Notes on Dichomeris Hübner, 1818 from Southern Africa and Kenya, with description of seven new species (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae, Dichomeridinae).

This paper deals with 12 species of the genus Dichomeris Hübner, 1818 from Southern Africa and Kenya. Seven species are described as new: D. arquata sp. nov., D. brevicornuta sp. nov., D. dentata sp. nov., D. ligulacea sp. nov., D. paulidigitata sp. nov., D. tenextrema sp. nov. and D. ventriprojecta sp. nov.; and other five known species are listed. Images of adults and illustrations of genitalia are provided.

Collecting in the Northern Andean Páramo revealed purple iridescent pygmy moths of the little known Andean endemic Brachinepticula (Nepticulidae).

This paper describes two new species of Brachinepticula Stonis & Diskus: B. melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. and B. colombica Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. Both the new species were collected in the Northern Andean Páramo (Cundinamarca, Colombia). Since the specimens were caught at night-time with a light trap, the host plants remain unknown. The examination of the morphology of the male genitalia of B. melania and female genitalia of B. colombica revealed a highly distinctive new taxa of pygmy moths and broadened our knowledge of the morphology and distribution of the recently described endemic genus Brachinepticula Diskus & Stonis. The examination of the new findings also allowed us updating the diagnosis of Brachinepticula. The new species were illustrated with photographs of the genitalia, adults, and habitats.

Dishkeya, a recently described endemic Tischeriidae genus, now discovered in Colombia.

This paper describes Dishkeya ursipedella Diskus, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. from Cundinamarca, Choachi (Colombia). The new species was collected at night time at light, therefore, the host plant remains unknown. The examination of morphology of the male genitalia of D. ursipedella revealed a highly distinctive new taxon of trumpet moths belonging to the recently described endemic genus Dishkeya Stonis. The new species is illustrated with photographs of the male genitalia, adults, and habitats. In a pictorial scheme, the male genitalia characters of D. ursipedella are compared with those of all other currently known members of Dishkeya.

DNA barcoding unveils a high diversity of caddisflies (Trichoptera) in the Mount Halimun Salak National Park (West Java; Indonesia).

Background: Trichoptera are one of the most diverse groups of freshwater insects worldwide and one of the main bioindicators for freshwater quality. However, in many areas, caddisflies remain understudied due to lack of taxonomic expertise. Meanwhile, globally increasing anthropogenic stress on freshwater streams also threatens Trichoptera diversity. Methods: To assess the Trichoptera diversity of the area within and around the Mount Halimun Salak National Park (MHSNP or Taman Nasional Gunung Halimun Salak) in West Java (Indonesia), we conducted a molecular-morphological study on Trichoptera diversity using larvae from a benthic survey and adults from hand-netting. In addition to morphological identification, we applied four different molecular taxon delimitation approaches (Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent, Bayesian Poisson Tree Processes, Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery and Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning) based on DNA barcoding of Cytochrome-C-Oxidase I (COI). Results: The molecular delimitation detected 72 to 81 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU). Only five OTUs could be identified to species level by comparing sequences against the BOLD database using BLAST, and four more to the genus level. Adults and larvae could be successfully associated in 18 cases across six families. The high diversity of Trichoptera in this area highlights their potential as bioindicators for water quality assessment. Conclusions: This study provides an example of how molecular approaches can benefit the exploration of hidden diversity in unexplored areas and can be a valuable tool to link life stages. However, our study also highlights the need to improve DNA barcode reference libraries of Trichoptera for the Oriental region.

Contributions to the biodiversity of Vietnam - Results of VIETBIO inventory work and field training in Cuc Phuong National Park.

VIETBIO [Innovative approaches to biodiversity discovery and characterisation in Vietnam] is a bilateral German-Vietnamese research and capacity building project focusing on the development and transfer of new methods and technology towards an integrated biodiversity discovery and monitoring system for Vietnam. Dedicated field training and testing of innovative methodologies were undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park as part and with support of the project, which led to the new biodiversity data and records made available in this article collection. VIETBIO is a collaboration between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin (BGBM) and the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN), the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE), as well as the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB); all Vietnamese institutions belong to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). The article collection "VIETBIO" (https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.coll.63) reports original results of recent biodiversity recording and survey work undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park, northern Vietnam, under the framework of the VIETBIO project. The collection consist of this "main" cover paper - characterising the study area, the general project approaches and activities, while also giving an extensive overview on previous studies from this area - followed by individual papers for higher taxa as studied during the project. The main purpose is to make primary biodiversity records openly available, including several new and interesting findings for this biodiversity-rich conservation area. All individual data papers with their respective primary records are expected to provide useful baselines for further taxonomic, phylogenetic, ecological and conservation-related studies on the respective taxa and, thus, will be maintained as separate datasets, including separate GUIDs also for further updating.

