Japanese Elachista mining on the leaf of woody Poaceae (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae s. str.)

Elachista canis Parenti, E. sasae Sinev & Sruoga, and E. planicara Kaila are redescribed on the basis of Japanese specimens including many bred ones. Larvae of these species are leaf-miners on woody Poaceae. The female of E. canis and the male of E. planicara are described for the first time. In the original description of E. sasae, the characterisation of the female has proved to be based on specimens of E. planicara, and thus the female of E. sasae is described for the first time. Based onmorphological features, E. canis and E. sasae are considered to be very close to each other and are likely to represent one of the basal lineages of the sister-clade of the E. bifasciella-group, and E. planicara is likely to be an Oriental representative of the E. saccharella-group