Taxonomic Notes on Leucoptera meyricki Ghesquiere and Leucoptera coffeella (Guerin-Meneville) (Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae)

Abstract

Records of Leucoptera coffeella (Guér.) from Kenya and Tanganyika have been found to be based on misidentifications and to refer to a distinct species, Leucoptera meyricki Ghesq. Other records of coffeella from the Old World seem open to doubt and require to be reinvestigated since they may also be based on misidentifications. L. coffeella seems likely to be a Neotropical species predominant in the West Indies. A lectotype is designated for meyricki, but the type material of coffeella cannot be traced and the identity of the latter species remains to be properly established. The present generic assignment of meyricki and coffeella in the genus Leucoptera Hübn. needs to be reconsidered in the light of the new genus Perileucoptera Silvestri (1943).