Toowoomba toowoomba De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick, 2025

Prins, Jurate De, Hartley, Diana, Sruoga, Virginijus, Nicholls, James, Wallace, Jesse & Zwick, Andreas, 2025, Diversity of Australian Ornixolinae (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) with taxonomic and nomenclatural acts within the related taxa (Acrocercopinae and Gracillariinae) based on the evidence of museomics, bionomics, and mitogenomics, Zootaxa 5616 (1), pp. 1-340 : 267-279

Toowoomba toowoomba De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick , sp. nov.

( Figs 549–552, 554–556, 558, 637)

Type locality: Australia, Queensland, Toowoomba, Prince Henry Heights.

Type specimens: Holotype ♀ ( Fig. 550): [label verbatim] [1] 27.33°S 151.59°E / Prince Henry / Heights 620m / Toowoomba Q.[ueensland]/2 Apr. [il] 1985/ I. F.B. Common, DNA sample NULT023471, genitalia slide ANIC 6281 , ANIC Acc. no 31 085545, in ANIC (Canberra).

Paratype ♂: Queensland, Mt. Spec , 2600 ft., 4 Mar [ch] 1964, leg. I.F.B. Common & M.S. Upton, NULT023596, genitalia slide ANIC 6282 , ANIC Acc. no 31 085621, in ANIC (Canberra) .

Type depository: Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Diagnosis: forewing pattern strongly resembles that of Cuphodes albomarginata Stainton, 1862 and the congeneric species T. dialeuca . The specimens of T. toowoomba and C. albomarginata species when they are placed together differ strongly by their size. The specimens of Toowoomba toowoomba sp. nov. are significantly bigger than the specimens belonging to C. albomarginata . The dorsal margin of forewing is also diagnostic, in T. toowoomba sp. nov. dorsal margin with very clear broad white stripe in which multi vertical white dashes or small waves, while in C. albomarginata the stripe on dorsal margin is absent or just very narrow rudimental; apical part of forewing is diagnostic also: in T. toowoomba sp. nov. the apical spot is small, but clearly visible, black, dark fuscous, fringe line is very clear continuously encircling the apex, termen and tornus, while in C. albomarginata the apical spot is very tiny, not present in all specimens and fringe line is very short and present only around termen. Mid legs in T. toowoomba sp. nov. thick, fuscous, heavily pilose, only apical tarsomeres white and not pilose, hind tibia in T. toowoomba dark ochreous, heavily pilose, hind tarsi white with ochreous apices. Two congeneric species T. dialeuca and T. toowoomba sp. nov. are almost indistinguishable following the characters of habitus. The tiny difference in external morphology can be found in the colour and shading of the hind tarsus. In T. dialeuca the pattern in highly contrasting interchanging between a dark fuscous ring and a white ring, while in T. toowoomba sp. nov. the ochreous shading on hind tarsus is predominant. Clearer and undoubtful diagnostic characters should be looked at in internal morphology (genitalia structures), bionomics and mitogenomics. Female genitalia and especially the sterigma in both species T. dialeuca and T. toowoomba sp. nov. are strikingly different. In T. dialeuca segment VII is fully sclerotised with deep invagination on sternum VII, while in T. toowoomba sp. nov. is with complex sterigmatic sclerotisations, consisting of two symmetrical lobes bridged by strongly sclerotised M-shaped connection, covering the sclerotised antrum; the anterior edge of sterigmatic lobes in T. toowoomba sp. nov. is connected by concave, strongly sclerotised outline. Micromorphology of genitalia structures and mitogenomics as described above undoubtfully defines T. toowoomba sp. nov. as a new species.

Description: Wingspan 5.5–6.0 mm; length of the forewing 2.75–3.0 mm ( Figs 549, 550).

Head: vertex shining white, with intermixture of ochreous on lateral sides, covered with a tuft of smooth, pressed, filiform scales, occiput white covered by two tufts of short piliform scales, lateral sides of occiput ochreous.Antenna smooth, with annulation, brownish ochreous along all its length; scape ochreous, and strongly dark ochreous almost fuscous at the dorsal surface.

