WORLD’S HIGHEST-ALTITUDINAL NEPTICULIDAE FAUNA WAS DISCOVERED AND DOCUMENTED

Published on Monday, 21 November 2016 21:06

Recently, a monograph on the world’s highest-altitudinal Nepticulidae was published. It treats 29 species of leaf-mining pygmy moths (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae) discovered in the northern Andean bush and grass páramo and the central Andean puna at altitudes above 3700 m. These species represent the world’s highest-altitudinal Nepticulidae fauna known. The height record belongs to Stigmella nivea Remeikis & Stonisfrom Peru collected at an elevation of 4700 m. 

(see http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4181.1.1)

Some of these species are leaf-miners on Asteraceae (Pentacalia, Baccharis, Gynoxys and Ageratina plants), Calceolariaceae (Calceolaria), Lamiaceae (Clinopodium) and Rosaceae (Lachemilla). In addition, authors of the monograph discuss recently discovered nepticulid taxa associated with Polylepis forests that is the natural vegetation in much of the High Andes.

http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4181.1.1 (a monograph) or https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309623894_Leaf-mining_Nepticulidae_Lepidoptera_from_record_high_altitudes_documenting_an_entire_new_fauna_in_the_Andean_paramo_and_puna

http://lmaleidykla.lt/ojs/index.php/biologija/article/view/3334/2139 (open Access; a paper on Polylepis-feeders) or https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307871428_Do_leaf-mining_Nepticulidae_occur_in_the_natural_but_so_threatened_Andean_Polylepis_forests