No abstract

This study identifies the number of named and described species of three monotrysian, plant-mining lepidopteran families worldwide: Nepticulidae and Opostegidae (Nepticuloidea), and Tischeriidae (Tischerioidea). At the end of 2021, we estimated that a total of 1000 Nepticulidae species, 197 Opostegidae species, and 170 Tischeriidae species have been described since the taxonomic practice of describing species began in the 18th century. We examine and discuss the history of descriptions and authorship of species worldwide for each of the three families. We found that the total (accumulative) number of species described increased with each time period delineated. About five new species were described per year on average, or about 22 new species were described per year in the 21st century. We recognize researchers with the most number of described species in these three taxa.

This study is uniquely based on the Research Interest Score (RGRI) and not on other existing bibliometric criteria for evaluation of published biological inventory products (articles and monographs). RGRI is a ResearchGate.net score that measures scientists’ interest in the publication and is based on its citations, recommendations, and reads. Our data revealed that high RGRI scores of publications were generally not determined by the journal’s Impact Factor (IF) or high quartiles (Q). However, open access to publications undoubtedly creates the strongest preconditions for the rise of RGRI. The importance and popularity of a publications can also be affected by its various other characteristics, for example, international collaboration of authors, ecological issues such as plant-insect interactions, and even the wording of the publication title.

This paper describes two new species of Brachinepticula Stonis & Diškus: B. melania Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. and B. colombica Remeikis, Mey & Stonis, sp. nov. Both the new species were collected in the Northern Andean Páramo (Cundinamarca, Colombia). Since the specimens were caught at night-time with a light trap, the host plants remain unknown. The examination of the morphology of the male genitalia of B. melania and female genitalia of B. colombica revealed a highly distinctive new taxa of pygmy moths and broadened our knowledge of the morphology and distribution of the recently described endemic genus Brachinepticula Diškus & Stonis. The examination of the new findings also allowed us updating the diagnosis of Brachinepticula. The new species were illustrated with photographs of the genitalia, adults, and habitats.

This study provides updated summarised data on host-plant preferences and mining seasons of the Nepticulidae of the Lithuanian fauna. It revealed that the Lithuanian Nepticulidae are trophically associated with 34 genera and 14 families of host plants. Four of these host-plant families stand out in a number of mining Nepticulidae species and all together host about 80% of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae. As regards feeding specialisation, the fauna of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae consists of three constituents: monophagous species (about 44%), narrow oligophagous species (about 48%), and true oligophagous species (about 8%). There are two distinctive peaks of mining: the summer peak from mid-June until mid-July and the autumn peak from early September until mid-October, when most species mine simultaneously.