Thorax ( Fig. 549, 550): shining white; tegula unicoloured fuscous brown; forewing clearly divided into two sectors: costal and dorsal. Anterior (costal) dark ochreous part occupies ca. 2/3 of the width of forewing, and dorsal white part with unequal anterior margin. Costa is dotted with small rectangular yellow dots that are separated by darker ochreous patches. Dorsal stripe gradually narrows towards tornus, anterior margin of dorsal stripe with small vertical dashes or small waves. Apical spot is very clear, a comma-shaped white patch is attached to dark apical spot at anterior side, apical line is narrow but clearly and equally defined surrounding apex, termen and tornus; fringe line is well defined, gently follows the apical line; fringe light ochreous with golden shine at sub-apical part of dorsum, shorter at sub-anterior part, the longest at mid of dorsum and again shortening at sub-basal part of dorsum. Hindwing narrow, slightly shorter than forewing, with sharply pointed apex, ochreous, slightly darker in shading than forewing. Fringe long, fuscous ochreous at costal margin and light golden ochreous at dorsal margin, the longest fringe, ca. as long as 6× the width of forewing, are at the basal part of the dorsal margin of hindwing. Mid legs thick and heavily pilose with short but very dense piliform scales, terminal tarsomeres white, tip of mid tarsus ochreous; hind femur dark ochreous, without appraised piliform scales, hind tibia densely covered with short but comparably thick piliform scales, hind tarsomeres I and II light ochreous, terminal tarsomeres white, tip of tarsus light fuscous.

Abdomen ( Figs 556, 558): tergites light grey, terminal genital segments matte light grey. Margins of abdominal opening on sternum II broadly and strongly sclerotised, especially anterior parts of lateral sides anteriorly; ventral crossing joint narrow but strongly sclerotised, slightly concave; corners of abdominal opening broadly angulated, sternal apodemes absent, their function is taken by a sternal plate with broadly sclerotised lateral sides; tergal apodemes initiate at the margin on tergum I, without any angulations or appendages at bases; tergal apodemes are slightly bent inwards at mid part and interrupted at mid part by tiny thickened appendices; a transverse strongly sclerotised joint, which is bent posteriad, connects the approaching midden parts of tergal apodemes; apices of tergal apodemes are bent towards each other, sharp. A melanised band stretches along all sterna in both sexes: males and females. In males, the anterior margin of sternum VII is narrowly but strongly sclerotised, posterior margin bears and androconial sclerotised ring.

Male genitalia ( Figs 551, 552): Tegumen broad, very short with broadly rounded apex covered with tiny tubercules, sub-scaphium is developed, narrow band shaped, with rounded apex, setae-free; anal tube not perceptible; two huge socii carrying a big lateral comb are present; valvae short with broad, cut apices, covered with tiny tubercules, especially dense at basal and sub-basal ventral area; cucullus with an extended and curved apical extensional corner, that is covered with short stout setae, ventral valval sub-apical margin bears broad flap with irregularly curved and dentate anterior part; sub-basal and mid part of ventral valval margin bears a row of spiculose hanging thick and sharp setae, basal valval apodemes are long, a conical dorsal projection near the base of the valva is present; vinculum strongly developed, with very broad lateral sides that are bent into the vincular cavity, lateral sides covered with tiny tubercules, apical part of vinculum tuberculae-free, mid vincular suture absent; saccus very small, but perceptible as a narrow trapezoid extension.Aedeagus short, as long as ca. 650 µm, with a sharp arrow-shaped tip of aedeagus and a broad sclerotisation on mid part of aedeagus; coecum weaker sclerotised than the main body, more or less triangular-shaped.

