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This study identifies major diagnostic morphological and some biological characters of leaf mines of Nepticulidae and provides a pictorial guide to the morphological characters with detection frequencies for each character. Drawing on detection frequencies, it establishes that the most typical leaf mine of Nepticulidae belongs to one of the two mor...
Citations
... In the most recent paper, various diagnostic characters of leaf mines are identified, grouped, and illustrated, with the calculation of their detection frequencies (Stonis et al., 2022a). It is also very important to mention the most recent publication by Lithuanian researchers ' A guide to leaf mines of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae' by Stonis et al. (2022b). ...
... The study sample, which was based solely on the leaf mines of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae, comprised, 77 species in total. The studied Nepticulidae belong to the fauna of the temperate forest biome (Stonis et al., 2022a). Following the pictorial scheme of the morphological characters of Nepticulidae leaf mines by Stonis et al. (2022a), a character-coding datasheet was compiled for leaf mines of each species of the sample. ...
The article examines the aspects of dependence of some leaf mine characters. The correlation between the deposition of frass and the morphological type of the leaf mine suggests that ecological adaptations associated with the drying of the frass are diverse, depending on the morphological type the leaf mine. The colour of frass has little in common with the systematic group (i.e., family) of host plants. Black frass is characteristic and predominant among miners of any host plant family. The study also suggests that the location of frass is at least partially associated with different morphological types of leaf mines. When summarising the results of the study, it can be stated that the filling of the initial part of the mine with frass is related to the filling of the whole gallery of the leaf mine.
The publication deals with 228 species of Nepticulidae (or pygmy moths) from the Neotropics (i.e., the Neotropical and Ando-Patagonian regions) and adjacent areas. The species are illustrated with photographs or drawings of adult forewings, the male genitalia and, if available, leaf mines. In addition to the illustrated species review, the monograph announces about the launching of the first electronic diagnostic system (a free electronic tool on the internet) designed for the identification of species of Nepticulidae and includes chapters on the global biodiversity inventory, the collecting of adults and larvae of pygmy moths, preparation of micro-mounts of genitalia structures of Nepticulidae, global generic composition of the family, some particularities of Nepticulidae biology, a unique morphology guide based on the forewing pattern and male genitalia, descriptions of four newly named species, and a taxonomic checklist of the species currently known from the Neotropics and adjacent areas.
Nepticulidae are characterized by a specialized mode of life: their larvae are miners in green (photosynthetic) plant tissues. Sometimes they are referred to as plant pests or potential pests. On the other hand, being extremely small and living inside plant tissues, Nepticulidae, like other endobiotic organisms, are still under-sampled and under-studied in many regions of the world. There is a serious lack of qualified professionals and diagnostic tools that can be used not only by biotaxonomists but also by other users (including educators as well as foresters, gardeners, conservationists).
With this project, the authors aimed to develop and present a tool for the identification of leaf and stem mines and taxa, which would be freely accessible for today’s users. Together with the current guide, we developed and provided for use the first electronic diagnostic system for mines and species of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae: “Diagnostics of mines of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae. An idetification tool”.
