A review of the North American genus Epimartyria (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae) with a discussion of the larval plastron

Abstract

The indigenous North American micropterigid genus Epimartyria Walsingham,1898 is revised. Three species are recognized, including E. auricrinella Walsingham, 1898 which occurs widely over much of the northeastern United States and Canada, a new species, E. bimaculella Davis and Landry from northwestern United States and Canada, and E. pardella (Walsingham, 1880) from northern California to northern Oregon. The larva of E. auricrinella is described in detail, supplemented with illustrations of the external structure of the larval integument. The larval plastron is described and illustrated for Epimartyria, and this is compared with the plastrons of Neomicropteryx Issiki, 1931 and Micropterix Hübner, 1825. COI barcode sequences show that the three species are genetically distinct, congruent with morphological differences. Marked haplotype divergence within some E. auricrinella populations appears to be unrelated to morphology, geography or phenology.