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 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Elachistidae |
| 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.
Gallery
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Head and thorax -
Last instar larva -
Pupa -
Gall on Tibouchina fissinervia; H dissected gall; I internal chamber
Etymology
editThe 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
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- ^ Three new cecidogenous species of Palaeomystella Fletcher (Lepidoptera, Momphidae) from the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
