Cameraria pentekes Opler & Davis 1981

Cameraria pentekes

DIAGNOSIS.—This species resembles the common eastern Cameraria hamadryadella closely in maculation. Although the color pattern varies in both species, a majority of the specimens examined of C. pentekes were more whitish in appearance and less heavily marked with golden brown scaling. The male genitalia of C. pentekes are characteristic in possessing a greatly enlarged vincular process terminating in five distinct apices. The vinculum in C. hamadryadella possesses only three such processes. The eighth sternite of C. pentekes is also quite distinct in being subtruncate with broadly separated caudal lobes. The female genitalia of C. pentekes differs markedly from that of C. hamadryadella in the form of the lamella antevaginalis, with that of the former being more deeply divided. The biology of the two species differs in that the larvae of C. pentekes is solitary, compared to the sometimes gregarious or solitary habit of C. hamadryadella.

MALE.—Length of forewing: 3.5–5 mm.

Head: Labial palpus white dorsally, dark fuscous ventrally. Vertex and frons silvery white. Antenna about 0.9 the length of forewing; scape white, slightly irorated with fuscous dorsally; flagellum mostly white, banded with pale brown dorsally.

Thorax: Dorsum mostly white, lightly speckled with fuscous-tipped scales. Prothoracic leg white ventrally, mostly pale brown dorsally over femur and tibia; tarsal segments darkly ringed with fuscous. Meso- and metathoracic legs mostly white with tarsal segments darkly ringed.

Forewing: Ground color white with typically four brown fasciae more or less distinct and bordered by thin irregular lines of dark fuscous scales; basal fascia poorly developed and usually interrupted medially by white scales; second fascia, at basal third, typically the most complete and well defined; third fascia, at distal third, interrupted medially by a streak of dark-tipped white scales that extends through a very reduced subapical fascia to apex of wing.

Hind Wing: Uniformly pale gray to white.

Abdomen: Dorsum pale brown; pleuron and venter silvery white.

Genitalia: As in Figure 43 (drawn from slide USNM 17138). Valvae strongly curved dorsally, abruptly narrowing beyond sacculus to form slender elongate cucullus; apex slightly enlarged, setiferous. Vincular process greatly enlarged, expanding caudally to form five pointed lobes, of which the middle three are the largest. Eighth sternite nearly as broad as long, terminating in two acute, widely separated lobes.

FEMALE.—Length of forewing: 3–4.5 mm. As described for male except genitalia as in Figure 104 (drawn from slide USNM 17595). Caudal margin of lamella antevaginalis deeply cleft, forming a deep V-shaped pocket with the sclerotized end of the ostium supported near the middle. An accessory bursa arising from the ductus bursae near its caudal third. A pair of oval signa present, approximately equal in diameter but different in structure; one signa with a minute spine arising from its center.

TYPE MATERIAL.—Holotype: , Oroville, California, 27 Jun 1929, H. H. Keifer, collector, reared Quercus douglasii, deposited in the California Academy of Sciences.

Allotype: , same data as holotype except: 29 Jun 1927. UCB.

Paratypes: 43 specimens. CANADA. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Victoria, 1, 1, 12–14 Jul 1922. CALIFORNIA. BUTTE CO., same data as holotype except: 1, 9 Apr 1928; 1, 29 May 1926; 6, 7, 23 Jun-8 Jul 1927. GLENN CO.: 5 mi[8 km] N Black Butte, 6200 ft [1890 m], 1, 19 Jun 1956. 7 mi [11.2 km] E Niceville, 1, 21 Apr 1968, coll. on Quercus douglasii. KERN CO.: Keene, 7, 3, 2 Jun 1968, (em. 10–21 Jun 1968), reared Quercus douglasii. KINGS CO.: 3 mi [4.8 km] E Hanford, 4, 1, 16 Sep 1968 (em. 20–26 Sep 1968), JP 68J74, reared Quercus lobata. MADERA CO.: Madera, 4 mi [6.4 km] NE, 1, 24 Mar 1965. SAN LUIS OBISPO CO.: 2 mi [3.2 km] W Paso Robles, 1, 25 Apr 1968. WASHINGTON. YAKIMA CO.: Ft. Simcoe, 2, 2, 1 Aug 1962. White Salmon, 2, 4 Aug 1962. CAS, LACM, UCB, USNM.

HOSTS.—Quercus douglasii Hooker and Arnott and Quercus lobata Neé. Quercus garryana Douglas is the presumed host of Washington and British Columbia material, since it is the only Quercus occurring naturally in that region.

MINE.—Shape oblong to ovoid; epidermis opaque, green yellow; mines all to one side of midrib on lower half of leaf (10 of 10); mines along leaf margin or midrib and solitary with some leaves supporting more than one mine, usually with many minute parallel folds, occasionally with one or two, more or less pronounced; eclosion usually at upper half of mine; dimensions with respect to leaf axis: longitudinal, 1.44 cm ± 0.23 S.D.; latitudinal, 0.64 cm ± 0.15 S.D.

LIFE HISTORY.—This moth has at least three adult emergences: April, late June–early July, and late August–early September. Three larval cohorts occur: May–June, July–August, and September–October. Pupae undergo diapause through the winter and early spring in fallen leaves. Unlike its either communal-feeding or solitary eastern relative, C. hamadryadella, the larva of C. pentekes is always solitary.

ETYMOLOGY.—The specific name refers to the diagnostic form of the vincular process of the male and is derived from the Greek pente (five) and the suffix -ekes (pointed).

The agrifoliella Species Group

This is by far the most dominant species group of Cameraria in the western United States (i.e., west of the Great Plains). Nearly all of the western Cameraria belong to this group, including several species that are restricted to nonfagaceous hosts and that are, therefore, excluded from this paper. Except for Cameraria conglomeratella (Zeller) and C. ulmella (Chambers), no other eastern species are known to belong to this group.

The main morphological features of the agrifoliella group are the sinuate and often slender valvae of the male genitalia and the variously modified eighth sternite of the male with its basically bifid caudal apex. The female genitalia are less diagnostic, but all possess two pairs of abdominal apophyses, a completely membranous accessory bursae, and usually a pair of asymmetrical, oval platelike signa.

On the basis of biological data, host associations, and minor morphological similarities, the agrifoliella group can be further subdivided into several subgroups of sister species.

The agrifoliella Subgroup

This subgroup, as now defined, represents a rather miscellaneous group of species that may not be monophyletic. The subgroup is characterized largely on the basis of host associations, with most of the species treated feeding on Quercus agrifolia or Q. wislizenii. The eighth abdominal sternite of the male is somewhat characteristic in having the caudal lobes directed sharply dorsad. The aedeagus is relatively short and straight.

Cameraria pentekes is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from British Columbia in Canada, and California and Washington in the United States.

The length of the forewings is 3–5 mm.

The larvae feed on Quercus douglasii and Quercus lobata. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine is oblong to ovoid. The epidermis is opaque to green yellow. Mines are all located to one side of the midrib on the lower half of the leaf. They are found along the leaf margin or the midrib and solitary with some leaves supporting more than one mine, usually with many minute parallel folds, occasionally with one or two, more or less pronounced.