A new species of Bucculatrix zeller (Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae) associated with Baccharis salicifolia (Asteraceae) in northern Chile

Male, female and immature stages of Bucculatrix mirnae sp. n., from the Azapa Valley, coastal desert of northern Chile, are described and illustrated, under optical and scanning electron microscopy. The immature stages are associated with the shrub Baccharis salicifolia (Ruiz & Pav.) Pers. (Asteraceae). The larva is hypermetamorphic, having five instars and two feeding habits. The first, second and third instars are leaf miners, and the fourth and fifth instars are leaf skeletonizers. This is the first species of Bucculatricidae described from Chile.