Araeopteron ecphaea (Hampson, 1914)

Zlatkov, Boyan, Junnilainen, Jari & Karsholt, Ole, 2018, Araeopteron ecphaea, a new addition to the Bulgarian fauna (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Erebidae), ZooNotes 128, pp. 1-4 : 2-3

Araeopteron ecphaea (Hampson, 1914)

The genus Araeopteron Hampson, 1893 comprises about 40 described (and many undescribed) small moths, which are mainly distributed in the Old World tropics. The records listed above represent a new genus and species for the Bulgarian fauna. Previously, 19 species (in 10 genera) from the family Boletobiinae were known from Bulgaria (Beshkov 2000, Zahiri et al. 2012). In Europe, A. ecphaea is recorded from Spain (including the Balearic Islands), Italy (including Sicily), Greece (including Crete) (Fibiger & Skule 2013) and France ( Corsica) ( Fibiger et al. 2007). This species has a mainly Afrotropical distribution and is known also from Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, Nigeria, Zaire, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia. The first records from Europe are from 1990 ( Fibiger & Agassiz 2001). Its discovery in Bulgaria may confirm the speculation that A. ecphaea rapidly expanded its range in the Mediterranean ( Fibiger et al. 2007). However, this small species might have been simply overlooked by lepidopterists (who often collect mainly Macrolepidoptera), which could be an alternative explanation for why it was not reported previously from Bulgaria despite of its characteristic appearance ( Fig. 1 : 1).

Genitalia. The male genitalia of a Bulgarian specimen are illustrated on ( Fig. 1 : 2). The structure of the everted vesica was previously unknown ( Fig. 2 ). It is more or less subspherical, with two larger diverticula on the left side and a small one on the right side near the emergence of the dutus ejaculatorius. The posterior surface is densely covered with large acanthae. Small sparse acanthae are present on the left side, where the phallic tube projects on the vesica forming a sclerotised plate with several spines.

Biology. The early stages and the host-plant are unknown. The moth is apparently associated with wet habitats, including riverbanks (specimens from Rupite) and irrigation canals (specimen from Kamenitsa), which coincides with earlier observations ( Fibiger & Agassiz 2001). The Bulgarian specimens were all collected by artificial light. The known distribution of the species in Bulgaria is shown on Fig. 3 .

Figures

Fig. 1. Araeopteron ecphaea: 1 - Male, Kamenitsa, 10.viii.2015. Scale bar 5 mm. 2 - Male genitalia with phallus (bottom), the median surface of the valvae is shown. Rupite, 13.vi.2014. Scale bar 250 μm.

Fig. 2. Phallus of A. ecphaea with vesica everted, left lateral view. Specimen from Fig. 1. Scale bar 250 μm.

Fig. 3. Distribution of A. ecphaea in Bulgaria (black circles), UTM grid 10x10 km.