Aphalara nigrimaculosa Gegechkori 1981

Aphalara nigrimaculosa Gegechkori, 1981 Feeds on So far, the only known host plant of Aphalara nigrimaculosa was Rumex alpinus L. (Gegechkori 1981, Burckhardt and Lauterer 1997 a). In Bulgaria, we collected adults and immatures on Rumex acetosella L., which represents a new host plant record for the species. Distribution General distribution. Bulgaria, Greece, Caucasus (Burckhardt and Lauterer 1997 a). Distribution in Bulgaria (Fig. 8 c). Published records: RPP (Głowacka 1989, as A. sauteri); RRW (Harizanov and Lauterer 1968, as Aphalara exilis; Pramatarova et al. 2024); without locality data (Burckhardt and Lauterer 1997 a, Pramatarova et al. 2023). Material examined: RPP, RPR, RRW, SBM. Notes The records of Aphalara sauteri Burckhardt, 1983 from th e Pirin Mts. published by Głowacka (1989) are assigned here to A. nigrimaculosa. This is based on other specimens from the same area from MMBC and BFUS, which were examined by us and all belong to A. nigrimaculosa. See also the comment under A. sauteri in the section ' Doubtful records' below. Diagnosis Adult (Fig. 8 a). Gegechkori (1981), Burckhardt and Lauterer (1997 a). Fifth instar immature (Fig. 8 b).