Order Lepidoptera, family Tischeriidae

Introduction The Tischeriidae form a small family with about 120 known species, occurring in most continents, but currently not known from Australia (Diškus & Puplesis, 2003a). They are rather small moths, usually less than 10 mm wingspan, and with rather drab colours, ochreous, brown, black, uniform or with some spotting, sometimes metallic. The larvae are invariably leafminers, characterised by the habit of the larva to eject the frass from the mine. The family was recently reviewed and divided into three genera (Diškus & Puplesis, 2003b). Only one species has previously been known from the Arabian Peninsula, Tischeria omani Puplesis & Diškus, 2003 (Diškus & Puplesis, 2003b) from northern Oman. This species has not yet been found in the UAE, but could be expected. Here I report another species, new to the Arabian Peninsula and to the UAE.