Female genitalia ( Figs 554, 555): Papillae anales flattened, fused with anterior parts. Segment VIII, short reduced, weakly sclerotised; apophyses posteriores with very broad triangular bases, rather short, just not reaching half of segment VIII with their blunt apices; the base ring of apophyses anteriores and the posterior margin of segment VIII are strongly sclerotised, apophyses anteriores ca. 2.5× longer than apophyses posteriores, slender, slightly sinuating, reaching the anterior margin with their apices. Sterigma on posterior margin of segment VII, consisting of two folds, keeping a broad cup-shaped sclerotised antrum and connected by basal convex narrow tape-shaped joint and apical bridge with broad sclerotised apical sides. Segment VII consists of two parts: 1) anterior—consisting of broad semi-conical part with melanised arced posterior and sclerotised anterior margins and 2) posterior consisting of short, broad, cylindrical-shaped part. Ostium bursae opens at posterior arc of segment VII with broad, sclerotised cup-shaped antrum; ductus bursae rather short, narrow in girth, melanised without any supportive sclerotisations. Corpus bursae irregular long sac-shaped, more than 2× longer than segment VII, with transparent but wrinkled wall; signal area is at sub-basal part of corpus bursae and consists of a signal belt that girdles corpus bursae; signal belt consists of tiny sclerotised scobinations.

Mitogenomic data: The mitochondrial genomes from holotype and paratype are virtually identical and very strongly supported as forming a monophylum. The species is a relatively distant yet always recovered and well-supported sister to T. dialeuca ( Fig. 637).

Intraspecific variability: type specimens of this species were collected at two localities in Queensland that are separated from each other more than 1000 km. Nevertheless, the mitogenomes of the holotype and the paratype are almost identical. With great confidence we match the female holotype and the male paratype with each other in a species-group taxon Toowoomba toowoomba sp. nov. Morphological characters of female genitalia of the undescribed taxon NULT023356, ANIC 6280, ANIC Acc. no 31 085620 clearly demonstrate that more species are involved in this clade. We need more material to match the mitogenomic data of the type species Toowoomba dialeuca ( Turner, 1940) , presented hereabove as NULT023231, ANIC Acc. no 31 075717 of which unfortunately, micromorphological data of genitalia are absent. We need intact specimens of T. dialeuca that correspond with the mitogenomic data of the paratype of T. dialeuca . So, the micromorphology of the type species T. dialeuca can be studied and most probably new species with the DNA data NULT023356 can be discovered.

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Known from two localities: Australia: Queensland.

Etymology. The species name t oowoomba derives from the locality of occurrence city Toowoomba in Queensland. This name is thought to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning “place where water sits” or “place of melon”(see: https://www.tr.qld.gov.au/our-region/history/historic-locations/117-historic-toowoomba-region-locations#). The species-group name is a noun of the feminine gender in the nominative case and in apposition to the generic name in the nominative case.

Taxonomic and nomenclatural acts within the related taxa: changes within the subfamily Acrocercopinae

Taxonomic act: All mitochondrial genome analyses maximally supported a monophylum that includes the lineages Ponga gen. n. + Gibbovalva and Ornica gen. n. + Dondavisia gen. n. ( Figs 636, 639). Therefore, we place these newly described genera Dondavisia gen. n., Ornica gen. n., Ponga gen. n. in the subfamily Acrocercopinae .

33. Dondavisia De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick , gen. n.

“ Dondavisia De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick , gen. n. ”—original citation.

Type species: Dondavisia digitata De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick , sp. nov., by present designation and monotypy.

Diagnosis: Following the forewing ornamentation, this new genus falls in the same group of the genera Acrocercops and Gibbovalva . Two markings—dark fuscous transverse stripe and horizontally prolonged patch—on apical part of the forewing are highly diagnostic. The generic diagnostic characters should be looked in mitogenomics. Dondavisia gen. n. is the sister lineage of Ornica gen. n. Only the holotype of the type species series is known and it is not in perfect condition. Therefore, the wing pattern description might be incomplete, but the internal micromorphological characters of male and mitogenomics allow diagnosing this new genus easily. Bionomics of this new genus and its type species is not known. Background colour of the forewing is white with 2–3 ochreous fasciae; this ornamentation reminds the wing pattern of the specimens belonging to the genera Acrocercops and Gibbovalva . Male genitalia pattern of the type species reminds very closely those of Gibbovalva lambertiae sp. nov. due to the presence of an appendage on the costal margin of valva. The following diagnostic differences are observed:

● In G. lambertiae sp. nov. the costal appendage is trapezoid-shaped, while in D. digitata sp. nov. the costal appendix is digitiform.

