Abstract
We describe a new pest of guava (Psidium guajava L.), Hesperolyra guajavifoliae Stonis & Vargas, sp. nov., that was recently discovered in western Colombia. Hesperolyra van Nieukerken is a small, Neotropical genus of pygmy moths (Nepticulidae). We re-examine and document the complex morphology of the male genitalia of the generic type species, H. diskusi (Puplesis & Robinson). We discuss the diagnostics and composition of the genus and provide a simple pictorial differentiation scheme for all currently known representatives of the genus. The new species is illustrated with photographs of the adults, some of the immature stages, male and female genitalia, and leaf mines. A link to the COI barcodes of H. guajavifoliaesp. nov. is provided and the relationship of Hesperolyra to other genera is discussed.
Highlights
Guava or guayaba (Psidium guajava L.) is an important shrub or small tree cultivated for its fruit in many tropical countries in Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean
In the first review of the Neotropical Nepticulidae (Puplesis and Robinson 2000) we noticed that some nepticulid species from Belize and Colombia looked different, mostly because of the long transtilla and horn-like processes in the male genitalia
We re-examined the type species of Hesperolyra, H. diskusi (Puplesis & Robinson, 2000), that is characterized by a complex morphology of the male genitalia (Figs 65–86)
Summary
Guava or guayaba (Psidium guajava L.) is an important shrub or small tree cultivated for its fruit in many tropical countries in Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. We expected to find Ozadelpha guajavae (Puplesis & Diškus) (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae), a guava-feeding nepticulid species described a few degrees south from the same western tropical slopes of the Andes in equatorial Ecuador (Puplesis et al 2002a). It was later recorded in large numbers in the Andes of southern Ecuador near the Peruvian border (Remeikis et al 2014). During our fieldwork in western Colombia, we discovered another species producing leaf mines in mass quantities on P. guajava It appeared to be a new and distinctive species belonging to the recently erected, Neotropical genus Hesperolyra van Nieukerken. We provide comments on the diagnostics of Hesperolyra, with a simple pictorial tool for identification of the currently known Hesperolyra species
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