Caddisflies from Myanmar: New records and descriptions of new species (Insecta, Trichoptera).

Adult Trichoptera material collected from different localities in Myanmar resulted in the detection of eleven new species which are described as Rhyacophila inwabumensis spec. nov., Hydropsyche kachinenis spec. nov., Limnocentropus rossicorum spec. nov., Lepidostoma pennicularium spec. nov., Lepidostoma indivisum spec. nov., Apatania naumanni spec. nov., Neophylax obliquostriatus spec. nov., Nothopsyche anawrahta spec. nov., Aplatyphylax bamaricus spec. nov., Aplatyphylax myanmaricus spec. nov., and Oecetis kachinomekana spec. nov. Neophylax nigripunctatus Tian Li 1993 (in Tian et al. 1993), syn. nov. is excluded from Neophylax McLachlan 1871 and synonymized with Phylostenax himalus Mosely 1935. Plectrocnemia bifurcata Tian 1993 (in Tian et al. 1993) is synonymized with P. kainam Malicky 1993, syn. nov. Ninety-eight species are recorded from various places in Myanmar including some inadequately known taxa for which new illustrations of the male genitalia are provided.

Fourteen new species of the genus Thubdora Park, 2018 (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Lecithoceridae) from Uganda, and three new combinations in Ptilothyris Walsingham, 1897 from DR Congo.

Fourteen new species of the Afrotropical genus Thubdora Park, 2018 (Lecithoceridae: Torodorinae) are described from Uganda: Thubdora afropyralidis Park, sp. nov., T. fruticosa Park, sp. nov., T. kibalensis Park, sp. nov., T. klenodes Park, sp. nov., T. latidiscalis Park, sp. nov., T. mirinae Park, sp. nov., T. nemorosa Park, sp. nov., T. retusivalva Park, sp. nov., T. umbratilis Park, sp. nov., and T. wooriana Park, sp. nov. in the aciphalla species-group (10 species); and T. corystos Park, sp. nov., T. narusia Park, sp. nov., T. trigonoides Park, sp. nov., and T. villosiphalla Park, sp. nov. in the acutalis species-group (four species). Four species are reported for the first time from Uganda: T. ambliodes Park, 2018, T. bilobella Park, 2018, T. ealaensis Park De Prins, 2019, and T. ghesquierei Park De Prins, 2019; and the females of T. ealaensis and T. ghesquierei are newly described, and their genitalia are illustrated. In addition, three species of Ptilothyris Walsingham, 1897 previously recorded from DR Congo are transferred to Thubdora: T. brachysema (Meyrick, 1938), comb. nov., T. crocophracta (Meyrick, 1938), comb. nov., and T. nemophorella (Ghesquière, 1940), comb. nov. Lectotypes for T. brachysema and T. crocophracta are designated herein. Identifications of the new species and corresponding females were confirmed based on the comparison of COI barcode sequences. Adults and genitalia of all the new species and the three species transferred from Ptilothyris are illustrated.

Two new species of Homaloxestis Meyrick, 1910 (Lepidoptera: Lecithoceridae) from Uganda, with a checklist of the genus in the Afrotropical Region.

Two new species of the genus Homaloxestis Meyrick, 1910 are described from Uganda, Africa: H. arcuatus sp. nov. and H. lactizonalis sp. nov. A previously known species of the genus from Uganda, H. hemigastra Meyrick, 1931 is transferred to the genus Furcalis Park as F. hemigastra (Meyrick, 1931), comb. nov. The female of F. hemigastra is reported for the first time and described and illustrated. New distributional data for H. lophophora Janse for DR Congo, Tanzania and Uganda are given, and a maximum likelihood-tree of the four COI barcoded species of Homaloxestis is provided to reconfirm the relationship of H. lophophora Janse and H. cholopis (Meyrick). Diagnosis, descriptions and illustrations of adults, male and/or female genitalia for the new species, and the venation of H. lactizonalis sp. nov. are provided. A checklist of the species of the genus Homaloxestis Meyrick in the Afrotropical region is given.

