Trifurcula silviae Van Nieukerken: biology and new records (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae)

5 Pages·1996·2.3 MB·English

by  E J Van Nieukerken

ErikJ. van NIEUKERKEN',JariJUNNILAINEN', NikolaySAVENKOV'
& Ivars SuLCS'
'NationaalNatuurhistorischMuseum, Leiden,'Vantaa, Finland, 'LatvianMuseumofNatural
History, R^a& 'Riga, Latvia
TRIFURCULA SILVIAEVAN NIEUKERKEN:
BIOLOGYAND NEW RECORDS
(LEPIDOPTERA: NEPTICULIDAE)
Nieukerken, E. J. van, J. Junnilainen, N. Savenkov & I. Sulcs, 1996. Trifurculasilviae\a.n
Nieukerken: biology and new records (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). - Tijdschrift voor
Entomologie, 139: 175-179,figs. 1-6. [issn0040-7496].Published 18December 1996.
Trifurculasilviaew2,nNieukerken, 1990,previouslyknov^fnonlyfromtheFrenchAJpsonlyhas
beendiscoveredineasternLatvia,wherestem-minesandlarvaehavebeendiscoveredon Ono-
brychisarenaria.NewrecordsarealsogivenfortheItalianandFrenchAlpsandSpain.
NCoLrr2e3s0p0onRdeAncLee:idEerni,kTJ.hveaNneNtiheerulkaenrdkse.n,NationaalNatuurhistorischMuseum,Postbus9517,
Keywords.-Nepticulidae,Latvia,disjunctdistribution,stem-mines,biology,newrecords.
Trifurcula silviae van Nieukerken, 1990 was de- anted stem-mines of a nepticulid in the foremen-
scribed after a small number of specimens from tionedplant.
Southeastern France. It was found at relatively low
and warm localities in the southern Alps up to high Although the locality is far apart from the area
alpine localities (1800 m). Although the biologywas where the species was known, the senior author im-
unknown, its relationships in the Trifitrcula subni- mediately considered it most likely to be T. silviae,
tidellagroup and its occurrence in meadows without which he could confirm after studying some speci-
treesorshrubsindicatedthatitwas, mostlikely, feed- mens. The mines and larvae were also considered to
ingonaleguminosousherb,withAnthyllis, Lotusand belongtothisspecies,whichisnowconfirmedbythe
Onobrychisassuggestedpossibilities(VanNieukerken firstemergingadults.
1990).Aftervisitingseveralofitslocalities, thesenior Alsoin 1994thespecieswasdiscoveredinSpainby
authorhadastrongsuspicionthatthelastplantgenus A. andZ. LastiivkaandsomeunidentifiedNepticuli-
was the most likely candidate, since the species dae from G. Bassi contained the first Italian speci-
OnobrychismontanaDC.occurredinalllocalities,of- men, confirming a larger distribution than hitherto
ten in largenumbers. known. Since theoriginal description was published,
two more French specimens were found amongst
In the area near Sl^aune, eastern Latvia, the third unidentified material. Thespecies is recorded for the
author discovered an unknown Trifurcula when firsttimefromtheareadealtwithbyVanNieukerken
sweeping plants of Onobrychisarenaria (Kit.) DC in & Johansson (1990) and by Puplesis (1994), we
1985.ThiswasidentifiedbyR. Puplesisas Trifurcula therefore provide a diagnosis and illustrations as an
subnitidella (Duponchel) (at that time the only addition to theseworks.
