ErikJ. van NIEUKERKEN',JariJUNNILAINEN', NikolaySAVENKOV' & Ivars SuLCS' 'NationaalNatuurhistorischMuseum, Leiden,'Vantaa, Finland, 'LatvianMuseumofNatural History, R^a& 'Riga, Latvia TRIFURCULA SILVIAEVAN NIEUKERKEN: BIOLOGYAND NEW RECORDS (LEPIDOPTERA: NEPTICULIDAE) Nieukerken, E. J. van, J. Junnilainen, N. Savenkov & I. Sulcs, 1996. Trifurculasilviae\a.n Nieukerken: biology and new records (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae). - Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 139: 175-179,figs. 1-6. [issn0040-7496].Published 18December 1996. Trifurculasilviaew2,nNieukerken, 1990,previouslyknov^fnonlyfromtheFrenchAJpsonlyhas beendiscoveredineasternLatvia,wherestem-minesandlarvaehavebeendiscoveredon Ono- brychisarenaria.NewrecordsarealsogivenfortheItalianandFrenchAlpsandSpain. NCoLrr2e3s0p0onRdeAncLee:idEerni,kTJ.hveaNneNtiheerulkaenrdkse.n,NationaalNatuurhistorischMuseum,Postbus9517, Keywords.-Nepticulidae,Latvia,disjunctdistribution,stem-mines,biology,newrecords. Trifurcula silviae van Nieukerken, 1990 was de- anted stem-mines of a nepticulid in the foremen- scribed after a small number of specimens from tionedplant. Southeastern France. It was found at relatively low and warm localities in the southern Alps up to high Although the locality is far apart from the area alpine localities (1800 m). Although the biologywas where the species was known, the senior author im- unknown, its relationships in the Trifitrcula subni- mediately considered it most likely to be T. silviae, tidellagroup and its occurrence in meadows without which he could confirm after studying some speci- treesorshrubsindicatedthatitwas, mostlikely, feed- mens. The mines and larvae were also considered to ingonaleguminosousherb,withAnthyllis, Lotusand belongtothisspecies,whichisnowconfirmedbythe Onobrychisassuggestedpossibilities(VanNieukerken firstemergingadults. 1990).Aftervisitingseveralofitslocalities, thesenior Alsoin 1994thespecieswasdiscoveredinSpainby authorhadastrongsuspicionthatthelastplantgenus A. andZ. LastiivkaandsomeunidentifiedNepticuli- was the most likely candidate, since the species dae from G. Bassi contained the first Italian speci- OnobrychismontanaDC.occurredinalllocalities,of- men, confirming a larger distribution than hitherto ten in largenumbers. known. Since theoriginal description was published, two more French specimens were found amongst In the area near Sl^aune, eastern Latvia, the third unidentified material. Thespecies is recorded for the author discovered an unknown Trifurcula when firsttimefromtheareadealtwithbyVanNieukerken sweeping plants of Onobrychisarenaria (Kit.) DC in & Johansson (1990) and by Puplesis (1994), we 1985.ThiswasidentifiedbyR. Puplesisas Trifurcula therefore provide a diagnosis and illustrations as an subnitidella (Duponchel) (at that time the only addition to theseworks. knownspeciesinthisgroup) andpublishedunderits junior synonym T. griseella Wolff by Savenkov Trifurcula (Trifurcula)silviaeVanNieukerken (1989, see also Savenkov 1994). Later the three ju- snpieocriesauatnhdo,rsunhdiaspcpoyvewrietdhtmhoeroerigsipneacliimdeenntsifiocfatitohni,s TriFfruarnccuel,asi1lvikaemwa.NnNWieuCkeeirlkleacn,(1H9t9e0s: 2Al3p0e.s)H,olo1t8y0p0e mS,: turned to the senior author for an identification. In M24u.svieiu.1m98o7f,NavtaunralNHiiesutkoeryr,keLneide&:n,rRimcnhht)er[e(xNaamtiinoenda]l August 1994 they finally discovered empty and ten- 175 TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume139,i996 Figs. 1-3. Trifiircuksilviae,Latvia,Sl^aunearea.