● In G. lambertiae sp. nov. tegumen is narrow, especially at base, while in D. digitata sp. nov. tegumen is broad, especially at base, even with folded lateral sides.

● In G. lambertiae sp. nov. transtilla is incomplete, while in D. digitata sp. nov. transtilla is complete.

● In G. lambertiae sp. nov. saccus is round shaped, while in D. digitata sp. nov. saccus is triangular with a sharp anterior part.

A brush of androconial coremata on sacculus in G. lambertiae sp. nov. easily distinguishes both new species that belong to two different genera of Acrocercopinae .

Description: Wingspan ca. 7.1 mm; length of the forewing ca. 3.7 mm ( Fig. 593).

Head: Vertex smooth white. Frons white, consisting of long lamella-shaped scales. Maxillary palpus rather long, slender. Labial palpus long, slender with sharp apex, ca. 2.5× longer than the eye, covered with pressed short scales. Antenna monochromous, without annulation, pedicel slightly shorter than the following flagellomere; scape enlarged.

Thorax: concolourous with the ground colour of forewings. Forewing narrowly elongated, with pointed apex, ground colour dirty white with two or three transverse ochreous fasciae, apical part with transverse dark fuscous stripe and prolonged apical spot—a diagnostic character. The fringe line present, running along apical part, termen and tornus. Hindwing narrow, elongate, sharply pointed. Mid tibia and hind tibia with a row of short erected scales, median spurs ca; as long as 1/3 of tibiae length, apical much shorter, tarsi predominantly dirty white.

Abdomen: Abdominal opening triangular with rounded and thickened posterior corners, margins of abdominal opening are strongly sclerotised, anterior margin of lateral arms is thickened; sternal joint of abdominal opening on sternum II convex, sclerotised, sternal apodemes very short, angulated; tergal apodemes, long, slender, straight with slightly hooked apices. The intermediate joint between the genital segment and sternum VII in males with sclerotised structure.

Male genitalia: Tegumen very long, broad with truncate apical part and folded basal sides; valvae slightly longer than tegumen, rather broad, straight at costa, and gently curved to broadly rounded apex on ventral margin, a digitiform appendix is present at the base of costa; transtilla complete, narrow; vinculum U-shaped; saccus short, with sharp anterior part. Aedeagus slightly shorter than valva, slender, straight, cylindrical, dentate at lateral sides of sub-vesical sector.

Female genitalia: No data.

Mitogenomic data: All analyses recovered the genus consistently and with very strong support as sister to Ornica gen. n. ( Figs 636, 639).

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Australian Region: Australia: Queensland.

Etymology: The eponymic genus name Dondavisia is to honour the outstanding Gracillariidae specialist Donald R. Davis, who strongly supported the concept of this revisionary treatment, but unfortunately, passed away before this monograph was published. The generic name is of the feminine gender.

Species richness: World: 1 species; Australian Region: 1 species.

Type species: Dondavisia digitata De Prins, Sruoga & Zwick , sp. nov.

( Figs 593–602, 636)

Type locality: Australia, Queensland, Kuranda.

Type specimen: Holotype ♂: [labels verbatim] [1] 16°48’S 145°38’E /top of the Range /19 Butler Drive / Kuranda Qld [Queensland]/ 335m GPS/1–15 Nov [ember] 2015/ D. C. F. Rentz. DNA sample NULT025099, genitalia slide ANIC 6239 , ANIC Acc. no 31 085517, in ANIC (Canberra).

