Definition of the Elachista puplesisi Sruoga complex (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Elachistidae), with description of a new species Author Kaila, Lauri Finnish Museum of Natural History, Zoology Unit, FI- 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: lauri. kaila @ helsinki. fi Division of Biosystematics Research, Department of Biology, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, LT- 08106 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: virginijus. sruoga @ leu. lt Author Sruoga, Virginijus text Zootaxa 2014 2014-06-25 3821 5 583 589 journal article 5328 10.11646/zootaxa.3821.5.6 87c54939-17f2-4395-bec6-72dd2230e1a6 1175-5326 4920230 94D1D19B-9372-4DFC-985A-A4F450023F56 Synapomorphies of Elachista The characters listed here are in part illustrated in Figs 1–12; others are depicted in Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen (1977) , Kaila (1999) and Kaila & Sugisima (2011) . The valval process is formed as a sclerotised hook. This is a nearly universal character in Elachista and is secondarily reduced in only a few species; it is present in the E. puplesisi group. The distal part of the valva, i.e. the area beyond the valval process, is strongly enlarged; this is characteristic of all Elachista species except E. sinevi ( Sruoga 1992 , in Sruoga & Puplesis 1992 ); it is present in E. puplesisi group. The median plate of the juxta is shaped as a concave plate with folded margins (64:3 character state in Kaila & Sugisima 2011 ); it is universal in Elachista , including E. puplesisi group. This character is further modified in several lineages of Elachista . A tongue-shaped, distally setose digitate process is present between the juxta and valva; this may be homologous with a similar structure in several gelechioid lineages but is absent in other elachistine genera ( Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen 1977 ; Nielsen & Traugott-Olsen 1978 ; Kaila 1999 , 2004 , 2009 ; De Prins & Sruoga 2012 ; Heikkilä et al. 2014 ); it is sometimes secondarily lost in Elachista , and is absent also in E. puplesisi group. The exposed pupa of many Elachista species is supported by a silken girdle attached to the surface and surrounding the pupa between abdominal segments 4 and 5, with some exceptions (Kaila 2011); the immature stages of the constituent species of the E. puplesisi group are unknown.