-1,Malegenitalia,slide EJvN28.33;2,Idem,detailgnathos;3,Femalegen- italia,slideEJvN2828. Diagnosis tively pale and small (wingspan ca 5.8-7.0 mm). It T. silviaemale lacks the typical yellow patch of could be confused with a small specimen of T. im- otherspecies ofthe T. subnitidellagroup, butcan be mundella{Ze[ìer),wìth T. serotinellaHemài-Sch.a£kr relativelyeasilydistinguishedbyarowofdarkbrown orperhapswithaworn T. cryptella(Stainton),butall scalesalongthecostalfoldoftheforewingandasim- lack the brown scales and cryptellahas awhite hair- ilarrowalongthehindwingcosta.Thespeciesisrela- pencil on the hindwing. Females have a relatively 176 VANNiEUKERKENETAL.: Trifurculasilviae:biology characters ofthe male. Femalegenitalia (fig. 3) differ from T.subnitidellahythemoretruncatedabdominal tip and more numerous setae on anal papillae. For moredetailsseeVan Nieukerken (1990). Biology Host plants. - Onobrychisarenaria(Kit.) DC. and probably O. montanaDC. Life history. — Egg on the stem ofthe hostplant. The larva is about 5 mm long, yellowish. Mines can be found on different heights in the stem, from groundlevel toabout40cm, occasionallywithsever- al mines occurring in the same stem. The mine (fig. 4) is alonggalleryin thebark, typicallywith the lar- va first mining downwards, changing its direction a few times lengthwise. Total length ofmine approxi- mately 8-16 cm. The first 0.5-1.0 cm ofthe mine is mm verynarrow(lessthan0.5 wide), reddishbrown. The remaining part of the mine is paler yellowish, with its width increasing to 2 mm. Frass not com- pletelyin centre, but often on the lateral edge ofthe mine, brown, quitewellvisible in thefresh mine. Voltinism.-Larvaehavebeen foundinAugust, at the same time as old mines, indicating an earlier oc- currence.AdultsfromJunetoAugust,possiblyasone Fig.4.TenantedandvacatedstemminesofTrifurculasilv prolongedgeneration, buttheexistenceoftwogener- aein Onobrychisarenaria;FotoJariJunnilainen. ations cannot be excluded. Cocoon unknown. The lifehistoryof T.silviaeresembles thatof T.subnitidel- la(Duponchel). bluntabdominal tip, butareotherwiseverysimilarto Fiabitat. — Mountain pastures, dry calcareous or theforementionedspecies.Themalegenitalia (fig. 1) sandy hills, usuallywith lowvegetation, occasionally resemble those of T. subnitidella (Duponchel), but with shrubs. In Spain on rocky limestone slopewith thegnathos (fig. 2) lacks theasymmetrical pointand Onobrychis sp., Anthyllis vulneraria, A. montana, has aserrated margin. Malegenitaliaare hard to dis- Astragalus monspessulanus, Hippocrepis comosa and tinguishfirom T. ibericaN^xyNieukerken, 1990 fi'om others.Altitudefrom 200 m to 2000m. Seefig. 5 for Spain, which strongly differs in secondary sexual animpressionoftheLatvianhabitat. Fig. 5. Habitat of Trifur- culasilviaein Sl^aune area, withplantsofOnobrychisin foreground. Foto Jari Junnilainen. 177 TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume139,i996 Fig. 6. Distribution of TrìfurculasilviaeinEurope, plotted on 50X50 km squares. Discussion Distribution (fig. 6) Spain, French and Italian Alps and Latvia. Most likely to occur in other localities, especially in the The òljaune locality, also known as the nature re- AlpsandsouthernEurope, butpossiblywithdisjunct serveGreb|akalns, isasandyridge,closetothevillage distribution. Seediscussion. Slçaune in the extreme eastern part ofLatvia, just a few kilometers from the Russian border. The ridge 1 dM,at4erkimalNexEaymgiiannesd((HitneasdAdlipteiso)n,t0o4.tvyipie.sle9r8i9es-)2.2.-vifir.aln9g8e9:, o1r2ig0i0n0atyeedarsaftbepr.Tthheelleasntghgtlaocfiatthieonr,idgaeppisro6xkimma,terilsy- MB.adAe.leBiennegt(sSsaovnoie()co,il0.3.Bveinigit.sls9o7n7),;R.1 B<5u,vaBtess(caonlsl:. BCuovlatd)e.l-a ing 20-30 m above the surrounding plains. The ITALY: 1 S, Mompantero, Mt. Rocciamelone (Piemonte), slopes are covered with pine forest or mixed forest 1200 m, 18.vi.1993, G. Bassi (coll. Bassi). -Latvia: 3 S, withmanyshrubs,suchasEuonymus, Cotoneasterand âlçaune (Shkyanes), 07.vi.l985, 29.vi.1986, N. V. Saven- Corylus. There are also open places, which are kov, sweeping over Onobiychis arenaria (coll. Savenkov), thought to have originated either as gravel pits or idem, 07.vi.1989, atlight (coll. ^ulcs); 1 S,\ ?, Sl^aune, wood-burningplaces. Theareahas acontinentaland S&ll4^.avJui..n1eJ9u99n4.n,viilfial.yilin9ne9gn4ovb(ecyrollOs.nwoeNbeurpypicnphgoinseOannro,ebnrayJricuanh,niisKl.aairnNeenunap)r;piao,n2eêKn., xpoesrtotwhietrhmremliicctroeclleimmeanttesaonfdthies kPonnotwinc