Catocala desiderata Staudinger, 1888

Titov, Sergey V., Volynkin, Anton V. & Saldaitis, Aidas, 2024, New data on the distribution of three species of the genus Catocala Schrank in East Kazakhstan and West Mongolia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 71, pp. 245-252 : 248-252

Catocala desiderata Staudinger, 1888

( Figs 6 , 10 )

Catocala repudiata Staudinger, 1888 , Stettiner entomologische Zeitung, 49: 59 (Type locality: [ Uzbekistan] “ Margelan ”, [ China, NW Xinjiang, Yining] “ Kuldja ”).

Material examined. KAZAKHSTAN: 1 male, 28.VII.2023, East Kazakhstan Region, floodplain terrace of Kara-Irtysh River, near Boran village , 409m, 48°0'14.94"N 85°13'0.71"E, S. V. Titov leg. ( CAV) .

Distribution. The species is currently known from Tajikistan, eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, north-western Xinjiang Province of China, Southeast and East Kazakhstan, and West Mongolia ( Staudinger 1888; Toropov et al. 2023; present study) ( Fig. 13 ).

Discussion

The localities in East Kazakhstan are the northernmost known distribution points for all three species, C. neglecta , C. repudiata and C. desiderata ( Figs 11–13 ) confirming the role of the Kara-Irtysh River valley as a corridor connecting the Zaisan Depression with the Dzhungarian Gobi desert in southwestern Mongolia and north-eastern Xinjiang Province of China due to which a number of quite narrowrange Lepidoptera species are found to occur in both, eastern Kazakhstan and western Mongolia, e.g., Eremodrina monssacralis Varga & L. Ronkay, 1991 ( Volynkin & Titov 2016a), Pseudohadena argyllostigma (Varga & L. Ronkay, 1991) (Titov & Volynkin 2016; Knyazev et al. 2020), Thargelia leucostigma Varga & L. Ronkay, 1991 ( Volynkin & Titov 2016b), etc.

The species diversity of the genus Catocala of the Kazakhstan part of the Kara-Irtysh River valley is relatively high and other species of the genus collected sympatrically and syntopically with C. neglecta , C. repudiata and C. desiderata were C. pacta (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Fig. 7 ), C. fulminea (Scopoli, 1763) ( Fig. 8 ), C. nupta (Linnaeus, 1767) , C. neonympha (Esper, 1805) , and C. fraxini (Linnaeus, 1758) . Two more species of the genus, C. deducta Eversmann, 1843 and C. puerpera (Giorna, 1791) were collected in the same area in early October. All the species were collected at the edge of the riverine woodland ( Figs 14 , 15 ) consisting of the trees of Populus laurifolia , P. nigra , P. alba , and Salix alba , and shrubs of Halimodendron halodendron , Lonicera tatarica , Crataegus chlorocarpa , Elaeagnus oxycarpa , and Calligonum rubicundum . Catocala neglecta has also been found in the gorge of the upper Kendyrlik River having shores overgrown with poplar trees ( Populus laurifolia , P. nigra ) and willow trees and bushes ( Fig. 16 ); unfortunately, the arboraceous species composition of that woodland has not been studied.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Gábor & László Ronkay (Budapest, Hungary) for pictures of the syntypes of C. neglecta and C. repudiata , and Gleb A. Bolbotov (Oskemen, Kazakhstan) for data on the species composition of the Kara-Irtysh River bank vegetation. Sergey Titov thanks Timur N. Smagulov, director of Institute of Archaeological Research, Margulan University (Pavlodar, Kazakhstan), for organising the collecting trip in the Kara-Irtysh valley and Saur Mountains and photo of the habitat provided.

The work of Sergey Titov was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Scientific Program “Assessment of biological resources of the Kazakh part of the transboundary Irtysh basin in the context of climate change (BR18574062). Anton Volynkin had no funding.

References

Chen, Y.-X. (1999) Fauna Sinica (Insecta Vol. 16, Lepidoptera Noctuidae). Science Press, Beijing, lxxiii+ 1596 pp. [In Chinese]

Knyazev, S.A., Makhov, I.A., Matov, A.Yu. & Yakovlev, R.V. (2020) Check-list of Macroheterocera (Insecta, Lepidoptera) collected in 2019 in Mongolia by Russian entomological expeditions. Ecologica Montenegrina, 38, 186–204.

Staudinger, O. (1888) Centralasiatische Lepidopteren. Stettiner entomologische Zeitung, 49, 1–65. [In German]

Titov, S. & Volynkin, A. (2016) First record of Pseudohadena argyllostigma (Varga & Ronkay, 1991) for Kazakhstan, with a catalogue of the genus Pseudohadena Alphéraky, 1889 of Kazakhstan (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). Biological Bulletin of Bogdan Chmelnitskiy Melitopol State Pedagogical University, 6 (1), 319–325.

Toropov, S.A., Milko, D.A., Zhdanko, A.B. & Evdoshenko, S.I. (2023). Autumn Silkworm, Emperor, Hawk, Tiger, and Underwing Moths (Lepidoptera: Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Arctiini, and Catocalini) of Alai, Tien Shan and South-eastern Turan. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 268 pp. [in Russian and English]

Volynkin, A. & Titov, S. (2016 a) First record of Caradrina monssacralis (Varga & L. Ronkay, 1991) (Insecta: Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) from Kazakhstan. Check List, 12(3), 1905, 1–4.

http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/12.3.1905

Volynkin, A.V. & Titov, S.V. (2016 b) Description of female of Thargelia leucostigma Varga & L. Ronkay, 1991 with new data on distribution of the species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Biological Bulletin of Bogdan Chmelnitskiy Melitopol State Pedagogical University, 6 (2), 124–128.

Figures

Figure 11. Distribution map of Catocala neglecta. Blue dots: previously known localities; red dots: new localities.

Figure 12. Distribution map of Catocala repudiata. Blue dots: previously known localities; red dots: new localities.

Figure 13. Distribution map of Catocala desiderata. Blue dots: previously known localities; red dots: new localities.

Figure 14. Habitat of Catocala spp.: East Kazakhstan Region, floodplain terrace of Kara-Irtysh River, near Boran village, 409m, 48°0'14.94"N 85°13'0.71"E, 28.VII.2023 (photo by S.V. Titov).

Figure 15. Habitat of Catocala spp.: Kara-Irtysh river valley, east of the bridge, 10.X.2023 (photo by S.V. Titov).

Figure 16. Habitat of Catocala neglecta: East Kazakhstan Reg., Saur Mts, 853m, 9 km SE of Saryterek vill., Kendyrlik River valley, Karashoky loc., 47°25'51.4924''N 85°16'28.9483''E, 14.X.2023 (photo by T. Smagulov).

Figures 1–8. Catocala spp.: adults. Depositories of the specimens: 1, 3, 6–8 are in CAV; 2 and 4 in MfN (photos by G. & L. Ronkay); 5 in ASV.

Figures 9–10. Catocala spp.: adults in nature: 9, C. neglecta; 10, C. desiderata. 28.VII.2023, East Kazakhstan Region, floodplain terrace of Kara-Irtysh River, near Boran village, 409m, 48°0'14.94"N 85°13'0.71"E, (photos by S.V. Titov).