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Vallissiana universitaria Pereira Arévalo, a new genus and species of leaf-miner moth (Gracillariidae: Gracillariinae) is described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy, including adults, larva, pupa and the mine. Its monophyletic status is confirmed within the subfamily based on a DNA barcode CoI tree. The immature stages are associated with Erythroxylum argentinum O. E. Schulz (Erythroxylaceae) and four larval instars are found, all forming a round blotch mine from the beginning of ontogeny. The first two instars are sap-feeders, using only the epidermal cells, whereas the last two are tissue-feeders, mining the parenchyma cells. Pupation occurs inside the leaf mine within a flimsy, silk-made cocoon. This is the third endemic genus of gracillariid moths described from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and the first associated with Erythroxylum P. Browne. Characteristics found on the forewing and in the last abdominal segments of the adult were determinant for the proposition of the new genus. The CoI tree indicated that it is closely related to Aspilapteryx, while this genus was recovered as polyphyletic in the analyses. Morphological evidence supports this polyphyly. Consequently, Sabulopteryx Triberti, 1985, stat. nov. is considered a valid genus.

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Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genus Alucita Linnaeus, 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 genus Prymnotomis Meyrick, 1931 except for its original description that was based on a single male, the holotype of Prymnotomis crypsicroca Meyrick, 1931 from Espirito Santo, Brazil. We describe here a second species for this genus, Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. nov. whose larvae induce galls on Cordiera 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 on C. elliptica flower 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) supports Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. 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.(AU)

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RESUMO

Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genus Alucita Linnaeus, 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 genus Prymnotomis Meyrick, 1931 except for its original description that was based on a single male, the holotype of Prymnotomis crypsicroca Meyrick, 1931 from Espirito Santo, Brazil. We describe here a second species for this genus, Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. nov. whose larvae induce galls on Cordiera 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 on C. elliptica flower 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) supports Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. 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.

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Climate change, pollution and increased runoff are some of the main drivers of coral reefs degradation worldwide. However, the occurrence of runoff and marine pollution, as well as its ecological effects in South Atlantic coral reefs are still poorly understood. The aim of the present work is to characterize the terrigenous influence and contamination impact on the environmental health of five reefs located along a gradient of distance from a river source, using geochemical, water quality, and ecological indicators. Stable isotopes and sterols were used as geochemical indicators of sewage and terrigenous organic matter. Dissolved metal concentrations (Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) were used as indicators of water quality. Population density, bleaching and chlorophyll α content of the symbiont-bearing foraminifer Amphistegina gibbosa, were used as indicators of ecological effects. Sampling was performed four times during the year to assess temporal variability. Sediment and water quality indicators showed that reefs close to the river discharge experience nutrient enrichment and sewage contamination, and metals concentrations above international environmental quality guidelines. Higher levels of contamination were strongly related to the higher frequency of bleaching and lower density in A. gibbosa populations. The integrated evaluation of stable isotopes, sterols and metals provided a consistent diagnostic about sewage influence on the studied reefs. Additionally, the observed bioindicator responses evidenced relevant ecological effects. The water quality, geochemical and ecological indicators employed in the present study were effective as biomonitoring tools to be applied in reefs worldwide.

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Stigmella schinivora van Nieukerken, 2016 was described from Cataratas de Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina, based on adults reared from Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) leaf mines. The aim of this study is to describe for the first time the external morphology of the immature stages of S. schinivora with the aid of light and scanning electron microscopy, based on mines collected on the same host plant, but in Laranjeiras do Sul, Paraná, Brazil. Data on natural history, including histology of the mines, are also provided. The larva passes through four instars, all endophytic, having chewing mouth parts and feeding on the palisade parenchyma. The first three instars are apodous and have a subcylindrical body, bearing only one pair of setae on the tenth abdominal segment; the fourth instar is eruciform, with well-developed ambulatory calli on thorax and abdomen and setae on all tagmata. A serpentine mine is constructed on the adaxial surface, progressively increasing in width during larval development. With the exception of the widened, terminal section, the mine is left filled with larval feces. The fully developed larva of last instar exits through a slit made at the distal end of the mine, building a silk cocoon on the leaf abaxial surface where pupation occurs. This is the first record of S. schinivora from Brazil, which was only known from the type locality in Argentina.(AU)

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RESUMO

Stigmella schinivora van Nieukerken, 2016 was described from Cataratas de Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina, based on adults reared from Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) leaf mines. The aim of this study is to describe for the first time the external morphology of the immature stages of S. schinivora with the aid of light and scanning electron microscopy, based on mines collected on the same host plant, but in Laranjeiras do Sul, Paraná, Brazil. Data on natural history, including histology of the mines, are also provided. The larva passes through four instars, all endophytic, having chewing mouth parts and feeding on the palisade parenchyma. The first three instars are apodous and have a subcylindrical body, bearing only one pair of setae on the tenth abdominal segment; the fourth instar is eruciform, with well-developed ambulatory calli on thorax and abdomen and setae on all tagmata. A serpentine mine is constructed on the adaxial surface, progressively increasing in width during larval development. With the exception of the widened, terminal section, the mine is left filled with larval feces. The fully developed larva of last instar exits through a slit made at the distal end of the mine, building a silk cocoon on the leaf abaxial surface where pupation occurs. This is the first record of S. schinivora from Brazil, which was only known from the type locality in Argentina.

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ABSTRACT The Neotropical micromoth genus Leurocephala Davis & Mc Kay, 2011 (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) was originally described to include only the type species, L. schinusae Davis & Mc Kay, 2011, whose leaf miner larvae are associated with Anacardiaceae in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. An integrative analysis including morphology, life history and DNA barcode sequences revealed that specimens collected on Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae) in the coastal valleys of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile belong to a second species of this formerly monotypic genus. Adults of Leurocephala chilensis Vargas & Moreira sp. nov. are herein described and illustrated in association with the immature stages and life history, and corresponding phylogenetic relationships are assessed based on DNA barcode sequences. This finding provides the first record of Leurocephala from west of the Andes Range, expanding remarkably its geographic range. It is suggested that the extent of diversity within Leurocephala is much greater and that variation in geographic factors and host plant use may have modeled it, an evolutionary hypothesis that should be assessed in further studies.