ftloorbaeaanndofuatu-- Ninuepn)p;omniennes&anJd.lJaruvnanei,lSali^naeunne,(Co1l8i.sv.iiiN.ulp99p4o,naednu,ltsJuenmneirlga-- n(aKi,t.n)otDaCbl,yAwsittrhagpallaunstdsansiuccuhsaKsetOzn.oabrnydchDirsacaorceenpahrai-a i(nrgmnfhr,omcol2ls2..iSiuil.c1s99&5Jounnnwialradisn,enJ)..J-usnpnaiilna:inòenS,&\ 9I.,pSruolvc.s tloumberuryelsicchtisafnaroL.m(tsheeeSSuulbcbsor1e9a7l5)p.eTrhioedseanardeotchcouurghitn Teruel,Alcalad&elaSelva, 1400m, 22.vi.1994,atlight 1 h openplacesonslopesoftheridge. aftersunset,A. L.Lastüvka. Several Lepidoptera species in Latvia are known from this area only, such as Heliophobus kitti (Scha- werda) SeveralelementsoftheeasternEuropeanfau- . 178 VANNlEUKHRKENETAL.: Trifurculasilviae:biology References na occur here, such as Cryphia ereptricida (Treitsch- ke), Lacanobia splendens (Hübner), Cuberà leptogra- Nieukerken, E. J. van, 1990. The Trifurcula subnitidella /)/7ÄWehrli, Steganiacararia(Hübner) and Udeacos- group(Lepidoptera:Nepticulidae) : taxonomy,distribu- talis (Eversmann) amongst others (Savenkov 1986, tion and biology. -Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 133 : 205-238. ^ulcs 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978). Most interesting, however, is a numberofLepido- NieTurkifeurrkceunl,iniE..InJ.Jovhaannss&o:n,JoR.haentsaslo.nT,heR.N,ept1i9c9u0l.idTareiabnuds ptera associated with Onobrychis arenaria, and only Opostegidae of North West Europe. - Fauna knownfromthislocalityinLatvia:Agrodiaetusdamon EntomologicaScandinavica23 239-321. (Denis & Schiffermüller) (Sulcs 1964), Zygaena car- Puplesis,R., 1994.TheNepticulid:aeofeasternEuropeand niolicaScopoli forma berolinensisStaudinger (Saven- Asia : Western, Central and Eastern parts. - Backhuys lknooocvawl1pT9lr8ai6nf)tu,ricnCiydLdaaitsvaiilacv,iaaeeic.nacnOla.udSaeórdAenzian^retithae(iLsSauatlcvrsiaar1ne9R7a6en)dd,Lvaiesnrtdy. SavRnPeuuansbklsooiifsvahn,e]Lr.aNst.,v,iLa1.e9i8d-6e.n.LNat2ev9iw1jaspsppe.cE,ine8ts4oo0mfoflLigeospg.isdo2p9ter:a2i4n-3t0h.efa[uIn- Most populations ofthis plant are adventive and oc- Savenkov, N., 1989. New and rare Lepidoptera species in curinsecondaryhabitatssuchas roadvergesandrail- thefaunaofLatvia.Thereportof1987. —LatvijasEnto- ways. Natural populationsarescarce, and thepresent mologs32: 86-91. [InRussian]. godanaremdoeisndthahasesclboaenrfegeinsntfe.oduDtneosdptnihiotsewhltoechraoleritoeylu.sgeWhaensedmasrachyhoutflhoderrbeietf,orAre.e- SSualvctDeshan,ebkoafAv.a,u,unnNa1.m9,uo6zf4e1.j9Ls9a.t4N-v.eiGauNa,enedcworulsnla.edncRdtiwegdreaanrmie5ag:iLinenblpeyipkrdaeiosnnpsnt.t1eer9a90As-rp1te9ec9nie4s.dei-rn assume that the occurrence of T. silviae is also ex- Lepidopteren-FaunaLettlands,3.-FaunaLatvijskojSSR tremelylocalized, and thatits distribution in North- sopredel'nychterritorij4: 165-202. [InRussian]. eastern Europemightalsoberatherdisjunct, compa- Sulcs, A., 1973. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten der rable to that ofA. damon. In the Alps, however, we Lepidopteren-Fauna Lettlands, 5. -Annales Entomolo- kexnpoewctnaatmuprcehsenlatr.geNrodwistirtisbmutiinoensoafrethiksnsopwenc,iesittwhialnl SulNgcisac,tiuFreAs.nc,nhiuctiz1o93b79j5e.:k1t-sC1h6Ga.rreabkjtaekrailsntsi.sc-heIn:KeOncnhzreaincahepnrimedte-s probablybefound morefrequently. satel'nychprirodnychob"ektovvLatvijskojSSR: 83-99. Riga,Zinatne. Sulcs, A., 1976. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten der Acknowledgements Lepidopteren-Fauna Lettlands, 6. -Annales Entomolo- The authors are indebted to Ales and Zdenek giciFennici42:4-21. Sulcs, A., 1978. Heliophobus texturata ssp. kitti, eine für Lastüvka for the information on the Spanish record Lettland neue Noktuide (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). - and to B. Bengtsson, G. Bassi and R. Buvat for the NotulaeEntomologicae58 27-31. loan of material. We thank P. A. J. Frigge and : J. B. M. Thissen (Wageningen, Netherlands) for the permissionto usetheirprogram 'stipt-eu' toprepare fig. 6. S. Whitebread kindly corrected the English Received: 1 October 1996 languague. Accepted: 21 October 1996 179