knownspeciesinthisgroup) andpublishedunderits
junior synonym T. griseella Wolff by Savenkov Trifurcula (Trifurcula)silviaeVanNieukerken
(1989, see also Savenkov 1994). Later the three ju-
snpieocriesauatnhdo,rsunhdiaspcpoyvewrietdhtmhoeroerigsipneacliimdeenntsifiocfatitohni,s TriFfruarnccuel,asi1lvikaemwa.NnNWieuCkeeirlkleacn,(1H9t9e0s: 2Al3p0e.s)H,olo1t8y0p0e mS,:
turned to the senior author for an identification. In M24u.svieiu.1m98o7f,NavtaunralNHiiesutkoeryr,keLneide&:n,rRimcnhht)er[e(xNaamtiinoenda]l
August 1994 they finally discovered empty and ten-
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TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume139,i996
Figs. 1-3. Trifiircuksilviae,Latvia,Sl^aunearea.-1,Malegenitalia,slide EJvN28.33;2,Idem,detailgnathos;3,Femalegen-
italia,slideEJvN2828.
Diagnosis tively pale and small (wingspan ca 5.8-7.0 mm). It
T. silviaemale lacks the typical yellow patch of could be confused with a small specimen of T. im-
otherspecies ofthe T. subnitidellagroup, butcan be mundella{Ze[ìer),wìth T. serotinellaHemài-Sch.a£kr
relativelyeasilydistinguishedbyarowofdarkbrown orperhapswithaworn T. cryptella(Stainton),butall
scalesalongthecostalfoldoftheforewingandasim- lack the brown scales and cryptellahas awhite hair-
ilarrowalongthehindwingcosta.Thespeciesisrela- pencil on the hindwing. Females have a relatively
176
VANNiEUKERKENETAL.: Trifurculasilviae:biology
characters ofthe male. Femalegenitalia (fig. 3) differ
from T.subnitidellahythemoretruncatedabdominal
tip and more numerous setae on anal papillae. For
moredetailsseeVan Nieukerken (1990).
Biology
Host plants. - Onobrychisarenaria(Kit.) DC. and
probably O. montanaDC.
Life history. — Egg on the stem ofthe hostplant.
The larva is about 5 mm long, yellowish. Mines can
be found on different heights in the stem, from
groundlevel toabout40cm, occasionallywithsever-
al mines occurring in the same stem. The mine (fig.
4) is alonggalleryin thebark, typicallywith the lar-
va first mining downwards, changing its direction a
few times lengthwise. Total length ofmine approxi-
mately 8-16 cm. The first 0.5-1.0 cm ofthe mine is
mm
verynarrow(lessthan0.5 wide), reddishbrown.
The remaining part of the mine is paler yellowish,
with its width increasing to 2 mm. Frass not com-
pletelyin centre, but often on the lateral edge ofthe
mine, brown, quitewellvisible in thefresh mine.
Voltinism.-Larvaehavebeen foundinAugust, at
the same time as old mines, indicating an earlier oc-
currence.AdultsfromJunetoAugust,possiblyasone
Fig.4.TenantedandvacatedstemminesofTrifurculasilv prolongedgeneration, buttheexistenceoftwogener-
aein Onobrychisarenaria;FotoJariJunnilainen. ations cannot be excluded. Cocoon unknown. The
lifehistoryof T.silviaeresembles thatof T.subnitidel-
la(Duponchel).
bluntabdominal tip, butareotherwiseverysimilarto Fiabitat. — Mountain pastures, dry calcareous or
theforementionedspecies.Themalegenitalia (fig. 1) sandy hills, usuallywith lowvegetation, occasionally
resemble those of T. subnitidella (Duponchel), but with shrubs. In Spain on rocky limestone slopewith
thegnathos (fig. 2) lacks theasymmetrical pointand Onobrychis sp., Anthyllis vulneraria, A. montana,
has aserrated margin. Malegenitaliaare hard to dis- Astragalus monspessulanus, Hippocrepis comosa and
tinguishfirom T. ibericaN^xyNieukerken, 1990 fi'om others.Altitudefrom 200 m to 2000m. Seefig. 5 for
Spain, which strongly differs in secondary sexual animpressionoftheLatvianhabitat.
Fig. 5. Habitat of Trifur-
culasilviaein Sl^aune area,
withplantsofOnobrychisin
foreground. Foto Jari
Junnilainen.
