Systematics and biology of some species of Micrurapteryx Spuler (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) from the Holarctic Region, with re-description of M. caraganella (Hering) from Siberia.
During a DNA barcoding campaign of leaf-mining insects from Siberia, a genetically divergent lineage of a gracillariid belonging to the genus Micrurapteryx was discovered, whose larvae developed on Caragana Fabr. and Medicago L. (Fabaceae). Specimens from Siberia showed similar external morphology to the Palearctic Micrurapteryx gradatella and the Nearctic Parectopa occulta but differed in male genitalia, DNA barcodes, and nuclear genes histone H3 and 28S. Members of this lineage are re-described here as Micrurapteryx caraganella (Hering, 1957), comb. n., an available name published with only a brief description of its larva and leaf mine. Micrurapteryx caraganella is widely distributed throughout Siberia, from Tyumen oblast in the West to Transbaikalia in the East. Occasionally it may severely affect its main host, Caragana arborescens Lam. This species has been confused in the past with Micrurapteryx gradatella in Siberia, but field observations confirm that Micrurapteryx gradatella exists in Siberia and is sympatric with Micrurapteryx caraganella, at least in the Krasnoyarsk region, where it feeds on different host plants (Vicia amoena Fisch. and Vicia sp.). In addition, based on both morphological and molecular evidence as well as examination of type specimens, the North American Parectopa occulta Braun, 1922 and Parectopa albicostella Braun, 1925 are transferred to Micrurapteryx as Micrurapteryx occulta (Braun, 1922), comb. n. with albicostella as its junior synonym (syn. n.). Characters used to distinguish Micrurapteryx from Parectopa are presented and illustrated. These findings provide another example of the potential of DNA barcoding to reveal overlooked species and illuminate nomenclatural problems.
Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Akademgorodok 50/28, 660036, Krasnoyarsk, Russia; Siberian Federal University, 79 Svobodny pr., 660041, Krasnoyarsk, Russia; INRA, UR0633 Zoologie Forestière, F-45075 Orléans, France.
Natalia
N
Kirichenko
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 9, I37129, Verona, Italy.
Paolo
P
Triberti
Department of Genetics and Physiology, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland.
Marko
M
Mutanen
INRA, UR0633 Zoologie Forestière, F-45075 Orléans, France.
Emmanuelle
E
Magnoux
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada.
Jean-François
JF
Landry
INRA, UR0633 Zoologie Forestière, F-45075 Orléans, France; Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, CNRS UMR 7261, Université François-Rabelais de Tours, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 37200 Tours, France.
Carlos
C
Lopez-Vaamonde
28S; COI; Canada; Leaf-mining moth; Micrurapteryx caraganella; Micrurapteryx gradatella; Micrurapteryx occulta; Parectopa albicostella; Siberian peashrub; USA; histone H3