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The Alps are a hotspot of biodiversity in Europe with many Lepidoptera species still to be discovered. Here we describe a new gracillariid genus and species, Mercantouria neli gen. n. and sp. n. The morphology of the male genitalia is highly differentiated with unique features. DNA barcodes show that its nearest neighbor is the North American species 'Caloptilia' scutellariella (Braun, 1923). Mercantouria neli is known from four adults (two males and two females) collected at two localities in the French Alps. Its host plant and life cycle remain unknown.
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Huemer et al. (2016) studied this question.
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