New data on geometroid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometroidea: Uraniidae and Geometridae) from Sakhalin and Moneron islands with notes on their taxonomy distribution and ecology
Author
Beljaev, Еvgeniy A.
Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
Author
Titova, Olga L.
Sakhalin Territory Department of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, Sakhalinskaya oblast, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia.
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-11-08
5369
1
1
41
https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5369.1.1/52227
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5369.1.1
1175-5326
10147411
B39D176D-381C-4F77-8A5F-F7992335930D
Eulithis achatinellaria
(Oberthür)
(
Fig. 35
)
Eulithis achatinellaria
:
Beljaev & Mironov 2019: 264
(
Sakhalin
).
Material examined.
1 ♂, Krasnaya Tym,
23.VIII.2001
; 1 ♂, Slavy,
22.VIII.2001
;
1 ♀
, Vestochka,
31.VIII.2001
.
Distribution.
Russia
(S RFE: S and central
Sakhalin
, S Kurils—Kunashir and Shikotan, S Khabarovskii Krai, S Amurskaya Oblast, Primorskii Krai; S Yakutia, S and W Siberia),
Japan
(
Hokkaido
),
North Korea
,
South Korea
(
Jeju
),
China
(NE, N, Western Plateau),
Mongolia
. In
Beljaev (2016: 416)
, the distribution of
E. achatinellaria
in “Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Tsushima, Yakushima, Okinawa” is given erroneously as a result of a misprint.
Remarks.
The new localities significantly expand the general distribution range of
E. achatinellaria
to the northeast. The known host plants of the larvae of this species in Yakutia are
Salix
(
Salicaceae
) and
Ribes
(
Grossulariaceae
) (
Burnasheva 2011
); probably, they are polyphagous on low deciduous trees and shrubs.
Until now, some authors consider
E. achatinellaria
as a subspecies of
E. testata
(Linnaeus)
(from recent major publications—
Nakajima & Yazaki 2011
;
Hausmann & Viidalepp 2012
;
Kim
et al.
2016
), although the clear morphological differences of these species were shown by
Djakonov (1926)
and
Viidalepp (1987)
. Both species are present in
Sakhalin
:
E. achatinellaria
is known to the north up to Tymovskii District, whereas boreal
E. testata
—immediately northward of the latter, in Noglinskii and Okhinskii Districts (
Beljaev 2001
), and along the cool Sea of Okhotsk shore—on southward to Dolinskii district near the Starodubskoye village (
47°24 N
,
142°49′ E
, “Sakayehama”:
Matsumura 1925
, as
Lygris testata karafutonis
Matsumura
; current taxonomic status of the latter see in
Beljaev 2016: 613
), and in the extreme south-east of
Sakhalin
in the Korsakov urban district near Muravyovo village (
46°30′ N
,
143°18′ E
, “Muravjovo”:
Kurina 2022c
). Preferred habitats of the both species are different:
E. testata
usually inhabits the cool mesophytic and hygrophytic habitats, whereas
E. achatinellaria
chooses the thermo-xerophytic biotopes.
Genetic data in the BOLD also support the separate status of
E. achatinellaria
. In this data base, judging from the photos of the moths, this species is represented as American "
Eulithis diversilineata
" from Primorskii Krai (BIN ID: ABZ0682, sample ID: BC ZSM Lep 62730, also as "
Eulithis testata
", sequence ID: GWOTG454-12), and as "
Eulithis testata
" from
Russia
,
Altai
(BIN ID: ABZ0682, sequence ID: LEALT335-16, LEALT336-16 and GWOTG453-12). These samples together with the samples of
E. achatinellaria
transferred from the GenBank (BOLD sample ID: GBMNF21807-22, GBMNF21808-22, GBMNF21809-22 and GBMNF21810-22) form a separate cluster, opposed to the European samples. Corresponding GBIF occurrences are given in
Table 2
. Although pairwise distances between
E. testata
and
E. achatinellaria
are less than 2%, both taxa are distributed in different areas, which are partly overlapped in Siberia and RFE, what supports their specific taxonomic rank. Generally, all GBIF records of “
Eulithis testata
” from
Korea
and
Japan
should be associated with
E. achatinellaria
, whereas those from Russian territory, at least eastwards from the Uras, should be reexamined.
For easier identification, we give here a key to these species by appearance with some modifications in comparison with their distinguishing characters provided by
Djakonov (1926)
and
Viidalepp (1987)
.