Revision of the genus Ptilothyris Walsingham, 1897 (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Lecithoceridae), with descriptions of eight new species from Africa.

Ptilothyris Walsingham, 1897, a poorly known Afrotropical genus of Lecithoceridae, is revised. Eight new species are described and illustrated: P. subcucullata Park, sp. nov., P. crassiella Park, sp. nov., P. drepanodes Park, sp. nov., P. enormisella Park, sp. nov., P. hylodes Park, sp. nov., P. leifaarviki Park, sp. nov., P. pilosa Park, sp. nov., and P. vokaensis Park, sp. nov. Each species is compared with type specimens of the related species deposited in various museums worldwide. COI barcode sequences of six species were successfully obtained and are provided. Of the 13 previously known African species of the genus, P. serangota ab. cyanea Ghesquière, 1940 is synonymized with P. serangota Meyrick, 1932, and the following three species are excluded from the genus: brachysema Meyrick, 1938, crocophracta Meyrick, 1938, and nemophorella Ghesquière, 1940. The latter three will be transferred to related genera in forthcoming studies. Adults and genitalia of all the known species including the new species are illustrated, and a key to the species is provided.

Contribution to the Trichoptera fauna of the river La Vieja, Bogotá, Colombia (Insecta: Trichoptera).

Investigation of the Trichoptera fauna from the small river La Vieja on the city border of Bogotá yielded a total of 17 species. Nine new species of Trichoptera are described from La Vieja: Atopsyche viejae spec. nov., A. flavoantennata spec. nov., Metrichia trisignata spec. nov., M. longiphallata spec. nov., Smicridea colombosaucia spec. nov., Xiphocentron laviejae spec. nov., Phylloicus monserratensis spec. nov., Marilia bogotaensis spec. nov., and Oecetis chapinera spec. nov. Images of the adults of some species are provided, and the male genitalia are illustrated. The genitalia of three additional species (Hydroptila constricta Bueno-Soria 1984, Polycentropus joergenseni Ulmer 1909, Contulma spec.) are depicted to facilitate their future identifications.

Two new orthoclad species from Colombian Andes (Diptera: Chironomidae).

Lipurometriocnemus. bogotensis sp. n. and Antillocladius laviejae sp. n., two species collected at the "La Vieja" creek, near Bogotá, Colombia; 2666 m, are described and depicted as male imagines. L. bogotensis sp. n. can be separated from other Lipurometriocnemus species by lacking acrosticals setae on thorax, thus an emendation of the genus concept is presented. Antillocladius laviejae sp. n. is differentiated from other closely related members of the genus mainly by the pilosity of wings.

Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera).

We re-evaluate eleven fossils that have previously been assigned to the family Tortricidae, describe one additional fossil, and assess whether observable morphological features warrant confident assignment of these specimens to this family. We provide an overview of the age and origin of the fossils and comment on their contribution towards understanding the phylogeny of the Lepidoptera. Our results show that only one specimen, Antiquatortia histuroides Brown Baixeras gen. and sp. nov., shows a character considered synapomorphic for the family. Six other fossils (Electresia zalesskii Kusnezov, 1941; Tortricidrosis inclusa Skalski, 1973; Tortricites skalskii Kozlov, 1988; Tortricibaltia diakonoffi Skalski, 1992; Polyvena horatis Poinar and Brown, 1993 and a trace fossil purported to be larval feeding damage of Retinia resinella (Linnaeus, 1758)) exhibit a combination of homoplastic characters typical of tortricid moths or characteristic feeding damage. An unnamed species doubtfully assigned to Olethreutinae by Skalski (1992), Spatalistiforma submerga Skalski, 1992, Tortricites florissantanus (Cockerell, 1907), Tortricites destructus (Cockerell, 1916) and Tortricites sadilenkoi Kozlov, 1988 do not show enough character evidence to be convincingly placed in Tortricidae. Therefore, we transfer the three latter species from the collective group Tortricites Kozlov, 1988, defined as an assemblage of fossil leafrollers that cannot be placed with certainty in known genera, to Paleolepidopterites Kozlov, new collective group, defined as a group of fossil lepidopterans whose assignment to a certain family is currently impossible.

