.B., Spencer, R.G.M., Stolle, F., Tata, H.L., del Castillo Torres, D., Tshimanga, R.M., Vargas, R., Venter, M., West, J., Widayati, A., Wilson, S.N., Brumby, S. & Elmore, A.C. (2021) Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors. One Earth, 4 (7), 988–1003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.06.002
  29. Saw, L.G. (2004) Tropical Moist Forests. In: Burley, J., Evans, J. & Youngguist, J.A. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences. Academic Press, Cambridge, pp. 1775–1782. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-145160-7/00174-5
  30. 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 (1), 1–105. [https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA090799001_83]
  31. Stonis, J.R. & Diškus, A. (2018) Acalyptris amazonensis sp. nov.: documentation of another leaf-mining species supplementing the unique but disputable A. latipennata group (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). Biologija, 64 (3), 191–202. https://doi.org/10.6001/biologija.v64i3.3824
  32. Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A., Gerulaitis, V. & Karsholt, O. (2016) Leaf-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) from record high altitudes: documenting an entire new fauna in the Andean páramo and puna. Monograph. Zootaxa, 4181 (1), 1–94. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4181.1.1
  33. Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Remeikis, A., Vargas, A.S. & Solis, M.A. (2020) Diagnostics and updated catalogue of Acalyptris Meyrick, the second largest genus of Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) in the Americas. Zootaxa, 4748 (2), 201–247. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4748.2.1
  34. Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A. & Diškus, A. (2022) Neotropical Nepticulidae (a pictorial monograph introducing an electronic identification tool). Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, 363 pp. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361649792_Neotropical_Nepticulidae]
  35. Stonis, J.R., Remeikis, A., Diškus, A., Dobrynina, V. & Orlovskytė, S. (2024) A Phenomenon: What Are the Minuscule Grey Moths Abundant in the Dry Season in the Tropical Dry Forests of the Pacific Coast of Honduras? Insects, 15 (9), 641. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15090641
  36. 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. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10043-009-0037-0
  37. Tokár, Z., Laštůvka, A. & Nieukerken, E.J. van (2017) A new pygmy leafmining moth, Stigmella tatrica sp. n., from the alpine zone of the Tatra Mountains (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae). Nota Lepidopterologica, 40 (1), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.40.12674
  38. Vancutsem, C., Achard, F., Pekel, J.-F., Vieilledent, G., Carboni, S., Simonetti, D., Gallego, J., Aragão, L.E.O.C. & Nasi, R. (2021) Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics. Science Advances, 7 (10), eabe1603. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe1603
  39. Whitmore, T.C. (1998) An introduction to tropical rain forests. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 296 pp.