Lauri Kaila

A new subfamily of bagworm moths is described: Tenuipsychinae subfam. nov., to accompany the new genus Tenuipsyche gen. nov. and 2 new species, Tenuipsyche davisi sp. nov., and Tenuipsyche nishidai sp. nov., based on unique and unusual morphology, biology, and their phylogenetic position inferred via phylogenomic analysis of 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes and 3 nuclear markers. The biology is highly distinctive in that the fungal-feeding larvae construct long, narrow bags permanently affixed to a substrate, rendering them sessile, a very unusual condition among the Psychidae. Furthermore, the genera Antillonatus, Acoremata, Guttulapsyche, and Lamyristis are transferred to Tenuipsychinae due to shared adult morphology. Species in the subfamily have winged female forms and appear to occur on most continents across the world within tropical and subtropical areas where many undescribed taxa are known. Phylogenetic analysis confirms that Tenuipsychinae is a monophyletic subfamily which forms a sister clade to the previously described female winged subfamilies Arrhenophaninae and Pseudarbelinae.

American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is a native North American fruit crop, cultivated mainly in a small number of countries, including the USA, Canada, Chile in the New World, and Türkiye, Germany, Belarus, Poland and Sweden in Eurasia. In Finland, experimental and commercial cultivation of American cranberries has recently been initiated, developing new technology for soilless table-top cultivation in high plastic tunnels. Here we report, for the first time, that Aphis fabae, a polyphagous aphid and eight species of lepidopterans (moth larvae) feed on American cranberry plants in Finland. Six species of lepidopterans belong to the family Noctuidae (Lacanobia contigua, Lacanobia oleracea, Xestia baja, Anarta trifolii, Xanthia togata and Amphipyra pyramidea) and two species to the family Geometridae (Biston betularia and Hypomecis roboraria). These insects may become pests of economic importance to Finnish producers. All insects reported in this study have established populations in Finland, feeding on many deciduous trees and herbaceous grasses. The proximity of landscapes containing such plants might have influenced the migration of these insects into the cranberry crop.

Pyralis papaleonei sp. nov . is described based on diagnostic phenotypic and genital morphological characters as well as unique DNA barcodes (COI gene – cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and compared with closely related taxa occurring in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely P. kacheticalis and P. regalis . The new species is endemic to the island of Crete and currently only known from the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) in the western part of the island. Pyralis kacheticalis is recorded from Iraq and Armenia for the first time.

Four new species, Elachista silfverbergi sp. nov. from Ethiopia and Kenya, E. griseifrons sp. nov. from Ethiopia, E. levis sp. nov. from Tanzania, and E. conica sp. nov. from Ethiopia are described. The habitus and genitalia are diagnosed and illustrated in detail. Identification keys to the Afrotropical species of the E. praelineata species group, based on male and female genitalia, are provided.

Elachista dimorphella sp. nov. , the first known species with a sexually dimorphic wing pattern of the large subgenus Aphelosetia of the genus Elachista is described. The male is dark grey with an indistinct forewing pattern, the female yellowish white, variably with a yellow to honey-yellow pattern and some brown scales. The male and female were associated by their DNA barcodes that cluster together with nearly no variation within the cluster. Based on original type material or other material from the vicinity of the type locality, and/or barcode data, we also characterise previously unknown or misinterpreted species or sexes of close relatives of E. dimorphella : male of E. amseli Rebel, 1933, a species with unclear status; the previously unknown male of E. constitella Frey, 1859, and female of E. maculata Parenti, 1978. The male of E. maculata has widely but erroneously been considered to be E. constitella .

Accounting for the estimated number of undescribed species, Gelechioidea are thought to be among the most species‐rich superfamilies of Lepidoptera, with 18,500 described species, including numerous pests of economically significant crops such as cotton, tomato and wheat. Family‐level topology of the superfamily and the extent and the number of accepted families have received important revisions throughout the previous phylogenetic work on the group. Here we extracted 1767 nuclear protein‐coding genes from genomic and transcriptomic data from 57 ingroup taxa, including Haplochrois buvati Baldizzone and Urodeta hibernella Staudinger, for which the whole‐genome sequences were generated in this study. We first analyse this phylogenomic dataset within a maximum likelihood framework to revisit the interfamilial relationships within Gelechioidea and then integrate it with the existing taxon‐rich, Sanger‐sequenced data from up to 24 genes to re‐evaluate the extent of the 20 currently accepted families by analysing this integrated dataset encompassing 381 ingroup taxa. Although we also recover some of the previously suggested multifamilial clades, the backbone topology we infer presents novel arrangements of families compared to previously published work: overall, we observe that Gelechioidea have diversified in four main lineages and find Stenomatinae (Depressariidae) to be sister to the rest of Gelechioidea. We therefore elevate it to family, Stenomatidae stat. nov . Moreover, we find the current circumscription of Elachistidae to be non‐monophyletic and propose a new delimitation to include the subfamilies Elachistinae, Parametriotinae, Cacochroinae (Depressariidae) and Ethmiinae stat. nov .

