Aidas Saldaitis

Cossidae of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)

Abstract The faunistic composition of the family Cossidae (Lepidoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago is revised. Five species are recognized, including two new species (Mormogystia brandstetteri and Meharia hackeri), and dubious identifications and records are discussed. Adults and genitalia are illustrated and bionomic details, DNA barcodes and a synonymic checklist for Socotran cossids are provided. A review of their distribution reveals that at least 80 percent of Socotra’s cossids are unique to the archipelago, which is renowned for its endemism. A checklist listing all the species from generas Meharia, Mormogystia, Aethalopteryx, Azygophleps, as well as the synonymy and distribution is provided.

CARPENTER MOTHS (INSECTA: LEPIDOPTERA, COSSIDAE) OF LEBANON

The annotated catalogue of Cossidae fauna of Lebanon is presented for the first time. Eleven species were detected as a result of investigations in the study area. The described Stygioides ivinskisi Saldaitis & Yakovlev, sp. n. is a species new to science. Isoceras bipunctatus (Staudinger, 1887), Stygioides colchicus dercetis (Grum-Grshimailo, 1899), Dyspessa wiltshirei Daniel, 1938, Phragmataecia castaneae (Hubner, 1790) are reported to the fauna of Lebanon for the first time.

Two new species of Cossinae (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) from Sindh Province of Pakistan.

The Cossidae fauna of Pakistan is still poorly studied, with only a few species reported: Eremocossus foedus (Swinhoe, 1884), Aholcocerus ronkayorum Yakovlev, 2006, Cossulus griseatellus Yakovlev, 2006 and Phragmataecia gurkoi Yakovlev, 2007. The carpenter moths of Zeuzera Latreille, 1804 (Zeuzera sp. and Z. multistrigata Moore, 1881) have been reported in pest management publications from Pakistan (Mushtaque & Baloch 1981; Gul & Wali-ur-Rehman 1999; Viqar et al. 2005). The distribution of known cossid species of Pakistan is treated by Yakovlev (2011) without indicating specific localities. Mushtaque and Baloch (1981) report Z. multistrigata caterpillars feeding on the roots of Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabidaceae), which needs to be confirmed. Otherwise Zeuzera species have been observed only feeding on woody plants (Yakovlev 2012).

A new species Micrarctia kautti (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae) from West China.

A new tiger moth, Micrarctia kautti sp. n., from southwest China, Sichuan is described. A diagnostic comparison with Micrarctia trigona (Leech, 1899) is provided. During recent years the Chinese Arctiini have been intensively collected and explored (Dubatolov, 1996a; Dubatolov, 1996b; Dubatolov, 2003; Dubatolov, Kishida & Wu, 2005; Fang & Cao, 1984; Fang, 2000 and numerous other publications) so the discovery of a striking new species by Sergey Murzin in the Dafengding Mountains, Sichuan Province, was most unexpected. Institutional acronyms used are as follows: ASV = Aidas Saldaitis (Vilnius, Lithuania); KNE = Kari Nupponen (Espoo, Finland); PKT = Peter Kautt (Tübingen, Germany); RMB = Ramon Macià (Barselona, Spain); WIGJ = World Insect Gallery (Joniškis, Lithuania).

A new Polymixis (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) species from China

A new Polymixis Hübner species from Chinas Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces is described and distribution data for Polymixis albiorbis Hreblay & Ronkay, 1998 is provided. The type specimen of Polymixis albirena (Boursin, 1944) and the Polymixis magnirena (Alphéraky, 1892) holotypes genitalia are illustrated.

A New species of Hyles (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) from Mongolia with Distributional Notes on the other Members of the Genus

A new species of Hyles, Hyles churkini sp. nova, is described from S-W Mongolia. This new species is compared with other Mongolian Hyles species and a brief description of their habitats is presented. Hyles chamyla (Denso, 1913) and Hyles euphorbiae (Linnaeus, 1758) were first recorded in Mongolia. The pictures of Hyles zygophylli xanthophyli (Derzhavets, 1977) are presented for the first time.

Figure 26 In Three New Species Of The Genus Lasianobia Hampson, 1905 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) From China, With A Revised Checklist For The Genus

Three new species of Lasianobia Hampson, 1905 are described from China: Lasianobia dvoraki Saldaitis, Volynkin Truuverk, sp. nov. (W Sichuan), Lasianobia labranga Saldaitis, Volynkin Truuverk, sp. nov. (SW Gansu) and Lasianobia qinghana Saldaitis, Volynkin Truuverk, sp. nov. (Qinghai). Adults and male genitalia of these new species and their relatives are illustrated, and a generic check list presented.

Figure 40 In A Brief Review Of The Genus Lithosarctia, With The Description Of A New Species From China (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae)

The genus Lithosarctia Daniel, 1954 is revised. A new species, Lithosarctia (Lithosarctia) witti Volynkin Saldaitis, sp. nov. is described from China (Sichuan Province), together with the description of its biology. The subgenus Ocnogynodes Dubatolov, 1987 is synonymized with Lithosarctia. The female genitalia of Lithosarctia kozlovi Dubatolov, is also described.

Lemyra elena, a new species from Sichuan, south-western China (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae)

The genus Lemyra Walker, 1856 belongs to the tribe Arctiini of the subfamily Arctiinae Leach, 1815 (family Erebidae Leach, 1815). The genus was revised by Thomas (1990). At present it is subdivided into two subgenera, Lemyra and Thyrgorina Walker, [1865] and includes more than 100 valid species, many of which were described during last three decades (Fang 1993; Inoue 1993; Tshistjakov Kishida 1994; Kirti Gill 2008; Černý 2011; 2014; Černy Pinratana 2009; Dubatolov 2007; 2010; Kirti Singh 2016).

Description of the female of Smerkata zolotuhini (Lepidoptera: Endromidae)

Smerkata Zolotuhin, 2007 has been described as a subgenus of Mustilia Walker, 1865 (Zolotuhin 2007), and recently upgraded to the genus level by Wang et al. (2015). Smerkata zolotuhini (Saldaitis Ivinskis, 2015) was recently described from western part of Sichuan province of China based on male specimens, as females were unknown at the time (Saldaitis et al. 2015). Recent collecting has provided additional specimens, including females described below.