First records of six species of Lepidoptera from Kunashir Island (Russia)

This article presents the first records of six species of moths and butterflies from Kunashir Island. We report on the first records of Aemene obscura (Leech, 1889) from Russia (Kunashir Island), as well as Catocala dula Bremer, 1861, C. lara Bremer, 1861, C. dissimilis Bremer, 1861, Sphragifera sigillata (Menetries, 1859), and Argynnis sagana Doubleday, [1847] from Kunashir Island. Additionally, we provide commentary on distribution of Aberrasine aberrans (Butler, 1877)

Lepidoptera of South Ossetia (Northern Transcaucasia). Part II. Cossidae, Limacodidae, Erebidae (Lymantriinae, Arctiinae, Syntominae, Notodontinae), Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae and Cimeliidae

In the third part of the publication, we present the faunal list of nine families of the Macrolepidoptera of South Ossetia, including 4 species of Cossidae, 2 species of Limacodidae, 40 species of Erebidae, 15 species of Sphingidae, 6 species of Lasiocampidae, 1 species of Saturniidae and Lemoniidae, 5 species of Drepanidae and 1 species of Cimeliidae. Fifty nine species are reported for South Ossetia for the first time

A nearly complete database on the records and ecology of the rarest boreal tiger moth from 1840s to 2020

Global environmental changes may cause dramatic insect declines but over century-long time series of certain species’ records are rarely available for scientific research. The Menetries’ Tiger Moth (Arctia menetriesii) appears to be the most enigmatic example among boreal insects. Although it occurs throughout the entire Eurasian taiga biome, it is so rare that less than 100 specimens were recorded since its original description in 1846. Here, we present the database, which contains nearly all available information on the species’ records collected from 1840s to 2020. The data on A. menetriesii records (N = 78) through geographic regions, environments, and different timeframes are compiled and unified. The database may serve as the basis for a wide array of future research such as the distribution modeling and predictions of range shifts under climate changes. It represents a unique example of a more than century-long dataset of distributional, ecological, and phenological data designed for an exceptionally rare but widespread boreal insect, which primarily occurs in hard-to-reach, uninhabited areas of Eurasia.Peer reviewe

Bioerosion of siliceous rocks driven by rock-boring freshwater insects

Macrobioerosion of mineral substrates in fresh water is a little-known geological process. Two examples of rock-boring bivalve molluscs were recently described from freshwater environments. To the best of our knowledge, rock-boring freshwater insects were previously unknown. Here, we report on the discovery of insect larvae boring into submerged siltstone (aleurolite) rocks in tropical Asia. These larvae belong to a new mayfly species and perform their borings using enlarged mandibles. Their traces represent a horizontally oriented, tunnel-like macroboring with two apertures. To date, only three rock-boring animals are known to occur in fresh water globally: a mayfly, a piddock, and a shipworm. All the three species originated within primarily wood-boring clades, indicating a simplified evolutionary shift from wood to hardground substrate based on a set of morphological and anatomical preadaptations evolved in wood borers (e.g., massive larval mandibular tusks in mayflies and specific body, shell, and muscle structure in bivalves)

Male of Danielithosia pyralina (Rothschild, 1912) comb. nov., an endemic moth species from Sumbawa and Flores (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Spitsyn, Vitaly M. (2022): Male of Danielithosia pyralina (Rothschild, 1912) comb. nov., an endemic moth species from Sumbawa and Flores (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae). Zootaxa 5182 (4): 399-400, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5182.4.

Prozorovia kailashi Spitsyn 2024, comb. nov.

<i>Prozorovia kailashi</i> (Singh & Kirti, 2016) comb. nov. <p>Figs 3–6.</p> <p> <b>Type locality.</b> India, Himachal Pradesh.</p> <p> <b>Material examined.</b> 2♁, 1♀, PAKISTAN: Bisian village, coniferous forest, 34°27’57”N 73°20’31”E, 16–17.viii.2022, V. Spitsyn leg.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> <i>Female morphology:</i> Wingspan 27 mm, forewing length 12 mm. The female is externally very similar to the male but differs by the brighter color and gray abdomen dorsally (the male has a yellow abdomen). Eye black. Antenna brown. Head orange. Proboscis well developed. Labial palpus smaller than the eye diameter, orange. Patagium and tegula orange. Thorax orange. Legs yellowish brown. Forewing yellow, hindwing pale yellow. Abdomen gray, its ventral side and apex yellow. <i>Female genitalia:</i> Ostium bursae large; ductus bursae broad, long, almost rectangular shaped, with very large strongly sclerotized signum. Bursa oval-shaped, medium size, with two signum. Apophyses anteriores and posterioris medium long. Papilla analis large, rectangular.</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> India: Himachal Pradesh (Kirti & Singh 2016); Pakistan (present study).</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> The first record from Pakistan.</p>Published as part of <i>Spitsyn, Vitaly M., 2024, Description of Prozorovia, a new genus from Pakistan and India (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), pp. 97-100 in Zootaxa 5399 (1)</i> on page 99, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5399.1.9, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10493933">http://zenodo.org/record/10493933</a&gt

Prozorovia Spitsyn 2024, gen. nov.

