Records of scythridids (Lepidoptera: Scythrididae) from the southeastern Balkan

A list of 28 species embracing about 720 specimens of the family Scythrididae from the southeastern Balkan is presented. The material was collected from Bulgaria and northern Greece during 2000–2005. Scythris balcanica Jäckh, 1978 is synonimized with S. moldavicella Caradja, 1905, syn. n. The previously unknown females of Scythris ambustella Bengtsson, 1997, S. subaerariella (Stainton, 1867) and S. platypyga (Staudinger, 1880) are described. Seven species are reported as new for Bulgaria and four for Greece. Scythris lafauryi Passerin d’Entrèves, 1986 is reported for the first time from the Balkans. The known distribution range of each species is given

The scythridid fauna of the southern Ural Mountains, with description of fourteen new species (Lepidoptera: Scythrididae)

A list of 37 species of the family Scythrididae from the southern Ural Mountains is presented. The material was collected during 1996-1999 in five different Finnish - Russian expeditions. Fourteen new species are described by varying combination of authors: Scythris acipenserella K. & T. Nupponen sp. n., S. aegrella K. Nupponen & Junnilainen sp. n., S. albisaxella K. & T. Nupponen sp. n., S. arkaimensis Bengtsson sp. n., S. brunneofasciella K. Nupponen & Junnilainen sp. n., S. cretacella K. & T. Nupponen, sp. n., S. elenae K. Nupponen sp. n., S. eversmanni K. & T. Nupponen sp. n., S. karinupponeni Bengtsson sp. n., S. luxatiella K. Nupponen & Kaitila sp. n., S. olschwangi K. & T. Nupponen sp. n., S. perlucidella K. & T. Nupponen sp. n., S. remexella K. Nupponen & Kaitila sp. n. and S. sublaminella K. & T. Nupponen sp. n .. One unknown species is mentioned but not described because only a single female is available. In addition, 10 species are reported as new for Russia. The known distribution range of each species is given as well as further notes on some poorly known species

Incurvaria pirinella sp. nov., a new species of the vetulella species-group (Lepidoptera, Incurvariidae) from Bulgaria, with release of DNA barcodes for European species of Incurvaria

Incurvaria pirinella Junnilainen, Kaitila & Mutanen, sp. nov. is described from Bulgaria based on specimens collected by netting and artificial light from several low-elevation localities in Bulgaria. The species is morphologically and genetically most similar to I. triglavensis Hauder, 1912. Differences between these two species are present in external appearance and genitalia of both sexes. Additionally, I. pirinella shows a distance of 4.74% to its nearest neighbour I. triglavensis in the standard DNA barcoding marker (COI-5P). We provide preliminary observations of phylogenetic affinities of European Incurvaria and briefly discuss habitat preferences of some species. All species have distinct barcodes with minimum K2P divergences between species averaging 7.05% (range 1.2–12.8%). A world checklist of Incurvaria Haworth, 1828 is provided and DNA barcodes for all European species are here released. Finally, we document morphological variation in male genitalia within I. triglavensis Hauder, 1912

Contribution to the fauna of Elachistidae (Lepidoptera) of the Southern Ural Mountains

The Elachistidae fauna of the southern Ural area, Russia, is outlined. A total of 51 species are listed, four of which remain unidentified to species level. Six species are described as new: Elachista (Aphelosetia) olschwangi Kaila sp. n., E. (A.) arduella Kaila sp. n., E. (A.) gibbera Kaila sp. n., E. (A.) chamaea Kaila sp. n., E. (A.) acutella Kaila sp. n. and E. (Elachista) devexella Kaila sp. n. Four species are reported for the first time from Europe and illustrated: Perittia sibirica Sinev, Elachista (Hemiprosopa) altaica (Sinev), E. (E.) megagnathos Sruoga and E. (E.) baikalica Kaila. The previously unknown female of E. megagnathos is described. Fourteen species are reported as new to Russia. Further illustrations and notes on some poorly known species are given

A new species of Platyptilia Hübner, 1825 (Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae) from Europe

Platyptilia galicicaensis sp. n. (Pterophoridae) is described. The species is found in the Republic of Macedonia, Ohrid, Galičica National Park. All specimens were collected around Helichrysum zivojini Černjavski & Soska, 1940 or H. stoechas (L.) Moench, 1794 (Asteraceae); one or both of these plants is probably the host plant of the new species

Incurvaria pirinella sp. nov., a new species of the vetulella species-group (Lepidoptera, Incurvariidae) from Bulgaria, with release of DNA barcodes for European species of Incurvaria

Incurvaria pirinella Junnilainen, Kaitila & Mutanen, sp. nov. is described from Bulgaria based on specimens collected by netting and artificial light from several low-elevation localities in Bulgaria. The species is morphologically and genetically most similar to I. triglavensis Hauder, 1912. Differences between these two species are present in external appearance and genitalia of both sexes. Additionally, I. pirinella shows a distance of 4.74% to its nearest neighbour I. triglavensis in the standard DNA barcoding marker (COI-5P). We provide preliminary observations of phylogenetic affinities of European Incurvaria and briefly discuss habitat preferences of some species. All species have distinct barcodes with minimum K2P divergences between species averaging 7.05% (range 1.2–12.8%). A world checklist of Incurvaria Haworth, 1828 is provided and DNA barcodes for all European species are here released. Finally, we document morphological variation in male genitalia within I. triglavensis Hauder, 1912

A molecular‐based identification resource for the arthropods of Finland

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this paper, we 1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), 2) publish this library, and 3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1,000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi). Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.peerReviewe