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TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume139,i996
Fig. 6. Distribution of
TrìfurculasilviaeinEurope,
plotted on 50X50 km
squares.
Discussion
Distribution (fig. 6)
Spain, French and Italian Alps and Latvia. Most
likely to occur in other localities, especially in the The òljaune locality, also known as the nature re-
AlpsandsouthernEurope, butpossiblywithdisjunct serveGreb|akalns, isasandyridge,closetothevillage
distribution. Seediscussion. Slçaune in the extreme eastern part ofLatvia, just a
few kilometers from the Russian border. The ridge
1 dM,at4erkimalNexEaymgiiannesd((HitneasdAdlipteiso)n,t0o4.tvyipie.sle9r8i9es-)2.2.-vifir.aln9g8e9:, o1r2ig0i0n0atyeedarsaftbepr.Tthheelleasntghgtlaocfiatthieonr,idgaeppisro6xkimma,terilsy-
MB.adAe.leBiennegt(sSsaovnoie()co,il0.3.Bveinigit.sls9o7n7),;R.1 B<5u,vaBtess(caonlsl:. BCuovlatd)e.l-a ing 20-30 m above the surrounding plains. The
ITALY: 1 S, Mompantero, Mt. Rocciamelone (Piemonte), slopes are covered with pine forest or mixed forest
1200 m, 18.vi.1993, G. Bassi (coll. Bassi). -Latvia: 3 S, withmanyshrubs,suchasEuonymus, Cotoneasterand
âlçaune (Shkyanes), 07.vi.l985, 29.vi.1986, N. V. Saven- Corylus. There are also open places, which are
kov, sweeping over Onobiychis arenaria (coll. Savenkov), thought to have originated either as gravel pits or
idem, 07.vi.1989, atlight (coll. ^ulcs); 1 S,\ ?, Sl^aune, wood-burningplaces. Theareahas acontinentaland
S&ll4^.avJui..n1eJ9u99n4.n,viilfial.yilin9ne9gn4ovb(ecyrollOs.nwoeNbeurpypicnphgoinseOannro,ebnrayJricuanh,niisKl.aairnNeenunap)r;piao,n2eêKn., xpoesrtotwhietrhmremliicctroeclleimmeanttesaonfdthies kPonnotwinc ftloorbaeaanndofuatu--
Ninuepn)p;omniennes&anJd.lJaruvnanei,lSali^naeunne,(Co1l8i.sv.iiiN.ulp99p4o,naednu,ltsJuenmneirlga-- n(aKi,t.n)otDaCbl,yAwsittrhagpallaunstdsansiuccuhsaKsetOzn.oabrnydchDirsacaorceenpahrai-a
i(nrgmnfhr,omcol2ls2..iSiuil.c1s99&5Jounnnwialradisn,enJ)..J-usnpnaiilna:inòenS,&\ 9I.,pSruolvc.s tloumberuryelsicchtisafnaroL.m(tsheeeSSuulbcbsor1e9a7l5)p.eTrhioedseanardeotchcouurghitn
Teruel,Alcalad&elaSelva, 1400m, 22.vi.1994,atlight 1 h openplacesonslopesoftheridge.
aftersunset,A. L.Lastüvka.
Several Lepidoptera species in Latvia are known
from this area only, such as Heliophobus kitti (Scha-
werda) SeveralelementsoftheeasternEuropeanfau-
.
178
VANNlEUKHRKENETAL.: Trifurculasilviae:biology
References
na occur here, such as Cryphia ereptricida (Treitsch-
ke), Lacanobia splendens (Hübner), Cuberà leptogra- Nieukerken, E. J. van, 1990. The Trifurcula subnitidella
/)/7ÄWehrli, Steganiacararia(Hübner) and Udeacos- group(Lepidoptera:Nepticulidae) : taxonomy,distribu-
talis (Eversmann) amongst others (Savenkov 1986, tion and biology. -Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 133 :
205-238.