Fossil scales illuminate the early evolution of lepidopterans and structural colors.

Lepidopteran scales exhibit remarkably complex ultrastructures, many of which produce structural colors that are the basis for diverse communication strategies. Little is known, however, about the early evolution of lepidopteran scales and their photonic structures. We report scale architectures from Jurassic Lepidoptera from the United Kingdom, Germany, Kazakhstan, and China and from Tarachoptera (a stem group of Amphiesmenoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The Jurassic lepidopterans exhibit a type 1 bilayer scale vestiture: an upper layer of large fused cover scales and a lower layer of small fused ground scales. This scale arrangement, plus preserved herringbone ornamentation on the cover scale surface, is almost identical to those of some extant Micropterigidae. Critically, the fossil scale ultrastructures have periodicities measuring from 140 to 2000 nm and are therefore capable of scattering visible light, providing the earliest evidence of structural colors in the insect fossil record. Optical modeling confirms that diffraction-related scattering mechanisms dominate the photonic properties of the fossil cover scales, which would have displayed broadband metallic hues as in numerous extant Micropterigidae. The fossil tarachopteran scales exhibit a unique suite of characteristics, including small size, elongate-spatulate shape, ridged ornamentation, and irregular arrangement, providing novel insight into the early evolution of lepidopteran scales. Combined, our results provide the earliest evidence for structural coloration in fossil lepidopterans and support the hypothesis that fused wing scales and the type 1 bilayer covering are groundplan features of the group. Wing scales likely had deep origins in earlier amphiesmenopteran lineages before the appearance of the Lepidoptera.

Cecidonius pampeanus, gen. et sp. n.: an overlooked and rare, new gall-inducing micromoth associated with Schinus in southern Brazil (Lepidoptera, Cecidosidae).

Galls induced by the larval stage of cecidosids (Lepidoptera: Cecidosidae) are complex, multi-trophic systems, still poorly studied. They may be associated with other insect feeding guilds, including inquilines, kleptoparasites, cecidophages, parasitoids, and predators. By causing death of the gall inducer early in life and altering the gall phenotype, inquilines may lead to misidentification of the true gall inducers. Here, we describe through light and scanning electron microscopy Cecidonius pampeanus, a new genus and species of cecidosid moth, from the Pampa biome, south Brazil. It induces unnoticed, small galls under swollen stems of Schinus weinmannifolius Mart. ex Engl. (Anacardiaceae). Such galls are severely attacked early in ontogeny either by unidentified parasitoids belonging to Lyrcus Walker (Pteromalidae) that feed upon the inducer, or by inquiline wasps of the genus Allorhogas Gahan (Braconidae). The inquilines modify the galls into large ones that last longer and promptly call attention. Free-living galls are rare and dehiscent, pupation of C. pampeanus occurring on the ground. Due to these reasons the true inducer has been overlooked in this case for more than a century. Additionally we inferred a phylogeny for Cecidosidae using sequences from mitochondrial and nuclear loci, and characterized genetic variation and gene flow across ten populations. Despite its natural history similarities with the African genus Scyrotis, Cecidonius is a much younger lineage, more closely related to the Neotropical cecidosids. C. pampeanus populations, which are now confined to a few mountain areas within its distribution range due to habitat destruction, are also genetically isolated, requiring conservation measures.

On the systematic position of Baltimartyria Skalski, 1995 and description of a new species from Baltic amber (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae).

This paper describes a rare case of a male moth in Baltic amber in an excellent position for establishing a species. The moth represents the second species of the genus Baltimartyria Skalski, 1995, described herein as Baltimartyria rasnitsynisp. n. The detection of this new species prompts research on the systematic position of the genus within the family Micropterigidae. The genus was found to provide none of the apomorphic characters that would allow placement in one of the monophyletic lineages within the family. The genus is provisionally assigned to the "southern sabatincoid group", a weakly supported assemblage of Southern Hemisphere genera. The sister genus has still to be determined. Baltimartyria is the first North Hemisphere representative in this group. Some general aspects of historical biogeography relevant for the group are briefly discussed.