DISTRIBUTION OF SOME EUROPEAN LEPIDOPTERA BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THEIR NON-ADULT STAGES PRESENTED THROUGH TROPHIC ASSOCIATIONS AND A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THEIR PARASITOIDS

We examined 638 Lepidoptera specimens on the territories of 13 European countries in our search for parasitoids. We collected eggs, larvae and pupae. In total, 251 Lepidoptera species were identified, belonging to 169 genera from 30 families. Of the total sample, approximately one-third (32.23%) were parasitized. In 168 samples (26.42%), we identified only one parasitoid species per host. In addition to these data, 224 plant species from 114 genera were identified, of which the vast majority were feeding plants

The European Butterfly Indicator for grassland species: 1990-2013

This report presents the fifth version of the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, one of the EU biodiversity indicators of the European Environment Agency

Nuevos registros de lepidópteros de actividad diurna (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea, Zygaenoidea) en Euskadi, Navarra y áreas limítrofes.

Se aportan los primeros registros de Pieris mannii (Mayer, 1851), Euchloe tagis (Hübner, 1804), Spialia rosae Hernández-Roldán, Dapporto, Dincă, Vicente & Vila, 2016 y Lasiommata petropolitana (Fabricius, 1787) en la comunidad Foral de Navarra. Se incluye un nuevo dato de esta última especie para el departamento de Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Francia), que amplía su distribución en el país vecino. Se aporta también el primer registro de Zygaena ephialtes (Linnaeus, 1767) en los últimos cuarenta años en Navarra. Además, se documenta por primera vez la presencia de P. mannii en las provincias vascas de Araba/Álava y Gipuzkoa y se confirma la presencia de las dos especies ibéricas del género Arethusana (de Lesse, 1951) en ambos territorios.The first records of Pieris mannii (Mayer, 1851), Euchloe tagis (Hübner, 1804), Spialia rosae Hernández-Roldán, Dapporto, Dincă, Vicente & Vila, 2016 and Lasiommata petropolitana (Fabricius, 1787) for the autonomous community of Navarra are presented, including a new observation of the latter species in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (France), which extends its known distribution in this country. The first sighting of Zygaena ephialtes (Linnaeus, 1767) for the last forty years in Navarra is also provided. In addition, the presence of P. manii in the neighbouring Basque provinces of Araba/Álava and Gipuzkoa is documented, and the presence of the two Iberian species of the genus Arethusana (de Lesse, 1951) in both territories is confirmed

Primeras citas fidedignas de Euchloe tagis (Pieridae) y Carcharodus baeticus (Hesperiidae) (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea y Hesperioidea) en La Rioja (N de España)

The first reliable records of Euchloe tagis (Pieridae, Anthocharini) and Carcharodus baeticus (Hesperiidae, Pyrginae) for La Rioja province (N Spain) are provided, together with a new locality for Burgos province for the first one of them. So the number of rhopalocera reliably known in La Rioja province is increased from 149 to 151.Se aportan los primeros registros fidedignos de Euchloe tagis (Pieridae, Anthocharini) y Carcharodus baeticus (Hesperiidae, Pyrginae) para La Rioja, así como una nueva localidad burgalesa para la primera. De este modo se amplía el número de ropalóceros presentes de forma fehaciente en La Rioja de 149 a 151

Erebia epiphron and Erebia orientalis: sibling butterfly species with contrasting histories

The butterfly genus Erebia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) is the most diverse in Europe and comprises boreo-alpine habitat specialists. Populations are typically fragmented, restricted to high altitudes in one or several mountain ranges, where habitat is relatively well preserved, but where the effects of climate change are considerable. As a result, the genus Erebia has become a model to study the impact of climate changes, past and present, on intraspecific genetic diversity. In this study, we inferred phylogenetic relationships among populations of the European species Erebia epiphron and Erebia orientalis using mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear markers (ITS2, wg and RPS5), and reconstructed their phylogeographical history. We confirm E. orientalis and E. epiphron as a relatively young species pair that split c. 1.53 (±0.65) Mya. The high genetic homogeneity of E. orientalis, combined with its restricted geographical range in the eastern Balkans, suggests that this taxon may be subject to inbreeding depression and displays low adaptability to potential environmental changes, which calls for close monitoring of population trends. By contrast, genetic structure was complex for E. epiphron, revealing an intricate phylogeographical history that included a succession of dispersal events, mixing of populations and periods of isolation in multiple refugia. Finally, we highlight southern populations that represent unique genetic lineages, which, in the case of extinction, would lead to important genetic erosion.We thank the association ZERYTNHIA (http://www.asociacion-zerynthia.org/) for its support and the government of La Rioja for financing a specific study some years ago, as well as for the administrative authorization for the collection of samples. Financial support for this research was provided by Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación and European Regional Development Fund, Grant Number CGL2016-76322-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) and by Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Indústria y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación and European Social Fund thorugh predoctoral fellowship BES-2017–080641 (MINECO/AEI/FSE) to JCH.Peer reviewe

Integrative Taxonomy Reveals a New Melitaea (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Species Widely Distributed in the Iberian Peninsula

The Melitaea phoebe group is constituted by six species distributed throughout the Palearctic. One of the most widespread species is Melitaea ornata Christoph, 1893, present from France (Provence) to Central Asia. Recently, populations of M. ornata were discovered in a mountainous region of south-eastern Iberia, although doubts about their taxonomy existed. To clarify the taxonomic status of these populations and to revise the distribution of this taxon in Iberia, we have sequenced mitochondrial (COI barcode region) and nuclear (wg, RPS5, MDH, and EF-1α) markers, and analyzed the male genitalia for 72 Iberian individuals and for all the species of the M. phoebe group. This information was complemented with phenological and ecological data. Our results unveiled that the Iberian M. ornata-like taxon is in fact distributed through most of the Iberian Peninsula, except for the south-west and north-east. In contrast to the univoltine M. ornata, the Iberian taxon can be bivoltine in the wild. The Iberian taxon was retrieved to be related to M. ornata, but the differences in the genetic markers and genitalia were comparable to those found between species in the group. Based on the evidence here presented and according to species delimitation results, we propose to consider the Iberian taxon as a novel species, tentatively named Melitaea pseudornata Muñoz Sariot & Sánchez Mesa, 2019, stat. nov.Financial support for this research was provided by projects PID2019-107078GB-I00 funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/ 10.13039/501100011033 and 2017-SGR-991 funded by Generalitat de Catalunya to Roger Vila and by grant BES-2017-080641, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ‘European Social Fund (ESF) Investing in your future’ to Joan C. Hinojosa