^ulcs 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978).
Most interesting, however, is a numberofLepido- NieTurkifeurrkceunl,iniE..InJ.Jovhaannss&o:n,JoR.haentsaslo.nT,heR.N,ept1i9c9u0l.idTareiabnuds
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knownfromthislocalityinLatvia:Agrodiaetusdamon EntomologicaScandinavica23 239-321.
(Denis & Schiffermüller) (Sulcs 1964), Zygaena car- Puplesis,R., 1994.TheNepticulid:aeofeasternEuropeand
niolicaScopoli forma berolinensisStaudinger (Saven- Asia : Western, Central and Eastern parts. - Backhuys
lknooocvawl1pT9lr8ai6nf)tu,ricnCiydLdaaitsvaiilacv,iaaeeic.nacnOla.udSaeórdAenzian^retithae(iLsSauatlcvrsiaar1ne9R7a6en)dd,Lvaiesnrtdy. SavRnPeuuansbklsooiifsvahn,e]Lr.aNst.,v,iLa1.e9i8d-6e.n.LNat2ev9iw1jaspsppe.cE,ine8ts4oo0mfoflLigeospg.isdo2p9ter:a2i4n-3t0h.efa[uIn-
Most populations ofthis plant are adventive and oc- Savenkov, N., 1989. New and rare Lepidoptera species in
curinsecondaryhabitatssuchas roadvergesandrail- thefaunaofLatvia.Thereportof1987. —LatvijasEnto-
ways. Natural populationsarescarce, and thepresent mologs32: 86-91. [InRussian].
godanaremdoeisndthahasesclboaenrfegeinsntfe.oduDtneosdptnihiotsewhltoechraoleritoeylu.sgeWhaensedmasrachyhoutflhoderrbeietf,orAre.e- SSualvctDeshan,ebkoafAv.a,u,unnNa1.m9,uo6zf4e1.j9Ls9a.t4N-v.eiGauNa,enedcworulsnla.edncRdtiwegdreaanrmie5ag:iLinenblpeyipkrdaeiosnnpsnt.t1eer9a90As-rp1te9ec9nie4s.dei-rn
assume that the occurrence of T. silviae is also ex- Lepidopteren-FaunaLettlands,3.-FaunaLatvijskojSSR
tremelylocalized, and thatits distribution in North- sopredel'nychterritorij4: 165-202. [InRussian].
eastern Europemightalsoberatherdisjunct, compa- Sulcs, A., 1973. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten der
rable to that ofA. damon. In the Alps, however, we Lepidopteren-Fauna Lettlands, 5. -Annales Entomolo-
kexnpoewctnaatmuprcehsenlatr.geNrodwistirtisbmutiinoensoafrethiksnsopwenc,iesittwhialnl SulNgcisac,tiuFreAs.nc,nhiuctiz1o93b79j5e.:k1t-sC1h6Ga.rreabkjtaekrailsntsi.sc-heIn:KeOncnhzreaincahepnrimedte-s
probablybefound morefrequently. satel'nychprirodnychob"ektovvLatvijskojSSR: 83-99.
Riga,Zinatne.
Sulcs, A., 1976. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten der
Acknowledgements Lepidopteren-Fauna Lettlands, 6. -Annales Entomolo-
The authors are indebted to Ales and Zdenek giciFennici42:4-21.
Sulcs, A., 1978. Heliophobus texturata ssp. kitti, eine für
Lastüvka for the information on the Spanish record Lettland neue Noktuide (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). -
and to B. Bengtsson, G. Bassi and R. Buvat for the NotulaeEntomologicae58 27-31.
loan of material. We thank P. A. J. Frigge and :
J. B. M. Thissen (Wageningen, Netherlands) for the
permissionto usetheirprogram 'stipt-eu' toprepare
fig. 6. S. Whitebread kindly corrected the English Received: 1 October 1996
languague. Accepted: 21 October 1996
179