A male of the little-known species Urodeta longa Sruoga & Kaila, 2019 is described for the first time based on material collected in northern Thailand. The species is diagnosed based on characters found in the habitus and genitalia, which are illustrated in detail. Conspecificity of male and female specimens is confirmed by DNA barcodes. Identification keys to all known Asian species of the genus Urodeta Stainton, 1869, based on male and female genitalia, are provided. Exceptionally high intra-generic barcode divergence among Urodeta species is reported.

The species of the Elachista bedellella group with their male genitalia similar with those of E. graeca Parenti, 2002 and E. rudectella Stainton, 1851 are treated. The species share the presence of a cornutus in the male vesica. We restrict species here treated further by the shape of the juxta lobes. The species assemblage considered here apparently does not form a monophylum. The rationale is to narrow down the large group of unrevised species to more manageable units using distinctive characters. Known and named species close to the ones treated here are included in the diagnoses. Twelve species are here treated in detail, five of which are described as new: Elachista belona Kaila & Sruoga, sp. nov. (Russia: Tuva), E. granicorna Kaila & Sruoga, sp. nov. (Tajikistan), E. lagotara Kaila & Sruoga, sp. nov. (Turkmenistan), E. phantasma Kaila & Sruoga, sp. nov. (Kyrgyzstan) and E. scolopsa Kaila & Sruoga, sp. nov. (Lebanon). The females of E. multipunctata Sruoga, 1990, E. graeca Parenti and E. derbendi Parenti, 1981 are described for the first time.

Elachista dimicatella Rebel, 1903, has so far been considered a species in Europe with restricted distribution from Ukraine to western France. The species occurs on mountainous regions. However, the in-depth analysis of a taxonomically uncertain species of Elachista from the Cottian Alps (Italy), especially through DNA barcoding and subsequent morphological studies, led to the realization that individuals previously identified as E. dimicatella from the Cottian Alps and the Pyrenees were misidentified. According to our research, a total of three species can be differentiated: E. dimicatella from Carpathians and its former junior synonym E. niphadophanes Meyrick, 1937, sp. rev., from the Pyrenees, as well as the newly described E. cottiellasp. nov. from southwestern Alps, hitherto incorrectly identified as E. dimicatella. Diagnostic features of the three species are discussed and illustrated. Elachista dimicatella and E. niphadophanes are redescribed.

Systematics and taxonomy of the gelechioid subfamily Coelopoetinae are reviewed. Following the current classification, this group is considered to form its own monotypic subfamily in Pterolonchidae with one recognized genus, Coelopoeta, after a convoluted and, in part, arguably conjectural, historical systematic treatment. On morphological basis (appearance, male genitalia) and with support from DNA barcodes, the genus is divided into two discrete units probably meriting recognition as separate genera. The species groups are informally treated as the nominate C. glutinosi species group, and the C. fissurina species group. In the absence of knowledge of females or the biologies of any of the species of the C. fissurina group, species of both groups are here provisionally included in Coelopoeta. In total, 10 species are recognized, seven of which are here described as new: C. glutinosi species group: C. alboflava Kaila, sp. nov., C. aprica Kaila, sp. nov., C. aurora Kaila, sp. nov., C. fulminea Kaila, sp. nov. and C. sariae Kaila, sp. nov.; C. fissurina species group: C. fissurina Kaila, sp. nov. and C. valalbui Kaila, sp. nov. The three previously known species, C. glutinosi Walsingham, 1907, C. maiadella Kaila, 1995 and C. phaceliae Kaila, 1995 are redescribed. All three of these species belong to the glutinosi species group. A lectotype is designated for C. glutinosi Walsingham, 1907. Some southwestern Coelopoeta species are potentially under threat of decline or even extinction due to the apparently increasingly intense and frequent forest fires. This threat is significant as the species with known life histories spend their entire life cycles above ground in low vegetation.