Palaeomystella tavaresi

Palaeomystella tavaresi is a moth of the family Agonoxenidae. It is found in the Atlantic Forest at the Serra Bonita Reserve in Brazil.

Palaeomystella tavaresi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Agonoxenidae (disputed)
Genus:
Palaeomystella
Species:
P. tavaresi
Binomial name
Palaeomystella tavaresi
Moreira & Becker, 2014

The length of the forewings is 7.02-9.23 mm. The forewings are covered by brown scales dorsally, intermixed with dark-brown scales tipped with black, and pale-brown scales. There is a narrow, ill-defined, dark-brown streak which bisects the wing longitudinally from the base to a brown, subapical, crescentic marking, edged distally with dark-grey scales. The hindwings are covered with light brown scales on both sides.

The larvae feed on Tibouchina fissinervia. They create a gall on their host plant.

  • Head and thorax
  • Last instar larva
  • Pupa
  • Gall on Tibouchina fissinervia; H dissected gall; I internal chamber

Etymology

The species is named in honor of the Jesuit priest Joaquim da Silva Tavares, a Portuguese naturalist and a pioneer in the study and description of Brazilian cecidology.[1]

References
  1. Three new cecidogenous species of Palaeomystella Fletcher (Lepidoptera, Momphidae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest


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