<i>Prozorovia</i> gen. nov. <p> Type species: <i>Prozorovia kailashi</i> (Singh & Kirti, 2016) (original designation: <i>Wittia kailashi</i> Singh & Kirti, 2016)</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> Small moths with yellow or light brown colouration. The male genital capsule of <i>Prozorovia</i> <b>gen. nov.</b> is characterized by a long thin uncus, elongated and slightly curved apical part of the valva, and a large broad sacculus with two apical and one medial spinulose process.</p> <p> The species of the new genus are externally reminiscent of <i>Eilema</i> -like lichen-moth of certain genera distributed in the Palearctic, as well as species of genera <i>Bucsekia</i> Dubatolov & Kishida, 2012 and <i>Microlithosia</i> Daniel, 1954 distributed in the Oriental region but differ from these taxa by male genitalia structure (see Dubatolov & Zolotuhin 2011; Dubatolov & Kishida 2012; and Fig. 2). The male genitalia of the new genus are remotely similar to those of <i>Teulisna</i> Walker, 1862 but the genus <i>Teulisna</i> has a specific structure of the forewings and lacks spine-like processes (see Holloway 2001; Bucsek 2012).</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> <i>Male morphology:</i> Wingspan 22–26 mm. The color varies from light yellow to yellow-brown. Eye black. Antenna brown. Proboscis well developed. Forewing yellow, with a row of androconial scales along the central cell. <i>Male genitalia</i>: Uncus long, thin. Tegumen narrow. Valva narrow apically. Sacculus wide, with two apical and one medial spinulose process. Aedeagus straight, short. Vesica with one сornutus. <i>Females</i> of <i>P. freinai</i> and <i>P. neokailashi</i> are unknown. The description of the female of <i>P. kailashi</i> (Singh & Kirti, 2016) <b>comb. nov.</b> is provided below for the first time.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> This new genus is dedicated to Alexey M. Prozorov, an excellent expert in the family Lasiocampidae (Lepidoptera).</p> <p> <b> Species content of <i>Prozorovia</i> gen. nov.</b> </p> <p> <i>P. kailashi</i> (Singh & Kirti, 2016) <b>comb. nov.</b> (India: Himachal Pradesh; Pakistan)</p> <p> <i>P. freinai</i> (Singh, Kirti & Joshi, 2016) <b>comb. nov.</b> (India: Arunachal Pradesh)</p> <p> <i>P. neokailashi</i> (Singh & Kirti, 2016) <b>comb. nov.</b> (India: Jharkhand)</p>Published as part of <i>Spitsyn, Vitaly M., 2024, Description of Prozorovia, a new genus from Pakistan and India (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae: Lithosiini), pp. 97-100 in Zootaxa 5399 (1)</i> on pages 98-99, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5399.1.9, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10493933">http://zenodo.org/record/10493933</a&gt

New records of Lepidoptera from Kunashir Island (Russia)

<p>This article presents the first records of five species of moths and butterflies from Kunashir Island. We report on the first records of <i>Lampides boeticus</i> (Linnaeus, 1767), <i>Macroglossum saga</i> Butler, 1878, <i>Ampelophaga rubiginosa</i> Bremer & Grey, 1853, <i>Catocala electa</i> (Vieweg, 1790), and<i> C. praegnax</i> Walker, 1858 from Kunashir Island. Additionally, we provide commentary on the distribution of <i>Bombyx mandarina</i> (Moore, 1872), <i>Caligula japonica </i>Moore, 1862, <i>C. jonasii</i> (Butler, 1877), <i>Macroglossum stellatarum</i> (Linnaeus, 1758), <i>M. pyrrhosticta</i> Butler, 1875, <i>Agrius convolvuli</i> (Linnaeus, 1758), <i>Catocala dula </i>Bremer, 1861, <i>C. lara</i> Bremer, 1861,<i> C. dissimilis</i> Bremer, 1861, <i>C. deuteronympha</i> Staudinger, 1861, <i>C. nupta</i> (Linnaeus, 1767), <i>C. fraxini </i>(Linnaeus, 1758), <i>Lymantria mathura</i> (Moore, 1866), and <i>Orgyia thyellina</i> (Butler, 1881).</p&gt

Description of the female of Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988, an endemic moth species of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae Arctiinae)

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Potapov, Grigory S. (2020): Description of the female of Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988, an endemic moth species of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae Arctiinae). Zootaxa 4790 (1): 198-200, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4790.1.1

Figure 2 in A review of the tiger moth genus Amerila Walker, 1855 from Flores Island, Indonesia, with a description of a new species (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Figure 2. Male genitalia of Amerila spp. from Flores Island, Indonesia. A-C A. rosenfeldae sp. nov.: A) male genitalia (holotype); B) aedeagus (holotype); C) female genitalia (paratype). D-E A. astreus: D) male genitalia; E) aedeagus. (Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn).Published as part of <i>Spitsyn, Vitaly M. & Bolotov, Ivan N., 2020, A review of the tiger moth genus Amerila Walker, 1855 from Flores Island, Indonesia, with a description of a new species (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), pp. 1-7 in Ecologica Montenegrina 33</i> on page 5, DOI: 10.37828/em.2020.33.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/8028445">http://zenodo.org/record/8028445</a&gt