''Atteva gemmata'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Attevidae ''Atteva'' is a genus of moths in the monotypic family Attevidae. The group has a pantropical distribution; however, the range of at least one species, ''Atteva aurea'', extends into the temperate zone. No consistent hypotheses regarding the rela ...

. It was described by

Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who described over 1,000 species of butterflies and moths.Osborn, H. 1937. Fragments of Entomological History. Columbus, OH: Published by the autho ...

in 1873 and is endemic to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. It is very similar to '' Atteva rawlinsi'' from

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

but half its size. In ''Atteva gemmata'' the dots are reduced in number and connected to each other forming small, vertical, white lines.

Taxonomy

Both available names have been wrongly synonymised under '' Atteva pustulella'' (Walsingham, 1897) and reinstated as a valid species (

Meyrick Meyrick is a surname and given name. Meyricke is a variant form. Surname * Edmund Meyrick (1636–1713), Welsh cleric * Edward Meyrick (1854–1938), English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist * Edward Meyrick Goulburn (1818–1897), English ...

, 1914;

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Exp ...

, 1914). However, it seems that both works were overlooked by John B. Heppner and W. Donald Duckworth (1983) and by Heppner (1984) who continued to follow Walsingham's synonymy.

External links

A review of the New World ''Atteva'' (Walker) moths (Yponomeutidae, Attevinae)
Attevidae Endemic fauna of Cuba Moths described in 1873 {{Yponomeutoidea-stub