Type depository: Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Diagnosis: This type species Dondavisia digitata sp. nov. of the monotypic genus Dondavisia gen. n. is represented by the character sets of both levels: generic level and species level. When more species belonging to the genus Dondavisia gen. n. are described, we shall separate both levels of character sets.

Description: Wingspan ca. 7.1 mm; length of the forewing 3.7 mm ( Fig. 593).

Head ( Figs 594, 595): Vertex smooth white. Frons white, consisting of long lamella-shaped scales. Maxillary palpus rather long, slender, white with intermixture of light ochreous. Labial palpus long, slender with sharp apex, ca. 2.5× longer than the eye, covered with pressed short scales. Antenna uniformly light ochreous without annulation, pedicel slightly shorter than the following flagellomere; scape enlarged, light beige with ochreous suffusion.

Thorax ( Figs 593, 597): concolourous with the ground colour of forewings. Forewing narrowly elongated, with pointed apex, ground colour dirty white with two or three transverse ochreous fasciae, apical part with transverse dark fuscous stripe and prolonged apical spot—a character easily separating this species. The fringe line present, running along apical part, termen and tornus; fringe of mid-length, light beige. Hindwing narrow, elongate, sharply pointed, ground colour beige, fringe of slightly lighter shading. Mid tibia and hind tibia dirty white with a row of short erected scales, median spurs dirty white, ca; as long as 1/3 of tibiae length, apical spurs light beige, tarsomeres dirty white with light ochreous apices.

Abdomen ( Fig. 596, 601, 602): tergites of abdominal segments dark fuscous- ochreous; anterior segments ochreous with bronze shine. Abdominal opening triangular with rounded and thickened posterior corners, margins of abdominal opening are strongly sclerotised, anterior margin of lateral arms is thickened; sternal joint of abdominal opening on sternum II complete, convex, sclerotised, sternal apodemes very short, angulated; tergal apodemes, long, almost reaching the posterior margin of segment II, slender, straight with slightly hooked apices. The intermediate joint between the genital segment and sternum VII in males with sclerotised structure, slightly bulbed anteriorly and with numerous tiny sharp ending spicules anteriorly; anterior genital plate with two melanised apodemes initiating at the intermediate sclerotised plate and reaching the mid of anterior segment.

Male genitalia ( Figs 598–600): Tegumen very long and broad with truncate apical part and folded basal sides, a transverse supportive band is present at sub-base of tegumen, basal half of tegumen is covered with long, dense setae; valvae slightly longer than tegumen, rather broad, straight at costa, and gently curved to broadly rounded apex on ventral margin, a digitiform appendix is present at the base of costa, ventral surface of valvae, especially at apical half is densely setose, basal part of sacculus tuberculate; transtilla complete, narrow; sacculus with appendage entering the internal genital capsule; vinculum U-shaped, with equally broad margins; saccus short, spear-shaped with sharp anterior part. Aedeagus slightly shorter than valva, slender, straight, cylindrical, dentate at lateral sides of sub-vesical sector, with one thick cornutus at the mid part.

Female genitalia: No data

Mitogenomic data: All analyses recovered the single mitochondrial genome from the holotype consistently and with very strong support as a sister to Ornica gen. n. ( Figs 636, 639).

Bionomics: No data.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality: Australia: Queensland.

Etymology: The specific name is derived from the Latin word digitus, meaning finger. The species name refers to the digitiform appendage on the costal margin of valvae in males. The species epithet is an adjective in the feminine gender in the nominative case.

34. Gibbovalva Kumata & Kuroko, 1988

“Genus Gibbovalva Kumata et Kuroko nov.”—Kumata, T. & Kuroko, H. In: Kumata, T., Kuroko, H. & Ermolaev, V. P., 1988b. Insecta Matsumurana , New Series 40: 3–5.

Type species: Gracillaria quadrifasciata Stainton, 1862 , by original designation. https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/ dspace/handle/2115/9845