First North American records of Batrachedra pinicolella (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae), a Palearctic needleminer of spruces

Abstract

Batrachedra Herrich-Schäffer, 1853 (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae) is a widespread genus with species concentrated in tropical areas. This genus of about 140 described species has been put in several lepidopteran families, most recently in the Batrachedridae (Hodges 1999; Koster 2002). Batrachedra has 25 Nearctic species (Hodges 1983; Koster 2002), 17 Neotropical species (Becker 1984), 6 Palearctic species (Koster 2002), and 29 Australian species (Edwards 1996). Additional species occur in other areas such as Indonesia (Baringbing 1986). Here I report that the Palearctic species Batrachedra pinicolella (Zeller, 1839) is established in Connecticut, United States of America. Until now the range of the species was restricted to European countries and the far eastern Palearctic region (Riedl 1969, 1996; Bolov and Sinev 1990). The disjunct Asian populations may represent accidental introductions.