Cremastobombycia socoromaensis sp. nov., the first South American representative of the micromoth genus Cremastobombycia Braun (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Lithocolletinae)

Abstract

The micromoth Cremastobombycia socoromaensis sp. nov. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Lithocolletinae) from the arid highlands of the western slope of the Andes of northern Chile is described and illustrated. Larvae construct bulged leaf mines on the shrub Baccharis tola Phil. (Asteraceae). Pupation occurs in a silk cocoon constructed by the last instar larva inside the mine. The cocoon and the mine surface are pierced by the frontal process of the pupa to allow adult emergence. This discovery represents the first record of Cremastobombycia Braun, 1908 in South America.